The Inbetweeners
The Inbetweeners is a British coming-of-age television sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 to 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager William McKenzie and his friends Simon Cooper, Neil Sutherland and Jay Cartwright at the fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive. The four find themselves in awkward situations of their own making, whilst dealing with school life, uncaring staff, male bonding, lad culture and adolescent sexuality. Despite receiving an initially lukewarm reception, it has been described as a classic and amongst the most successful British sitcoms of the 21st century.
The programme was nominated for Best Situation Comedy at BAFTA twice, in 2009 and 2010. At the British Academy Television Awards 2010, it won the Audience Award, the only category voted for by the public. In the 2011 British Comedy Awards, the programme also won the award for Outstanding Contribution to British Comedy.
The Inbetweeners Movie was released on 17 August 2011 to box office success, and a sequel followed on 6 August 2014. An American version was broadcast on MTV, but was quickly axed after low ratings and poor critical reception. In October 2025, Morris and Beesley's production company Fudge Park signed an agreement with distributor Banijay UK to "unlock the rights and the potential to bring The Inbetweeners back for new audiences across a range of platforms including film, TV and stage."
History
and Iain Morris met as producers on Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show. Following posts as commissioners at Channel 4, where Morris shepherded Peep Show, the two launched their own company, Bwark Productions, in 2004 and landed their first series with The Inbetweeners. A pilot for the programme was produced in 2006 under the direction of James Bobin titled "Baggy Trousers".E4 originally aired the first series in May 2008, and Channel 4 also broadcast it in November that year. The second series began screening in the UK on 2 April 2009 and finished on 7 May 2009. A third series was commissioned by E4, commencing on 13 September 2010 and ending on 18 October 2010. The first episode of the third series had the highest-ever audience for an E4 original commission. Following the conclusion of the third series, the cast and crew of the programme indicated that there would be no fourth series as the programme had run its course, but that an Inbetweeners movie would be produced, set some time after the third series and following the cast on a holiday in Malia, Crete, Greece.
For Red Nose Day 2011, the stars of the programme travelled around the UK in the yellow Fiat Cinquecento Hawaii featured in the programme in a special named The Inbetweeners: Rude Road Trip. The aim was to try to find the 50 rudest place names in the country.
In November 2018, it was announced that a special retrospective programme featuring the cast would be aired to mark the 10th anniversary of the programme's first airing in 2008. Titled Fwends Reunited, it was broadcast on 1 January 2019; it was poorly received by critics and fans of the series, leading to James Buckley making a public apology.
In June 2020, the content on its YouTube channel was removed, due to the licensing rights changing owners.
In October 2025, Morris and Beesley's production company, Fudge Park, signed an agreement with distributor Banijay UK to unlock "the rights and the potential to bring The Inbetweeners back for new audiences across a range of platforms including film, tv and stage."
Cast
Main cast
The four main characters are seen in every episode as well as the 2011 and 2014 films. They consist of:- Will McKenzie is the programme's central character, with his voiceover narrating each episode. In the first episode, he has been transferred from a private school, following his parents' divorce, to Rudge Park Comprehensive, where he eventually befriends the others. Will is the most intelligent and studious of the group but despite his sensible nature, he often gives in to peer pressure to carry out questionable acts and suffers the most humiliation for it.
- Simon Cooper is the most cynical, irritable and hot-headed of the group, being prone to bouts of hysterical swearing at the slightest provocation; his on-off relationship with long-time crush Carli propels many of the plots. However, he is also seen to be the most normal of the group whose frequent failures and humiliations leave fans "feeling sorry for him over and over again".
- Jay Cartwright is the most immature and arrogant of the boys. He is by far the most vulgar, is obsessed with sex, and lies compulsively, though these traits are revealed to be a result of frequent belittlement by his father. At the end of season 3, it is hinted that Jay may have been sexually abused as a child.
- Neil Sutherland is gentle, gullible and of relatively low intelligence. He is the most sexually experienced member of the group, due to his laid-back and unassuming nature.
Recurring characters
- Carli D'Amato is Simon's long-term love interest. She is popular, demonstrating a good deal of influence over her peers, including school bullies. Although Carli expresses interest in Simon romantically on a few occasions, she seems aware that he is far more interested in her than she is in him, stringing him along when she so desires.
