'The Inbetweeners' gets extra special?

The recent third series of E4 teen-comedy The Inbetweeners was supposed to be the last TV adventure for the unruly students, before a movie and wrap-up TV special was announced. However, it's being reported that there will actually be two TV specials after the 2011 movie's release, thus extending the lifespan of E4's biggest hit. And if by "special" they're meaning hour-long installments, won't this effectively be four episodes of a regular six-episode fourth series, just stitched together?

Of course, if you're a fan of The Inbetweeners, news of another special is most likely music to your ears. But considering series 3's mixed response, I'm worried writers Damon Beesley and Iain Moris will find themselves flogging a dead horse before long. James Buckley (the youngest of the four leads) is already 23, while Joe Thomas (the oldest) is 27, so it'll be even tougher to convince people they're teenagers next year. Look at the photo above -- that's how they used to look when the show first started.

And should this comedy continue past the movie, which feels like the perfect celebratory end-point? If not, maybe writers will take the foursome into university, despite the plausability problem with dopey Neil? Or how about resetting The Inbetweeners and following a new gang of friends, a la Skins, while keeping teacher Mr Gilbert involved for continuity? Or is the success of The Inbetweeners down to those particular characters and actors?

Thoughts?

Update: Apparently, the writers have yet to agree to Channel 4's suggestion they write two specials, so we may still end up with one as originally planned.

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'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.6 - "The Camping Trip"

Knowing there's a movie and wrap-up TV special to come, the "last ever episode" of E4's The Inbetweeners wasn't the emotional send-off we might otherwise have expected. It was just another episode, really, although there was a vague sense of things reaching a turning point because Simon (Joe Thomas) was told he'd be moving to Swansea, and he ended up briefly rethinking his association with Will (Simon Bird), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison) after they let his car slide into a lake, but nothing really stuck and we know there'll be more adventures for the four boys...

Simon's discovery that his parents are planning a move to Swansea resulted in a farewell trip with his friends, as they decided to go camping together. Arriving beside a woodland lake, they quickly become bored and resort to playing Monopoly, leading to a situation where Simon's car wound up submerged in the lake, and a meal of undercooked sausages caused projectile vomiting in their four-man tent.

There was less actual plot in this episode than the "Trip To Warwick" episode, and I know some people will be disappointed the show again relied on gross-outs to a large extent. I'm always disappointed when the show becomes too far-fetched and has its characters act in idiotic ways that doesn't feel believable -- such as the boys burning Will's equipment on purpose, or Jay talking Neil into letting Simon's car roll into the water. That latter moment was especially annoying because the writers did a really good job of getting Simon's car to pose a danger, with Jay leaving the handbrake off while driving the car closer to shine its headlights on their nighttime Monopoly game. Moments that are funny, plausible and logical are much funnier to me.

This episode also reminded me of how brash some of the acting can be on the show, particularly from Joe Thomas in the opening scenes with his parents, as the actor's often guilty of pitching his performance so broad that it transforms the scene into a Kevin & Perry sketch. It often takes me a few moments to acclimatize to The Inbetweeners, despite watching it every week, especially when Thomas decides to play scenes like a big freak-out. A scene in the school cafeteria, where he embarrassed himself by screaming "make love?!" to Carli (Emily Head) was also a step too far for me, while also reminding me how poorly Carli has been treated this series. Considering Simon/Carli was one of the show's enduring storylines, it was sad to see it dropped, and while Hannah Tointon was a better replacement over Emily Head, her character Tara was likewise ditched in episode 4. I think The Inbetweeners missed a trick in either keeping the Tara storyline going for longer, or for not involving Carli in the Simon/Tara romance.

Overall, "The Camping Trip" had its fair share of problems and wasn't a very remarkable ending for the regular TV series, but I'm kinder towards comedies provided they make me laugh fairly regularly, which this episode did. It was also funny to hear that laidback Neil lose his virginity first, albeit off-screen, although I hope that fact doesn't colour some of the gang's remaining adventures together. And I had to cheer Simon's rant at his friend's towards the end, standing knee-deep in water next to his sunken car ("I have wasted my life hanging out with you fucking morons!")

So, that’s it for now. The Inbetweeners will return on the big screen in an adventure about them going on a parent-less holiday abroad, which could be genius or heinous. The idea of a British sitcom relocating abroad for a movie version is a woeful cliché from the '70s, and the basic premise sounds a lot like the appalling Kevin & Perry Go Large. Hopefully writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris have avoided the obvious pitfalls and we'll get an 18-rated slice of hormonal hilarity.

