John T. Foster

Dr. John T. Foster is a fictional character in British teen drama series Skins, appearing as the main antagonist of series four and a posthumous antagonist in Skins: Rise. He was portrayed by Hugo Speer.

Characterization
Foster was a perverted, cruel, repulsive and remorseless man who had no care for anybody but himself and would go to the most extreme lengths to succeed in his goals even if it meant killing; something to which he was completely unphased by. He was also a very intelligent and cunning man capable of feats of intelligence and manipulation rivaling that of both Effy and Tony Stonem something he used to his advantage when it came to manipulating Effy and those around her into thinking he was truly trying to help her.

Series 4
After Effy Stonem attempted to take her own life she was admitted into a mental institution and assigned to the care of Dr. John T. Foster. Over his sessions with Effy he seemingly appears to be finding the source for her current state of mind, bringing up past events in her life such as her brother's accident and her parents' divorce before abruptly declaring she is well enough to be discharged and sets up a schedule for further sessions with him. In spite of this however Foster was secretly harboring his severe lust for Effy and tries to make her fall for him, by any means necessary. Through each session Foster rebuffs all of Effy's current problems including David Blood's corruption of the college and the shady deal he made with Effy under the guise that she needed to concentrate on getting her mental state better before school work.

Effy reluctantly agrees to this however she soon finds herself forgetting several pieces of her past, abruptly dumping Freddie and running amok only to be discovered by James Cook. It is here in which Effy's mentality spirals into chaos as she goes as far as to stand in the middle of the road and attempt to get hit by vehicles in order to "feel anything". Thankfully however she is saved by Cook and brought back to Freddie, of whom admits her back into the institution. Foster visits a broken Effy the following morning only to be encountered by a horrified Freddie who demands he leave to the request of Effy. Albeit reluctantly Foster complies before calling Freddie over to his house to have a talk.

Once Freddie arrives Foster greets him before locking all of his doors and talking with Freddie; at first trying to keep up his act before eventually relenting and confessing his true intentions to Freddie. While Freddie tries to leave Foster wields a baseball bat and walks toward Freddie telling him that Effy truly loves him and that needs to be out of the equation for him to get anywhere with Effy and consequently murders Freddie with a baseball bat.

All of Freddie's friends and family are worried upon his disappearance along with Cook and they decided to throw a party in his honour despite this Foster wrote a fabricated note saying he had fled the country, Karen McLaire and Cook where both at disbelief  however as it was something Freddie would never think of doing and the two sought to find him.

During this time Effy is once again preparing to be discharged and Foster arrives in her room to tell her he was leaving the institution and going elsewhere for work, to his own perverse pleasure Effy tells him that she'll never forget him.

Unfortunately the search for Freddie is put on halt by Cook having to flee from Naomi Campbell's house from the police and hide out in Freddie's shed. Cook alongside many of the others close to Freddie then decide to throw him a party in the shed in his honour. Several hours into the party however Cook while going outside to have a toilet break spots Foster walking past Freddie's house looking on toward the shed before quickly changing direction when Cook demanded to know who was there.

Convinced he had the found the cause of his missing friend, he follows Foster home and sneaks into his basement. In the basement Cook finds Freddie's bloody clothes in his washing machine and is ambushed by Foster. Cook questions what he has done and Foster reveals his knowledge on everyone close to Freddie including Cook himself and tells him his intentions with Effy before demanding Cook to kneel down as he tries to murder him before eventually deciding to just knock him to the ground with a punch. Cook gets back up however and an amused Foster begins rapidly taunting him about how he is a waste of a human being and nor he or Freddie deserved Effy unlike he. However Cook, stalls him and surprisingly agrees before telling him that he should know that he let out the full blow of his wrath for murdering his friend and as a result an enraged Cook manages to fight back and kill Foster for revenge and breaks the news of the truth behind Freddie's disappearance to the others.

Series 7
Three years on from the death of Foster sees Cook living in a state of guilt and misery for killing him and as a result he has became a pacifist with a lack of any close connections to anybody. Cook's morals become much more revolved around the refusal to kill something tested when given the option to kill Louie to which Cook refuses to do. Showing that killing Foster in spite of how vile and cruel the man was changed Cook to a large degree.