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For better or for worse, everyone has vivid memories of their high school days.  A time of both great enjoyment and social humiliation, these formative years are a constant source of nostalgia for many.  The Inbetweeners is a new British comedy which manages to effectively harness the drama and humour of these confusing teenage years and, combined with the witty yet realistic writing of Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, the series will undoubtedly go down as a classic in the same vein as The IT Crowd and Coupling (although admittedly with a lot more pubescent vulgarity thrown into the mix).  Originally screening on E4 in 2008, it has also run through its two series length on Go! in Australia.  While it has not yet broken into mainstream consciousness here, those who so far have been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the show will inevitably testify to its strong character driven comedy. 

What makes The Inbetweeners such a good show is the detailed and very relatable cast of characters.  Main protagonist Will McKenzie is a high achieving yet snobbish teenager who has attended private school his entire life, but as season one opens this all changes.  With his parents divorcing, Will is forced to enter the intimidating and unforgiving world of public education, and his initial attempts at fitting in go all but well.  As the first episode concludes however, he has somehow managed to tentatively make friends with three other pupils; Simon Cooper, who spends his entire existence pining after childhood friend Carli; Neil Sutherland, a slow-witted expert dancer, and Jay Cartwright who’s a sexual pervert.  While better adapted to public schooling than Will, Simon and company are almost as socially stunted, perpetually hovering in limbo somewhere between being “cool” and “losers” (hence the show’s title). 

Episodes of The Inbetweeners are often centred around the attempts by the boys to pick up girls, get into parties they weren’t invited to, or to somehow procure alcohol.  Inevitably these efforts will fail miserably, often through a hilarious combination of bad luck and their own stupidity.  What I found so attractive about the show is just how relatable these situations often are; seeing Will attempt to dress “like a man” to buy alcohol or Simon getting drunk “because chicks love that” vividly reminded me of similar incidents from my own teenage years.  So while I may not have been quite as unlucky as Will and his mates in my high school days, half of the show’s appeal is the way in which the viewer can so readily relate to the occurrences in each episode. 

With supporting characters including various love interests (like the attractive but promiscuous Charlotte “Big Jugs” Hinchcliffe), the school bully (in the form of Charlotte’s boyfriend Mark Donovan) and very uncaring teachers (such as Will’s head of form, the sadistic and overbearing Mr Gilbert), the entire high school experience has been perfectly yet comically recreated in The Inbetweeners.  The opinions, personalities and flaws of each of the four characters are sure to remind viewers of people they knew in high school, and many will likely find the humiliating situations the group of friends often find themselves in painfully relatable.  For those who can stomach near constant profanity and jokes about the sexual appeal of Will’s mum, The Inbetweeners should be considered essential viewing.  While it is not currently being run on Australian TV, the DVDs of both seasons are available and a third is presently in production.