15 years ago today, the very last episode of The Inbetweeners was broadcast on E4, bringing an era of British comedy to a fitting end.
Set at Rudge Park Comprehensive, The Inbetweeners followed the awkward lives of four distinctly average 17-year-old boys during their time at sixth form.
The defining teenage sitcom of the 2000s, The Inbetweeners – starring Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley, and Blake Harrison – was one of Britain’s most beloved TV series and spawned two films.
Endlessly quotable, the winner of several awards, and apparently on the brink of a surprise 2026 revival, the Damon Beesley and Iain Morris’ comedy has stood the test of time.
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of its finale – season three’s Camping Trip – Metro has revisited every single one of the 18 episodes from the original main series.
Find out which episode fans are wrong about, and whether your favourite episode ranks among the very best The Inbetweeners had to offer.
18. Will’s Dilemma (season 3, episode 3)
The Inbetweeners has aged well because its razor-sharp comedy stems from the boys’ naïve, misguided views on sex, women, and the world around them. Their ignorance is always the punchline.
Will’s Dilemma is a different matter, sadly. The episode has one joke: Will’s poor date Kerry is unconventionally tall. We’re then asked to feel sympathy for Will when he faces consequences of toying with Kerry’s feelings.
Still, we get Jay’s motorbike crash here, and we also get ‘Waterside!’ and ‘Completed it, mate’ from Neil and Jay’s sideplot – which is probably made funnier simply because it’s separate from all the Will and Kerry nonsense.
17. The Gig and the Girlfriend (season 3, episode 2)
The weakest entries of the whole Inbetweeners series suffer the most when they don’t quite manage to build an organic, constantly escalating story that collapses with inevitable embarrassment in its final stages.
But The Gig and the Girlfriend’s big climax – featuring Will’s drug-induced meltdown – never feels inevitable. The dominos topple without being arranged. Tara’s introduction isn’t executed all that successfully either.
Like every episode, though, we get more than a handful of shiny moments: Neil’s slow-motion sleep tablet dancing, Will’s random arm flailing, and Jay’s hilariously pathetic ‘Could you roll it up for us, please?’
16. Xmas Party (season 1, episode 6)
Xmas Party doesn’t do much wrong, but its plot – ‘Will organises the sixth form Christmas party, then the Christmas party takes place’ – doesn’t exactly offer abundant room for classic Inbetweeners hijinks.
Like The Gig and the Girlfriend, it lines up a collection of humorous vignettes rather than a constantly escalating story, and at least 5% of the action is taken up by that band performing on the Rudge Park stage.
Still, ‘Too jazzy?’ will live on forever and Neil’s choice of suit for the party has surely seen a stag weekend or two in real life. The episode even allows itself to be sentimental on occasion as the first season draws to a close.
15. Work Experience (season 2, episode 2)
In season two’s Work Experience, Will’s class-based prejudices are shown up at the garage, his mistreatment of Charlotte ends with the ‘nasty little virgin’ kiss-off, and Simon’s war with Northwood provides good laughs.
The Inbetweeners soundtrack also provides its finest moment, too, as Girls Aloud’s Something Kinda Ooooh rises up and up while Will, Jay, and Neil all grimace at Simon ‘getting w****d off’ at an under-18s disco.
Work Experience just has a lower laugh-per-minute ratio. Mr Gilbert breaking down in hysterics in the corridor is probably the most anyone has laughed at Will being thrown into a lake. Still, we do get to meet Wolfie.
14. The Duke of Edinburgh Awards (season 2, episode 5)
There are so many brilliant Inbetweeners episodes that the less brilliant ones end up down here. Jay’s ‘ectoplasm’ care home handshake might be the toughest moment to watch across the entire series, for good reasons.
Elsewhere, the care home storyline itself provides more than enough good content as Will awkwardly navigates (and then torpedoes) the early stages of courtship with Daisy, his former babysitter who now works at the home.
It’s the ‘c**k wig’ stuff that drags this episode down. Will’s initial embarrassment over the hair removal cream mishap is believable, but anything beyond that feels like the show trying to bite off too much.
