Emily Atack is brilliant – but she shouldn’t be in the Inbetweeners reboot

If you grew up listening to Vampire Weekend, shopping in Topshop, and your knees have started to hurt recently, then chances are you’re excited for the new Inbetweeners movie. 

So you were no doubt devastated yesterday when rumours emerged that the reboot project was being held up by an alleged feud between two cast members.

But I’m not. 

Specifically, it’s been reported that James Buckley (who plays the man who took Woking from the Conference to the Champions League, Jay Cartwright) and Emily Atack are at odds over ‘a couple of cheeky snogs’ they shared back in the day.

Allegedly, when the first two Inbetweeners movies were being made, Buckley issued an ‘it’s her or me’ ultimatum to the film bosses, which meant that her character, Charlotte Hinchcliffe, couldn’t appear in either. 

Unsurprisingly, this reportedly left Atack pretty upset, and over a decade on, is now undecided on whether she’ll sign up for the revival. 

But I don’t think The Inbetweeners really needs to bring Charlotte Hinchcliffe back for another appearance 

And not just because the boys will be in their 30s now and hanging around with a girl they ogled 16 years ago would be sad even for them. 

So bring your wellies, as we get knee-deep in the controversy (if you can truly call arguing that a character not appearing in a film adaptation of a 2000s TV show a controversy).

Charlotte obviously played a big role in the show as Will’s ‘one true love’ (although, as Simon reminded us, he’d only kissed three girls, so his type was ‘anyone who’ll let him’) and that worked well across the first three seasons. 

After all, Inbetweeners’ main selling point was how hilarious and on-point it was as a description of British teenage life. 

And there’s something tragically relatable in Will pining for someone who (by the barbaric rules teenagers live by) was seen as several social ranks his senior, not to mention a girl from the year above. 

Unlike so many people, though, Will came tantalisingly close to his dream of wooing Charlotte – although we shouldn’t forget that rubbing up against the perineum doesn’t count as a notch on his bedpost – but I never thought their awkward ‘will they won’t they’ was a love story.

Will and Charlotte’s story didn’t end on a cliffhanger where we were left wondering what could have been if university didn’t pull them apart or a coy hint that they’d make a go of it in the future. 

The show gave us a definitive end to their ‘romance’, one that worked for both characters even if it didn’t give Will a happy ending. 

Charlotte only started flirting with Will to get one over on her psychopathic ex Donovan, and while she was undoubtedly charmed by his sense of humour, she was really never that into him.

Lest we forget, she did sleep with suave Frenchman Patrice, and if Neil’s to be believed, Will might not have been the only Inbetweener she’d kissed.

This all culminates in the Fashion Show episode where Will abandons his moral stance on modelling and walks the catwalk with his unrequited love in hopes of impressing her. 

In the end, a delighted Charlotte calls Will sweet and kind before saying that she wishes she had a boyfriend like him.

Yet when Will asks ‘why not him’, she bursts out laughing and says ‘no,not you, someone like you’. 

It’s a sad moment for poor Will, but an important one that shouldn’t be undone. 

Because, while I’m sure people will say that Charlotte ‘cruelly rejected’ our favourite Briefcase W****r, she didn’t really. 

Charlotte, throughout all three seasons, after their first brief dalliance, has always been very clear with Will that she just sees them as friends. 

Her saying ‘a boy like you’ was just Will finally hearing the answer she’s been giving him for years: she likes him; just not in that way.

And yes, that’s painful, but it’s an important adolescent experience (trust me on that) – to understand that the fantasy partner you’ve built in your head is just that: a fantasy. 

It’s also one Simon famously learns when he finally gets his dream girl Carly in the first movie, only to be brutally dumped and learn she simply isn’t for him. 

With Charlotte’s final rejection, then, Will can finally move on and stop pining for a girl who just isn’t that into him and find someone who does like him.

And in the first movie (before sitcom inertia forced the character to revert to his insufferable persona in the sequel in pursuit of a gap year tryhard), he does move on with Alison who, rather remarkably, is actually attracted to him. 

Of course, she’s missing from the sequel thanks to Will’s aforementioned character regression (although it may have also had something to do with Alison’s actor, Laura Haddock, landing a Marvel role). 

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In my opinion, bringing Charlotte back for a cameo or appearance risks undermining the small amount of character development Will got, no matter how much he will have changed (or not) in the 15 years since the boys left school. 

Charlotte was a great character, but she served her function and bringing her back risks turning a memorable character into blatant nostalgia bait or even worse, reducing her to an object to be lusted over.  

Finally, and most obviously, I think while The Inbetweeners doesn’t need Emily Atack, she doesn’t need the show either. 

She’s been killing it since it ended, most recently on Rivals, so I’m not sure she would really want to go back to being Charlotte ‘Big Jugs’ Hinchcliffe.

After all, just because we’re all excited to relive our youth when The Inbetweeners returns doesn’t mean Atack has to relive hers.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

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