Watching The Inbetweeners made me feel better about being an blundering teen in the 2010s – now that it’s set to make a comeback I hope the show sticks to its relatable roots
For a socially maligned teenager growing up in the early 2010s, The Inbetweeners was the ultimate equal-parts comic and cathartic watch – now I can only hope its comeback can do it justice.
Debuting on E4 in 2008, the dry irreverent comedy quickly gained a cult following due to its realistic depiction of the misadventures of an unpopular group of British school friends. It smashed ratings records and became a cultural institution, which means it’s probably little surprise that the award-winning series might be returning.
Banijay UK and Fudge Park Productions, the company founded by show creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, have struck an agreement which they say “paves the way for the return of the hit comedy title.” However, what exactly this will look like, they haven’t said – though they have suggested it will still revolve around the original characters.
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As a massive fan who still quotes the show over 10 years later (“bus w**kers”, anyone?) and who felt bereft when its third season ended, I’m absolutely excited. My only ask is that the franchise doesn’t lose the relatable edge that allowed disjointed teenagers like myself to see themselves in it.
I first discovered The Inbetweeners at 14 years old, when I was condemned to spend the summer stuck in a temporary home out in the sticks of Ireland. It was my twelfth time moving house (which comes with moving countries several times) and I was about an hour away from any form of transport that might let me see my friends.
I was bored, isolated and the WIFI barely worked – just enough that if I angled my laptop just right I could stream the show that would become the awkward symphony to my cringey teenage life.
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As a chronic new kid, I related right from episode one. The show follows the story of Will, a bespectacled socially unaware posh kid who is forced to move from his private school to a public one in the suburbs. After getting shoved around in the hallways for a bit, he manages to get himself adopted by the school’s ‘inbetweeners’, hapless friends Jay, Simon and Neill, who haven’t quite managed to land themselves in popular circles.
While thankfully I hadn’t been put through some of Will’s worse tribulations (getting photographed by school bullies while on the toilet), there was something about watching a blundering character free-float in an unfamiliar social eco-system that resonated deeply. His painful attempts to make friends and obliviousness to his own ‘uncoolness’ were deeply cringe, but also all-too understandable.
But that is the beauty of the show. No matter what your school experience was like – whether you had an unreciprocated crush or embarrassing parents or you did bizarre things to impress your mates – there isn’t a quintessential teenage gaffe that The Inbetweeners hasn’t managed to capture.
Plus, unlike stereotypical high school movies, where bullies ruthlessly harass nerds for their lunch money, in The Inbetweeners, you can see how, often, the ‘losers’ kind of ostracize themselves.
Doubtless to say, much of its success comes from the show’s authenticity. In an interview with the iPaper, Iain Morris, the show’s writer, admitted that three of the main characters are based on him and co-writer Damon Beesley as teenagers, while several scenes in the show emulate real situations they both ended up in.
Morris said: “Ultimately I suppose The Inbetweeners made all the failure and embarrassment worthwhile. If we hadn’t written the show it would have been a very tragic but funny life, but an undocumented one. And the same goes for Damon, who I should point out also has a lot of his life failures in the show.”
In a way, The Inbetweeners has become a document for my own teenage experiences. I remember cry-laughing with my laptop held up to the ceiling as Will excreted himself in an exam hall after drinking too many energy drinks (“I thought it was safe sir”). The show made me feel like I wasn’t alone in my own teenage cringe – after all, no matter what, it’s hard to top that.
All I can say is I hope Iain and Damon still have some hysterical memories to draw on for their potential new series.