What did you think of this finale, and The Inbetweeners as a whole? Was this a weak third year? Is it an overrated sitcom in general? Or unbridled genius that knows its target audience extremely well?

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Emily Head, Greg Davies, Robin Weaver, Martin Trenaman, Dominic Applewhite, Deo Simcox, Lily Lovett & Rebecca Semark
TRANSMISSION: 18 October 2010 -- E4/HD, 10PM

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'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.5 - "Home Alone"

It's a shame there's rarely a good plot reinforcing episodes of The Inbetweeners, as the show generally just takes an event and spins as many set-pieces from the situation as possible. This week gave us the prospect of Will (Simon Bird) being left home alone, while his mum (Belinda Stewart-Wilson) went on a trip to Bath to meet old college friend Fergus. With Will's house empty, Neil (Blake Harrison), Simon (Joe Thomas) and Jay (James Buckley) came over for a night of debauchery -- if by debauchery you mean planning to masturbating over Will's mum's knickers, eat toast with no plate to catch the crumbs, and vandalize flowers using golf clubs...

The first half of series 3's penultimate episode contained some of the best comedy The Inbetweeners has ever delivered, particularly the incident with Jay trying to run over a crafty squirrel. It was also amusing to see Jay get increasingly desperate to masturbate in peace without the family dog Benji putting him off his stroke, and Neil's enthusiasm when learning Will's mum has photos of herself uploaded to Facebook. And despite being the show's wet blanket, you can't help but sympathize with Will when he's trying to herd his three friends around, imploring them to behave like adults instead of disobedient kids who deface his Facebook page and change the password.

The second half wasn't as strong as the first, as the story's hectic pace fell away and old gags were continued pas the point of hilarity (more flower beheading) and it all got bit silly when the angry neighbour besieged Will's house to give the lads hell for destroying his daffodils. The fact Benji was put down because Jay lied about the dog pooping indoors was also too unbelievable to be darkly funny, and Neil's joke about Simon looking like he has Down's Syndrome because he's wearing a polo shirt with Chinos to play golf was a bad taste misfire.

Still, I can't deny The Inbetweeners is captivating whenever it just lets the four leads bounce off each other, even if there's a feeling that none of it every really amounts to much. It's essentially 30 minutes of ribald silliness, bad behaviour, moaning, pranks, swearing, vandalism, animal cruelty and schoolboy humour. Largely forgettable the next day, but a lowbrow joy as you watch it unfold through a mixture of cringing, slack-jawed disbelief, and fits of juvenile giggles.

Asides

• The taunts about the University Of Lincoln's expense touched a nerve for me, but in a good way. Replying to me on Twitter, co-writer Iain Morris confirmed that the comments throughout this episode weren't malicious, just an injoke for a friend who attended Lincoln University. It's not a "shithole", really.
• Apologies for the absence of a main photo above, but Channel 4's press website have apparently lost interest this week.

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Greg Davies, David Schaal, Victoria Willing, Belinda Stewart-Wilson & Mark Roper
TRANSMISSION: 11 October 2010 -- E4/HD, 10PM

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'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.4 - "The Trip To Warwick"

It's often mentioned that The Inbetweeners could theoretically continue past sixth form and into university, and "The Trip To Warwick" was an episode where writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris gave fans a glimpse of what a Uni-based version of this comedy might resemble. The answer: hilarious. So it's a shame the writers have announced this is definitely the final regular series, before a movie and TV special to cap it.

This week, Simon (Joe Thomas) is getting serious with new girlfriend Tara (Hannah Tointon), but it's becoming a pain having to curtail their relationship under the scrutiny of both their parents. Consequently, Tara plans a trip to Warwick University, to stay with a friend who's studying there and willing to give them some privacy so they can have sex. Inevitably, Simon's friends tag along as gooseberries: Will (Simon Bird) uses the trip to scout the university's facilities, Jay (James Buckley) is on hand to dispense his inimitable brand of sexual wisdom, and Neil (Blake Harrison) follows because he's the human equivalent of a brown-eyed Labrador.

For me, The Inbetweeners is at its best when there are three key components in play: the four leads are allowed to interact verbally to a large extent, the overall storyline revolves around girls/sex, and there's a steady stream of excruciating and crude visual gags. "The Trip To Warwick" delivered a potent supply of each: Neil farting in the cramped car on the way to the university, to the disgust of Tara and mortification of Simon; Jay's desperate sexual anecdote about a Dutch girl he shagged ("... she shit down my arm"); the nonsensical drinking game of some University kids; Will being pressured into eating a bonsai tree to feel accepted; Simon suffering from impotence after masturbating before getting into bed with Tara, then letting out a stream of abuse as "dirty talk" ("I'm gonna fuck your fucking fanny off, you twat!"); and Neil drinking a bottle of Orangeade then spitting out some cigarette butts floating around inside.

