Why we should leave ‘The Inbetweeners’ in a more innocent era

I n 2026, no pop culture IP ever really dies – and nothing is as beloved as a classic sitcom.

For this reason, it’s entirely unsurprising that Netflix is reportedly bringing back The Inbetweeners for a reunion movie.

And yet, according to the latest tabloid dispatch, a potential stumbling block is a rumoured feud between Emily Atack, who played Charlotte Hinchcliffe, and James Buckley, who portrayed potty mouth-in-chief Jay Cartwright.

READ MORE: James Buckley says there’s no special reason ‘The Inbetweeners’ is still popular: “It’s just quite funny” Whatever the truth behind this report, it should act as a warning sign.

No one wants to imagine that the cast of their favourite show didn’t really get on, just as no one wants to picture them reuniting with gritted teeth for a career boost and a paycheque.

The Inbetweeners , which originally aired on E4 between 2008 and 2010, wasn’t exactly a cosy show – actually, it was a show that briefly popularised the word “clunge” and coined the strangely satisfying expression “bus wanker”.

But we did always believe that mildly deluded Jay, sensible Will McKenzie (Simon Bird), uptight Simon Cooper (Joe Thomas) and gullible Neil Sutherland (Blake Harrison) were a rock-solid friendship group.

And that the untenable girls they tried to flirt with, like Atack’s Charlotte and Emily Head’s Carli D’Amato, saw them as childish and mildly irritating rather than a genuine menace.

These characters could be coarse, crass and embarrassing.

But deep down, they were pretty nice guys.

At the time, The Inbetweeners was such a huge hit that it spawned two successful spin-off films: the first set on a lads’ trip to Malia, and the second on a rather more unlikely jaunt to Australia.

It also yielded an inevitable US remake that, just as inevitably, didn’t last very long.

A large part of The Inbetweeners ‘ charm was the very British strain of adolescent awkwardness that it mined for laughs.

In the UK, Jay and the crew are lovable (sometime) losers.