List of The Inbetweeners characters


This is a list of characters from the British sitcom The Inbetweeners that ran for three series from 2008–2010 on E4. A 2011 film was also released, followed by a sequel in 2014.

Cast

Main characters

Will McKenzie

Will McKenzie is the central character and the narrator of the show as well. In the first episode, Will starts his first day in his new school with a briefcase, which leads to him being nicknamed "Briefcase Wanker".

[|Simon Cooper]

Simon Cooper is the oldest member of the group. He becomes best friends with Will McKenzie after initially avoiding him due to his "actual briefcase", "clumpy shoes" and "gay hair". Simon's first task of the new term is showing Will to his classes - a task assigned by the Head of Sixth Form, [|Mr Gilbert]. Simon, being the eldest, is also the first to learn how to drive, having passed his driving test before Christmas. His father buys him an old small, yellow Fiat Cinquecento Hawaii - Simon, Jay Cartwright, [|Neil Sutherland] and others think the car is inadequate and dislike the colour, and mock the fact that it has a tape deck. The car's passenger-side door is ripped off due to Jay opening the door and it colliding with a pole whilst having an argument with Simon when he was reversing at Thorpe Park. However, in "Caravan Club", the door has been replaced with a red one.
Simon has been attracted to his childhood friend Carli D'Amato since they were eight years old. Despite many awkward attempts to show her his feelings - including spray painting "I Love Carli D'Amato" on her driveway - for most of the time she does not reciprocate, partly due to having a boyfriend, [|Tom], but in the final episode of the second series: "Exam Time", Carli seems interested in Simon after she split up with her boyfriend Tom, and they kiss while revising for A-levels at Simon's house. Carli agrees to meet Simon at the local pub for a post-exam drink, but when she arrives it was revealed she has reconciled with Tom, to the chagrin of Simon. His parents briefly go on a trial separation in "The Duke of Edinburgh Awards", but they have reconciled by the end of the episode.
In series 3, Simon takes part in the school charity fashion show, but humiliates both himself and Carli when he walks along the catwalk wearing Speedos with a testicle sticking out. In the episode "The Gig and the Girlfriend", Simon gets a girlfriend, [|Tara Brown], whom he kisses at a concert. The couple break up at the end of the episode "The Trip to Warwick" after they fail to have sex due to Simon being unable to get an erection. Simon is the most volatile of the group, especially when in discussions with his family, where he frequently over-reacts to gentle goading and even advice. He is sometimes shown to be extremely impulsive and bitter, saying and doing things that cause him great embarrassment. He also gets into a slew of unfortunate situations including being physically and verbally attacked, accused of being a "paedophile", failing to have sex with his girlfriend Tara after taking Jay's questionable sex advice, and humiliating himself in front of Carli, most notably during the fashion show. In the last episode, the boys play a game where they swap mobile phones, and have to send a text message to anyone of their choice on the phone's contact list. Simon later receives a reply from Carli that leaves him with a smile, which suggests she indicates that she feels the same way as Simon, and indicates that there is more in store for him and Carli.

Jay Cartwright

Jay Cartwright is obsessed with sex, with almost all his comments being on the subject. He frequently lies and exaggerates about his experiences - sexual and otherwise - often making rude comments about girls in general and offering highly questionable "advice" to his friends, and frequently uses words such as "clunge" and "snatch" to describe women's genitalia. In fact, he is the least sexually experienced of the group, frequently relying on pornography to attain gratification, as he finds it difficult engaging with girls. He is also the physically weakest of the group, with his scrawny physique and small penis size being frequently made fun of throughout the show's run. His father contradicts Jay's exaggerated stories in an often bullying nature, claiming Jay is very unsuccessful with women, and is always putting him down in some way or another. He is self-righteous, duplicitous and untrustworthy, often inventing stories about his various exploits and giving his friends bad advice about sex to lift his ego, while being aware that they will likely fail.
At the end of the first series, Jay opens up to [|"Big" John Webster], admitting that many of his stories are somewhat exaggerated because he is worried that people do not notice him, and that he is afraid of being ignored. However, he throws this side of him away when [|Samantha], a girl possessing many similar characteristics to Jay, starts chatting to him. He seldom performs any acts of kindness and he routinely insults even his closest friends, with his comments reaching a more severe level than the insults the rest of the group frequently exchange. In one of the deleted scenes he even insults Will McKenzie in German. It is implied in the last episode that Jay may have been sexually abused by his former next-door neighbour, when Neil Sutherland mentions a "game" that Jay and the neighbour used to "play" in the garden shed, which Jay denies abruptly.
Jay's only friend who genuinely likes him is Neil, mostly because he is naïve and believes Jay's stories. Another recurring theme of Jay's character is that he often steals things, such as hair removal cream and a flyer for a house party from a girl named Sadie Cunningham during registration. He also often gets Simon into trouble for things he had said, most notably getting Simon throttled by a man after Jay shouts "bus wankers!" through the car window. Between the second and third series, Jay passes his driving test; however, both his car and driving skills are awful.