It was all exactly the sort of thing you'd never want to watch with your parents around, which is entirely the point. It's exaggerated and lowbrow, but it knows its audience and delivers what they want in a manner that's not so debased as to be insulting or tedious. The downside is that the characters still feel like sketch show creations, with the possible exception of Will and (occasionally) Simon, while the female characters are window dressing. Hannah Tointon's done wonders with a potentially frivolous role as "hot girlfriend", but even she can't overcome the thin material she's given here, or the fact Tara joins the long list of girls whose arc on the show is predictably leading nowhere. Would it have hurt the show so badly if Simon had popped his cherry? I guess they're saving the losing of virginity for the movie.

Overall, this was just shy of a perfect episode, when taken on its own terms as a raucous, rude, lewd, silly, close-to-the-bone, teenage sex comedy. If you're a fan, you'll have been in hysterics throughout. If you're not, you'll have been appalled at what the kids are watching these days. And that's just as it should be.

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Hannah Tointon, Robin Weaver, Martin Trenaman, Dominic Applewhite, Charlie Covell, Ambrosine Falck, Lewis Linford, Jack Brear & Danny Kirrane
TRANSMISSION: 4 October 2010 – E4/HD, 10PM

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'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.3 - "Will's Dilemma"

I wish The Inbetweeners would decide if it's a semi-realistic comedy or a live-action comic strip, because I spent most of this third episode either smiling in satisfaction at well-observed adolescent behaviour, or struggling to swallow its broader moments. Do we really believe Tara (Hannah Tointon) would want to dress up new boyfriend Simon (Joe Thomas) to look like a complete idiot? Absolutely not. And the show still can't escape giving us caricatured female characters; here a giant schoolgirl called Kerry (Abbey Mordue) was the butt of many jokes, accompanying Will (Simon Bird) on a double date with Simon and Tara, which Will only put up with because Kerry's renowned for giving her boyfriends blowjobs.

It was an amusing episode, by and large: from Jay (James Buckley) crashing Neil's (Blake Harrison) 18th birthday present of a motorbike, seconds after claiming he's a skilled stuntman; to Simon having to face Tara's prudish parents and shocking them by swearing and revealing an offensive bumper sticker on his car. I just find think the show could be a lot better if they went for Peep Show-style realism, because the funniest moments here were whenever Simon's friends kept trilling "mimimimimimimi!" if he mentioned his girlfriend. Immature, silly, funny and accurate in its depiction of the kind of things teenage boys do to tease/annoy each other, it reminded me of when The Inbetweeners was more like that. Exaggerations of real life, not unrealistic sketch-show moments like Simon fainting at the cinema while watching a horror movie.

But this isn't a new complaint. The Inbetweeners often crosses the boundary, for me. Just when you're relishing the accuracy and nostalgic kick some of the situations and behaviour can elicit, along comes something ridiculous that stretches your disbelief to breaking point, or the quality of acting suddenly drops to school play levels.

Overall, I didn't dislike this episode, but it let itself down. Will in particular came across as a horrible person in his handling of Kerry, and that entire storyline didn't lead anywhere very interesting or cathartic. I was fine with how Will avoided learning a clichéd lesson that it's Kerry's personality that really counts, not her phsyical size, but we didn't get anything better.

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Hannah Tointon, Greg Davies & Abbey Mordue
TRANSMISSION: 27 September 2010 - E4/HD, 10PM

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'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.2 - "The Gig & The Girlfriend"

I think we can all agree The Inbetweeners is at its best when dealing with coming-of-age events its audience recognize. Last week's fashion show was quite a funny situation (I liked it more than most people), but I don't remember my school ever putting on a fashion show, so there wasn't a deeper level of recognition. In contrast, "The Gig & The Girlfriend" was focused on drugs and, even if you've never taken drugs, it's an area most people's school life touched on in some way.

