Today, a moment of sexual rejection might push a boy into the manosphere. Back in 2008, it would lead him to the sweaty, cringe-worthy world of The Inbetweeners.
The show followed teenagers Will (massive geek, played by Simon Bird), Simon (perpetually lovelorn, played by Joe Thomas), Jay (sex-obsessed pathological liar, played by James Buckley) and Neil (stupid, liked to put Lego up his bum, played by Blake Harrison). We watched them navigate friendship, sex and chugging so many energy drinks that you shit yourself in an A-level exam. It was uproariously funny, deeply relatable and a prolific meme generator.
Now, it’s getting a reboot. Creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley announced they’ve struck a deal with production company Banijay UK, and said, “It’s incredibly exciting to be plotting more adventures for our four favourite friends (ooh, friends)”. It’s not yet known whether the project will involve a new TV series, a film or even a stage adaptation, but it will be the boys’ first proper outing in over a decade.
If the existing spinoffs are anything to go by, this reboot might not be a recipe for side-splitting comedy. By the time of the films in 2011 and 2014, the format was starting to wear thin and the characters, as well as their friendships, were becoming harder to believe. While lines like, “bring your wellies, because we’re going to be knee deep in clunge,” are iconic in the mouth of a swaggering school boy, they just don’t work from an adult man. We can’t know what larks Morris and Beesley have in store, but I don’t really want to watch a heavily bearded Jay wanking in a stationary cupboard, or a balding Simon vomiting on the head of his own child.
However, if this new project manages to direct today’s insecure teenage boys to the show’s original three series, that’ll be a great thing. What The Inbetweeners at its best managed to do was normalise the mortifying adolescent attempts to learn about sex through trial and oh so many errors.
Watching this toe-curling show made teenage viewers feel seen. Suddenly, life-endingly embarrassing moments seemed slightly less disastrous. Anyone whose first lover told them, actually, “I’m not going to count that one”, who cried after being dumped before claiming “my cock was too big for her”, who accidentally revealed a bollock at a charity fashion show (OK, that one was quite niche), felt a little less alone.
The Inbetweeners weren’t role models. They were always perving on someone’s mum or reluctantly accepting a blowjob from a character called “Big Kerry”. They were morally bankrupt, desperately selfish and terrible friends to one another. But the show made it clear they were always the architects of their own downfall: they weren’t the victims of the female sex.
Now, male influencers like Andrew Tate prey on young boys who think the world is stacked against them. On forums, men claim women have made them involuntarily celibate, by rejecting them to pursue partners with a “higher market value”. Some push the 80/20 rule, mentioned in Adolescence, that 80 per cent of women are attracted only to the top 20 per cent of men.
Adolescence may have raised some important questions in 2025, but some of the answers can be found in the silly, jibing satire of The Inbetweeners. If today’s boys go back to watch the adventures of Will, Simon, Jay and Neil, they’ll realise the humiliations of teenage life aren’t because girls are conspiring to deny them sex. These howlers are actually rites of passage – and precious anecdotes for when they can one day, legally, go down the pub.
[Further reading: How Marks & Spencer became cool]
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