Neil Sutherland

Neil Sutherland is the dull-witted and gentle giant of the group. Due to his gullibility, he is usually the only person who believes Jay Cartwright's false stories and often fails to understand the sarcasm in Will McKenzie's one-liners. His friends tease him about his father [|Kevin] being a closeted homosexual; both Neil and his father strongly deny this. He has, along with Jay and Simon Cooper, passed his driving test and owns a glamorous Vauxhall Nova GSi, but it does not have an engine. He takes part in the school's version of Blind Date and wins an unwanted date with [|Susie], one of the school's "freaks". He works at Thorpe Park, and also works on-off over the series at Asda. He can do "The Robot" and has a crush on his biology teacher Miss Timms. Despite being naive, he is well-meaning and confident compared to the rest of the group.
Neil is the most sexually experienced of the group; a recurring theme is that Neil ends up hooking up with women originally fancied by Will. He spent a night in Simon's car with a punk girl in the series one episode "Caravan Club". He says that he snogged and fingered Charlotte Hinchcliffe after Will was with her, although he informs Will only of the snog to protect his friend's feelings from further being hurt. He also manages to get a blowjob from Will's crying date [|Kerry] at his 18th birthday party. Neil is also revealed to have sexual encounters with unseen female characters on the show, including much older colleague Karen at Asda. In the final episode of series 3, Neil wrongly assumes that he has impregnated her, but receives a text correcting him. He celebrates the fact that he has likely contracted chlamydia from her, wrongly believing it to be a good thing. Neil's middle name is revealed to be Lindsay in a deleted scene from series 3, at his 18th birthday party.
Neil has an attractive older sister, [|Katie] whom the boys stare at when visiting Neil's; however, he usually does not get angry or offended by the attention like Will does about his mother [|Polly], more likely because he is oblivious and laid-back. His father is often shown to be exasperated by Neil's ignorance and constantly says in an unimpressed tone "Neil!". Recurring jokes are that despite his lack of intelligence, Neil tends to be right about meaningless facts and that he sometimes gets with girls whom Will is pursuing. Neil sometimes hooks up with much older, unattractive women – he is shown to be surprised when he thinks Karen is pregnant because she told him that she could not have any more children.

Secondary characters

Phil Gilbert

Mr. Phil Gilbert is the head of sixth form. He is sardonic, sadistic, misanthropic, dry, depressed and possesses no enthusiasm for his occupation, once telling Will McKenzie that "the only reason people go into teaching is because they are unambitious, unlucky and the relaxed rules on police background checks". When he is not being a bully, he shows no regard for the students and their welfare. On the occasions he does stop wrongdoing, he tends to defuse the situation without resolving the issues that caused it.
He deeply hates the boys, particularly Will, who sometimes tries to endear himself to Gilbert and gets rebuffed. He takes delight at any misfortune to befall Will - even going so far as to threaten him if he snitched on whoever tied him up and put a bin over his head. He also blackmails Will into discovering who destroyed a local roundabout's flower arrangement by threatening to sabotage his university application, as he believes Will sticks his "beaky nose" into everybody's business and must know who did it. In the third series, he tells Will that he is single and that Will's mother Polly McKenzie is "very much his type". In the same series, he gives Jay Cartwright and Neil Sutherland four weeks' detention after they mention Waterside, the shopping centre they spotted him buying soft toys in.
In the first movie, Gilbert gives an end-of-year speech, in which he expresses utter contempt for the entire year group, claiming he is "at best ambivalent" towards most of the students, but that he "actively dislikes" others for their "poor personal hygiene" and "irritating personalities". He ends the hate-filled speech by asking that they not murder anyone, as it "reflects badly" on the school. In the final scene of the first movie, Gilbert is seen riding shirtless on a quad bike in Malia, Crete.
In the second movie, it is revealed that Gilbert is in a relationship with Polly. They announce their engagement at the end of the movie, to the terror of Will, as he realises Gilbert will likely soon become his stepfather.