- Mr Phil Gilbert is head of the sixth form. Cynical, obnoxious and authoritarian, he has minimal interest in his work and treats his pupils with ambivalence or contempt. He displays a particular dislike for Will.
- Charlotte Hinchcliffe is the most attractive and popular girl in the school who briefly dates Will. She is very confident and a year above the four boys, who hold her in high regard. Unlike many popular girls, Charlotte is often kind-hearted and genuine. Although she sometimes treats Will badly, over time she appears to develop genuine affection for him.
- Mark Donovan is the sixth form's bully and Charlotte's ex-boyfriend. He often belittles and picks on the four boys, whom he refers to as "Team Twat". Like many bullies, Donovan acts pleasantly in front of parents or teachers in lieu of his true persona. However, he inadvertently reveals a sensitive side to Will after breaking up with Charlotte, though threatens him with death if he speaks of it.
- Polly McKenzie is Will's mother. She is highly attractive and a principal object of Will's friends' desires, who often crudely mention her sexually. Neil has often asked Will if he can ask her out, with Will always rejecting. Aside from her appearance, Polly is kind and mostly understanding of Will's concerns, although this sometimes ends in her unwittingly embarrassing him.
- Pamela Cooper is Simon's mother. She is caring and supportive towards her son, but her efforts are often met by embarrassment and surliness from him.
- Alan Cooper is Simon's loving and protective father. A running gag involves him embarrassing Simon around his friends when recalling his sexual adventures with his wife.
- Terry Cartwright is Jay's father. He regularly insults, embarrasses and belittles Jay in front of his peers, and take neither him nor his false reports of sexual exploits seriously.
- Kevin Sutherland is Neil's father. He is divorced and is often believed to be a closeted gay man, which he and his son deny. The boys frequently make fun of Neil because of this.
- Big John is a fellow student. John is one of the new kids who start school on the same day as Will. He is often referred to as one of the "freaks" and seen as an overweight social outcast whom the boys try to avoid. Despite this treatment, he is kind and always does the right thing, such as coming to the defence of Will and trying to boost Jay's confidence, discussing with him the frustration of wanting to be noticed.
- Tara Brown is Simon's short-term girlfriend. She is mostly ambivalent towards the other three, wanting to spend time with Simon alone. She tries, however, to set up Will with her friend Kerry via a double-date, which ends in disaster. Her relationship with Simon meets a similar end, with them breaking up after Simon becomes enraged at his failure to get an erection during sex.
Episodes
Music
The opening theme tune to The Inbetweeners is an instrumental version of "Gone Up in Flames" by English rock band Morning Runner. The first series also features music by Rachel Stevens, Tellison, Paolo Nutini, The Maccabees, Air Traffic, Calvin Harris, The Ting Tings, Arctic Monkeys, Theaudience, The Fratellis, Vampire Weekend, The Drums, Two Door Cinema Club, Take That, Mystery Jets, Kid British, Phoenix, General Fiasco, Gorillaz, Hot Chip, Belle and Sebastian, Field Music, Jamie T, The Libertines, Rihanna, Oasis, Jack Peñate, Guillemots, The Feeling, Kate Nash, The Wombats, The Jam, The Cure, Lily Allen, Mumm-Ra, Kylie Minogue and Feist. The second series also featured instrumentals of Adele, Supergrass, Biffy Clyro, Passion Pit, Royworld, MGMT, Maxïmo Park, and The Cribs and the third series also featured instrumentals of Ludacris and Mr Understanding by Pete and the Pirates. A soundtrack album, The Inbetweeners Soundtrack, was released in 2009.The music was chosen by the music supervisor and then Xfm DJ Marsha Shandur.
Reception
Critical reception
The Inbetweeners received generally positive reviews from television critics. At Metacritic, the first series earned a score of 73 out of 100, based on 7 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".Joe McNally, writing for The Independent, commends "exquisitely accurate dialogue, capturing the feel of adolescence perfectly", and Will Dean of The Guardian comments that the programme "captures the pathetic sixth-form male experience quite splendidly". The series is often contrasted with E4's successful teen drama Skins; commentators have offered that "The Inbetweeners portrayal of dull suburbia is closer to the drab teen years most of us spent, rather than the decadent time we wished we spent."