The Inbetweeners Where To Watch

[Stephani Kapnick]

DD11) recently brought home her year-book for primary leavers. Each child in the top year completed a survey of most embarrassing moment at primary, favourite TV programme, favourite foods etc.

A large number nominated The Inbetweeners as their favourite programme! I was under the impression it was crude and vulgar and aimed at late teens, but never having watched it I turned it on for a bit last night to see if I was right. Within 60 seconds we had discussions of wanking, fucking and shitting .

I'm not feeling superior exactly as my DD's favourite was MI High, which is dross - but at least it's age-appropriate dross!

Favourite song amongst the kids appeared to be Rhianna's S&M . Charming...

Oh, and while I'm ranting, at a recent school assembly (I haven't been for a while) my DD seemed to be about the only girl in her year still in knee-length skirt, polo shirt and school sweatshirt (their uniform) - the others had moved over to the high-school look of mid-thigh skirt (OK not quite the bum-skirt of the local high school, but on the way to it), fat ties and tight jumpers. I know they're all growing up, but am I really the only parent of this school year who thinks this "uniform" is inappropriate?

So I am right, or am I just a out-of-touch prude? Am particularly at the Inbetweeners - what kind of parent lets their children watch this stuff?

I found out that my then 12 yo had seen it at friends' houses

so that we could discuss any ishoos that cropped up for him, I let him have a dvd so we could watch it together, as a family

[right on, down with ver kids emoticon]

what twattery on my part. It was even more feeeeeeelthy than I'd remembered and I spent the best part of three hours tittering weakly while trying to dig myself a big hole in the sofa to hide in

I'm pretty liberal about what my 11 year old watches.

I wouldn't have her watching Inbetweeners. If I'm watching it and she comes into the room I switch it off.

Although to be honest - it'd probably be the best way of putting her off teenage boys I could think of!

Been trying to think what my favourite programme was at that age but can't remember. I remember watching Grange Hill, the Bionic Woman, Tomorrow's World, Top of the Pops and Jim-'ll-Fix It. Stuff like the Inbetweeners just wasn't around then - anyone remember the fuss over Johnny Rotten swearing?

Hadn't thought about watching stuff at friends - bit of a problem I suppose, especially in these days of easy recording where watershed becomes a bit meaningless, and also tellies in bedrooms (don't have that in my house - it's official, I am an out of touch prude ).

Maybe I shouldn't have been too surprised at all this though - a boy in my other DD's class, when he turned 10 or 11, had a party which involved staying up all night (I mean all night, literally) watching 18-rated films!

I started a similar thread a while back (might have been my first thread on MN) and got laughed out of town by Inbetweeners fans.

But the problem is that, because of the school context, I think it appears as if it is more suitable for younger viewers than it actually is. I was really shocked by the attitudes towards women - yes, they are being expressed in the context of humour, but still....

Wish you people were parents at my school! Though to be fair, it's hard to know from the year-book how many parents do allow this - maybe there are one or two rogue families having Inbetweener showings for lots of their kids' friends .

QueenOfDenial - I found the clothes upsetting, not just for the pre-teen-sexiness aspect, but because it was obvious that my DD didn't fit in. She's had friendship problems all the way through school, and looking at them all it was a visual reminder of this. School uniform is supposed to be a leveller, but unless there's some kind of enforcement of regulations (not sure if this is possible in a state primary) then it really isn't.

She's left now, so I don't have to consider whether to get her a bum-skirt in order to facilitate friendships . (She's not going to the local bum-skirt-wearing high school.)

Meant to add, that all this has made me wonder whether some of her friendship problems are my fault and I'm a bit out of step with the world of today - personally I couldn't care less if I am, but of course I don't want my kids to suffer for it.

The Inbetweeners is a British coming-of-age television teen 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 (Simon Bird) and his friends Simon Cooper (Joe Thomas), Neil Sutherland (Blake Harrison) and Jay Cartwright (James Buckley) at the fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive. The programme involves situations of school life, uncaring school staff, friendship, 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.[2]

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.[3] 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.[4] An American version was broadcast on MTV, but was quickly axed after low ratings and poor critical reception.

Damon Beesley 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.[5] A pilot for the programme was produced in 2006 under the direction of James Bobin titled "Baggy Trousers".[6]

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[7][8] and ending on 18 October 2010. The first episode of the third series had the highest-ever audience for an E4 original commission.[9] 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.[10] It was called Fwends Reunited and 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.[11]

The three series can be viewed in many countries through Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. Channel 4's catch-up service All 4 also carries it in the UK and Ireland, alongside featurettes "Top Ten Inbetweeners Moments" and "Fwends Reunited".[22]

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 Peate, Guillemots, The Feeling, Kate Nash, The Wombats, The Jam, The Cure, Lily Allen, Mumm-Ra, Kylie Minogue and Feist.[23] The second series also featured instrumentals of Adele, Supergrass, Biffy Clyro, Passion Pit, Royworld, MGMT, Maxmo Park, and The Cribs and the third series also featured instrumentals of Ludacris and Mr Understanding by Pete and the Pirates. A full list can be found on the E4 website.A soundtrack album, The Inbetweeners Soundtrack, was released in 2009.

The Inbetweeners received generally positive reviews from television critics. At Metacritic, the first season earned a score of 73 out of 100, based on 7 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".[24]

Joe McNally, writing for The Independent, commends "exquisitely accurate dialogue, capturing the feel of adolescence perfectly",[25] and Will Dean of The Guardian comments that the programme "captures the pathetic sixth-form male experience quite splendidly".[26] The series is often contrasted with E4's successful teen drama Skins; commentators have offered that "The Inbetweeners' portrayal of dull suburbia is closer [than Skins] to the drab teen years most of us spent, rather than the decadent time we wished we spent."[27]

The first series began on 1 May 2008, with the pilot episode garnering 238,000 viewers.[30] The series averaged 459,000 viewers,[31] with 474,000 viewers watching the series finale.[32] The Inbetweeners received two nominations at the British Comedy Awards; the programme was nominated for "Best New British Television Comedy (Scripted)" and Simon Bird was nominated for "Best Male Comedy Newcomer".[33] Both won their respective categories.[34] The programme was also voted by the British Comedy Guide website as the "Best New British TV Sitcom 2008".[35] It was nominated for "Best Situation Comedy" at the British Academy Television Awards 2009,[1] ultimately losing out to The IT Crowd.[36] It then won the Audience Award at the British Academy Television Awards 2010.[37]

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