13. The Fashion Show (season 3, episode 1)
Simon’s huge humiliation at the end of season three’s premiere, The Fashion Show, comes so far out of the left field that it almost entirely makes up for the rest of the episode’s awkward shortcomings.
Seriously, Simon’s left testicle dangling out of his leather speedos as he struts down the runway had me running out of the room through sheer horror when I first watched this one all the way back in 2010.
What works less well is the characterisation of Charlotte and Carli in this episode, and ‘Paedo Kennedy’s return is tiresome – he’s someone who (in my estimation) was misused from the moment he was introduced anyway.
12. First Day (season 1, episode 1)
The episode that introduces almost every main character, starts off some of the funniest running jokes in British TV, and was such a hit that it’s responsible for us being lucky enough to watch The Inbetweeners at all.
As previously mentioned in this countdown, this series specialises in constant escalation, as the boys’ increasingly desperate plans to get either alcohol or sex repeatedly backfire. First Day builds to Will’s magnificent rant in the Black Horse.
There are certain crucial aspects of the show that are yet to be introduced, but First Day gave us The Inbetweeners – and for that, it deserves our endless gratitude and, just for old time’s sake, a massive green badge.
11. Will Gets a Girlfriend (season 1, episode 4)
Will Gets a Girlfriend normally finds itself much lower down Inbetweeners rankings like this (it’s the second worst on IMDb). But I’m a sucker for the brief moments when this show allows itself to be sentimental.
After Will ruins his fling with Charlotte, Jay and Simon nervously knock on his door and politely, adorably ask if ‘William‘ is home. It always makes me smile. The Inbetweeners would be nothing without their friendship.
This episode also gives us one of the show’s strongest B-plots, with Jay and his ‘football friend’ providing Neil, Simon, and Will with enough ammo and comebacks against Jay to last a lifetime.
10. Camping Trip (season 3, episode 6)
Camping Trip brings The Inbetweeners to an end in the most appropriate way possible, by isolating the boys in the countryside so we can analyse the ways in which they have changed and destroyed each other’s lives.
It’s essentially a glorified funeral for both the Cinquecento and the boys’ friendship, until raw sausages bring them back together in the tent (via heaps of vomit). They can’t be without each other, for better or worse.
Elsewhere, we get Simon’s brain exploding in the school canteen (‘Make love, Carli? Make love?!’) and his decision to spend a night sitting on top of the garden shed. And who could forget ‘Stop. Burning. My Things!’?
9. Exam Time/End of Term (season 2, episode 6)
The last act of this episode is Inbetweeners gold. Will’s sleep-deprived study regime hits a yucky climax, the deep sadness buried under Jay’s boastful exterior is revealed, and Simon and Carly’s brief fling is blown up.
Seeing the real Jay around Chloe (an actual girlfriend), only to see him cower in fear of his dad and sabotage his chances with her, is one of the few genuinely heartbreaking turns The Inbetweeners attempts.
I said I was a sucker forThe Inbetweeners allowing itself to be sentimental, and there’s plenty of that to go around here. For some reason, though, this episode has always had two names. Make your minds up, guys!
8. Will’s Birthday (season 2, episode 3)
Will’s birthday contains a moment that perfectly captures why The Inbetweeners felt so fresh at the time – the jokes just didn’t follow the conventional or established rhythm of British comedy in the 2000s.
In one scene, the boys run away from French au pair Patrice. Ordinarily, that would be the punchline. Instead, Patrice catches up, asks why they’re running, and brings the run to an awkward stop in the middle of the street.
This is also the episode that features Will’s tight vest top (which he has to reveal at Louise Graham’s birthday party) and Neil asking the boys just how much Lego they can stuff into an unwelcome place. It’s a classic!
7. Home Alone (season 3, episode 5)
Where some episodes of The Inbetweeners’ third season perhaps failed to closely follow the show’s classic formula of having events pile up into a chaotic farce, Home Alone gets it right on the money.
A drunk night at Will’s house sees several incidents escalate, leaving the boys trapped indoors while an angry local resident berates them through the window – Jay’s dog also tragically makes one final trip to the vets.
