Rude, crude and the funniest comedy I've seen in years! (The Inbetweeners)

Member Name: foxylou1980

Product:	The Inbetweeners
Date:	18/05/09 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Really funny, great characters, fantastic comic timing from a talented young cast

Disadvantages: Will really offend some people (but in my view if you don't like it, change the channel!)

I had heard a lot about The Inbetweeners before I ever watched it, and had a vague idea of what it was about. However i thought it was aimed squarely at young teenagers and being an old granny of 28 I didn't think it was for me! However I caught an episode of series 2 a couple of weeks back on E4 and I loved it so much that I watched all of series 1 on TV Choice on Demand and caught up with series 2 on 4OD! And it's safe to say that I wouldn't let any child of mine watch it until they were at least 16!

As you can probably tell from the title of my review, The Inbetweeners is incredibly crude and very rude, and not for the easily offended! It is also one of the funniest shows I've seen in a long while.

The show is based around four boys in the sixth form at their local comprehensive school, and their misadventures as they struggle to lose their virginities and get into the popular kids' parties. They are "the inbetweeners" in that they're not the geekiest kids in school but not all that popular either.

Will (played by Simon Bird) is a newcomer to Rudge Park Comprehensive. He struggles to make friends from the outset as he is an obvious outsider; he actually takes a briefcase to school, never a good look! He hangs around Simon (played by Joe Thomas) who begrudgingly lets him join with his little group of friends. I find the character of Will quite annoying; he is very posh and "private school", although I do admire the way that he deals with so much criticism without batting an eyelid. Will's mam is universally fancied by all of Will's friends!

Simon is the most "normal" out of the four boys. He has had a massive crush on family friend and fellow sixth-former Carly for years, and throughout both series we follow his unrequited love for her and his attempts to woo her (which never turn out to plan). I really like the character of Simon; he is quite sensitive for a young boy and very sarcastic.

Neil (played by Blake Harrison) is just adorable in my opinion! He's certainly not the sharpest tool in the box, but this is what makes him so appealing. He has a great big stupid grin on his face for most of the time, and is the focus of many jibes from the other boys who wind him up that his dad is gay (which Neil fervently denies, although it is totally obvious that he is!) Neil is madly in lust with Will's mother, which Will, as you can imagine, is none too happy about!

Jay (played by James Buckley) is a really funny character. He is by far the crudest character in the show; a compulsive liar who boasts often of sexual exploits which have never occurred. I would really love to put some great quotes from Jay in this review, but there's a very good chance I'd get kicked off Dooyoo if I did! I do feel a bit sorry for Jay at times as his dad constantly puts him down, especially with regard to his manhood!

My favourite episode of series 1 is "Caravan Club", where the boys all go to stay in Jay's parents' caravan, with predictably hilarious results, after Jay tells them that it's like one big massive orgy!

I have two favourite episodes from series 2; "The Field Trip" sees the boys going on a field trip to the seaside (I was crying with laughter by the end of this!); and "Work Experience" which ends with the boys visiting an underage disco, where Simon is quite successful with one of the young girls there (this episode is particularly crude but I found it hilarious!)

Series 2 left it open for another series of The Inbetweeners, and I for one can't wait for series 3. If you are at all offended by bad language or scenes of a sexual nature then please please avoid this show like the plague. If however, like me, you have a juvenile sense of humour and aren't really offended by anything then I promise you will LOVE it!

Summary: I LOVE this show, and can't wait for series 3! Let's hope they get a well-deserved BAFTA next time!