Simon (Joe Thomas) met a new girl at school called Tara (Hannah Tointon), whom he somehow impressed enough to land a date with to a small gig in town. Inevitably, Will (Simon Bird), Neil (Blake Harrison) and Jay (James Buckley) decided to tag along, partly because Simon had told Tara he could get his hands on "puff" and Jay had claimed he could get his hands on weed. A perennial bullshitter, Jay had no such contact (lying he'd been sent to Afghanistan), so resorted to asking school bully Donovan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) for drugs, only to be given a pouch of harmless tea leaves, which then forced him to approach a dealer at the club itself.

The night out resulted in Jay having uncharacteristic success in scoring drugs for his friends, which made a drooling Neil robot-dance in slow-motion, Tara vomit all over Simon's shoes when she moved in for a kiss, and Will to get quietly freaked out ("time's going very slowly and everything's flat") before publicly requesting an ambulance using the stage's microphone.

This was a much funnier episode than the premiere, because the situation was something you could identify with, and it's just amusing to see these characters deal with drug-taking. If I have a criticism of The Inbetweeners it's that the main characters rarely evolve beyond their basic settings: Will's the sensible one often spoiling everyone's fun; Neil's a trusting human puppy, willing to go with the flow; Simon's the most normal one, whose friends are holding him back; and Jay's the sex-obsessed pathological liar.

There's nothing wrong with having characters stick to their core sources of comedy, but I do sometimes wish they were more three-dimensional, because their reactions to events sometimes don’t ring true. Would someone like Will, tripping on drugs or not, really take to the stage and ask to see his mummy? I understand things are exaggerated for comic effect, but considering how The Inbetweeners is at its best whenever it's dealing with a Peep Show-style level of realism, I wish that sense of plausibility was more consistent. Episodes often turns rather cartoonish towards the end, blunting the sharp edge they have until their climaxes.

Anyway, it's a very wise move to introduce a character like Tara. The female characters on the show have always been thin and dull, but Tara showed real spark and energy. Well, at least during her introduction scene and when sharing a "doobie" with the boys in an alley, before becoming just another gross-out punchline during the vomit-kiss sequence. Still, I have hope Tara will shake-up the foursome's dynamic, and prove to be more interesting than the extremely bland Carli (Emily Head) who Simon's been infatuated with. That never seemed to go anywhere. Tointon seems like a better actress than Head and Emily Atack, given a character who appears to be more interesting, too.

Overall, "The Gig & The Girlfriend" wasn't a classic episode, but it came close in a few instances. I also enjoyed the brief scenes with Jay's dad (David Schaal) humiliating his son ("Jay showing you where he used to shag the cushions?"); and Will's mum (Belinda Stewart-Wilson) buoyantly emasculating her son for being too sensible to get into trouble where drugs are concerned. The adult characters are welcome injections of embarrassment and rather monstrous in their own way, wisely used sparingly.

Aside

• Hannah Tointon is the younger sister of Kara Tointon (most famous for her role as Dawn in EastEnders, currently participating in Strictly Come Dancing). She also starred in Hollyoaks.

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Emily Head, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Hannah Tointon, David Schaal & Belinda Stewart-Wilson
TRANSMISSION: 20 September 2010 - E4/HD, 10PM

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TV Ratings: 'The Inbetweeners', E4

E4's The Inbetweeners got off to a terrific start on Monday night, with an average of 2.2 million people tuning in for the award-winning comedy (the night's biggest multichannel audience). E4+1 attracted an extra 327,000 viewers.

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'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.1 - "The Fashion Show"

Why not head over to Obsessed With Film to read my review of THE INBETWEENERS's third series premiere, that aired last night on E4. Can the teen-comedy capitalize on its BAFTA success before the four leads become too old to play convincing schoolboys?

"Having spent two years somewhat under-the-radar, a recent BAFTA award means significantly more people will tune into The Inbetweeners' third series, as broadcast on E4 every week, rather than gorge on the DVD box-sets. Writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris may even additional pressure to maintain quality, without turning the show into a caricature of its former self. There were already signs that series 2 lacked the restraint of its first year — so will series 3 find surer footing, or continue a slide?" Continue reading...

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September 2010: 'Deadwood', 'The Inbetweeners' & 'True Blood'

A quick heads-up about three notable shows on British TV next month. TCM are showing season 1 of HBO western Deadwood from 6-21 September*, E4's teen-comedy The Inbetweeners begins series 3 from 13 September, and season 2 of True Blood finally arrives on terrestrial Channel 4 on 2 September.

* Deadwood's another unfortunate blindspot of mine, not helped by the fact I'm not really drawn to westerns. It's a show I always hear good things about, so part of me's tempted to jump into these repeats. But it's going to be such a busy month for TV that I doubt I'll find time for it.

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