There’s even room for Mrs Springett – an old woman casually mentioned off-handedly in the opening act – to have her nose broken as Will slams his front door in her face. Everything adds up to a classic in this one.
6. A Night Out in London (season 2, episode 4)
A Night Out in London contains everything you’d want an Inbetweeners episode to be: the four boys together, piled in Simon’s yellow car, heading out into a cooler, trendier world they’re definitely not equipped for.
This one is best remembered, of course, for Jay’s enduring one-liner: ‘Bus w*****s!’ Which is another example of Inbetweeners jokes and punchlines not following the usual rhythms and rules of British TV comedy.
Elsewhere, we have Simon trading shoes with a vagrant, Neil’s wince-inducing intimate injury, and the boys proving once more that they are incapable of talking to girls no matter which London clubs they get into.
5. Thorpe Park (season 1, episode 3)
Despite inspiring the episode’s name, the boys don’t make it to Thorpe Park until after the ad-break in this one, splitting the episode into two incredible acts. That’s how efficient The Inbetweeners is at its very, very best.
Not only does this episode introduce Simon’s yellow car, but we get what might be Will’s most hysterical display of disgraceful public behaviour as he gets on board the Nemesis Inferno. You know what I’m talking about.
Earlier, the boys driving into a hearse procession is a masterclass in cringe comedy, while the image of Neil’s backside being almost pressed into Will’s face will be burned into everyone’s memory for all eternity.
4. The Trip to Warwick (season 3, episode 4)
This is the best episode of season three, purely because it’s the finest example of the show’s last stretch doing everything in its power to recapture is classic formula and deliver unadulterated sitcom chaos.
Sensing a chance to lose his virginity, Simon travels with Tara to see her sister at Warwick University – of course, he makes the big mistake of bringing Neil, Will, and, most unfortunately, Jay along with him.
As the episode ends with Simon smacking his own appendage, Neil urinating all over Will, and Jay propositioning a frightened Dutch woman, you know for sure that what you’ve just witnessed has been pure genius.
3. The Field Trip (season 2, episode 1)
The Inbetweeners always nailed the holiday episodes – this is no different. One-off character Lauren Harris is a perfect sounding board for the writers to show how depraved and embarrassing the boys really are.
The boat scene is the best set-piece in the whole series, as Neil punches a fish to death, Jay fires a flare gun, Will berates Lauren as the boat’s motor fails, and Simon tries not to die from hypothermia after falling into the river.
What knocks a mark off is ‘Paedo Kennedy’. An actual sex offender being employed and protected by Mr Gilbert opens a can of worms that would have been funnier if kept closed. Otherwise, this would be number one.
2. Bunk Off (season 1, episode 2)
Bunk Off starts with a disabled girl being hit in the face by a frisbee and only devolves from there. Some sitcoms wait before chucking fans in at the deep end, but The Inbetweeners wasted almost no time.
Neil suggests karma is out to get the boys as they skip school – by the end, you start to wonder if he’s right. As Simon’s dad says, the boys buy alcohol illegally, steal a suit, abuse Neil’s dad, and deface Carli’s driveway.
Left off Simon’s dad’s list is Simon throwing up over Carli’s little brother and the dreaded frisbee incident that kicked off the unbearably funny day. Even by its second episode, The Inbetweeners was a major comic force.
1. Caravan Club (season 1, episode 5)
The best of them all. And yet, somehow, this languishes in mid-table on IMDb. How could fans of this show be so wrong about its best episode? Caravan Club ticks every box of the classic Inbetweeners checklist.
Send the boys on holiday. Get them in Simon’s car. Expose Jay’s lies for what they are. And then witness that classic Inbetweeners formula, which sees every little detail from Act I have huge ramifications in Act II. Check!
Throw in Jay’s dad making his first (and best) appearance as the horrific cause of Jay’s deep insecurities, and you have not only the best episode of The Inbetweeners but arguably the best episode of any British sitcom.
Watch The Inbetweeners on Channel 4.
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