Simon Bird: An Inbetweeners return would be a terrible idea

18 January 2023

Simon Bird thinks it would be a "terrible idea" to bring back 'The Inbetweeners'.

Simon Bird thinks it would be a 'terrible idea' to bring back The Inbetweeners

The 38-year-old star played teen Will McKenzie in the E4 sitcom, but he doesn't think the show would be "funny" if it made a comeback, and says it would be seen as "sad and creepy" now instead.

He told the Radio Times magazine: "My instinct is it would be a terrible idea. What was funny about these characters was the stage of life they were at.

"They could get away with some of the terrible things they said and did because they were still essentially children.

"If they got back together now, I’m not sure that would be funny. I think it might just be sort of sad and creepy."

Simon recently insisted he doesn't even think 'The Inbetweeners' - which ran for three series from 2008 to 2010 and spawned two films - would be commissioned nowadays.

He recently said: "I honestly think it wouldn’t be commissioned today."

After being questioned if this was because of sexism and other jokes, Simon said: “Yeah, and the casual homophobia.”

But Simon justified the show's legacy, saying the series - which also featured Joe Thomas, Blake Harrison and James Buckley - was supposed to be “an accurate representation” of teen life.

He said: “I rationalise it to myself by saying that at the time it was an accurate representation of the way teenagers talk to each other. Is that still the case now? I assume not.

“Although the programme was set in the 2000s, it was based on a pilot set in 1990, so even in the 2000s it wasn’t really an accurate reflection of how teenagers spoke.”