Carli D'Amato

Carli D'Amato is Simon Cooper's love interest and has been since they were eight years old. She is popular and attractive, with an older rugby-player boyfriend named Tom, making her even more unattainable. Although she is well aware of his strong attraction to her, she only seems to think of Simon as a platonic friend – she strings him along to gain his favour. Simon is oblivious to Carli's selfish and manipulative personality, although his friends are not easily as fooled. On several occasions, Will McKenzie and Jay Cartwright have openly expressed dislike for her, with Will pointing out that she merely strings him along, and Jay calling her "stuck-up." She throws Simon small bits of affection to keep his hopes up in her. In "Exam Time", she asks if she can revise for her exams at his house, and when there, mentions that she has broken up with her boyfriend; when she notices Simon trying to impress her, she uses the opportunity to get him to help tutor her for a subject that he is not even studying himself. He ends up spending the entire revision period studying for her Geography exam, so he can continue to tutor her, instead of his own exams. When he later thinks they have a chance at dating, she promptly tells him she is back with Tom.
In episode one of series three, a wedge is driven between Carli and Simon after he accidentally revealed one of his testicles in the fashion show, believing he did it on purpose to make a fool out of her. However, in the series finale, Carli seems to be more affectionate towards Simon, hinting at a potential relationship, were Simon not moving to Swansea. She later replies to a prank text, sent by the boys from Simon's phone. Simon refuses to reveal the nature of the response, but is pleased upon reading it.
Between the end of the series and the beginning of the film, Simon and Carli have been dating, but she breaks up with him as she wants to be single whilst going on holiday and at university, obviously having viewed their relationship with a lot less investment than Simon. The boys' attempts to get him over Carli are the catalyst for going on holiday to Malia, although they find once there that Neil had thoughtlessly booked them onto the same holiday as her, which Simon views as a sign he should win her back. He rebuffs the advances of a nice girl named Lucy in his attempts to win Carli back, but she has formed a relationship with James, her narcissistic holiday rep. At a boat party, she and James fall out and Carli asks Simon to kiss her to make James feel jealous. Simon eventually realises that Carli is using him for her own ends and breaks up with her for good.

[|Mark Donovan]

Mark Donovan is the foul-mouthed school bully, who often picks on Will McKenzie. This is partly because he caught Will kissing his ex-girlfriend Charlotte Hinchcliffe. He is the typical bully, who is friendly and patient in front of parents or teachers, but is otherwise a hoodlum. Donovan is somewhat sensitive, demanding that Will be "gentle" with Charlotte, whilst threatening him with death if he speaks of it. He appears to be less hostile towards Jay Cartwright, Simon Cooper and Neil Sutherland. In Series 3, it is revealed that Donovan smokes cannabis. Jay and Neil attempt to buy some off him upon learning of this, only for him to take the money and sarcastically give them tea granules wrapped in cling film. He was mentioned in the third episode when Donovan attacked Neil in detention and pinned him down and drew penises on the cast that Neil wore.
Donovan reappears in the film, after Mr Gilbert's speech, where he says goodbye to the boys, whom he calls the "bender squad". He then proceeds to give Will an extremely painful wedgie, until Carli D'Amato tells him to stop. In the deleted scenes, the wedgie is done so hard the underwear used for the wedgie is torn off of Will. He was meant to follow the boys to Greece, but the producers could not fit it into the story, so Donovan's role was significantly cut down.

Charlotte Hinchcliffe

When her name is mentioned, Jay often mimics the sound of morse code on a telegram as if in a newsroom, making a "beepity beep beepity beep" noise and exclaiming "Tara update!", because Simon talks about her frequently during their short relationship. He manages to keep this up even when vomiting profusely due to a hangover on the car journey back from Warwick.

John Webster

David Glover

Polly McKenzie

Polly is Will's young attractive mother, whom several of his classmates have stated their attraction to. Because of her separation from his father, she cannot afford to continue sending Will to a private school. This sets up the pilot episode, but she attributes their house and school move to him having being bullied. Will is often teased about his mother's attractiveness, although Polly is often oblivious to their desires, such as assuming in the series 3 episode Home Alone that the boys are giving genuine gaming advice, when they tell her to 'bounce around' to improve her performance in a video game.
Polly often overshares details or stories about Will, who is seen to be embarrassed by his mother, like in Home Alone she asks Neil to insert a suppository to cure Will's migraines, when she told Simon and Mark Donovan in Thorpe Park about the time he cried on the ghost train, when, aged seven and drunk on shandy, he "pulled down his pants" and ran around yelling "I've got a white slug". She also often gives well-intentioned advice or praise to Will, but phrases it horribly and makes him feel self-conscious, like when she tells Will not to pursue Charlotte Hinchcliffe, the most popular girl in school, by telling him that someone like him should "go for one of the plainer girls. Let the good-looking boys go out with the good-looking girls" or when she tells him she can trust that he will not take drugs because he is boring. Because of Will's sarcastic replies, she usually looks pleased with herself afterwards. However, Will seems to have quite a childlike attachment to his mother, whom he cries to when he is upset and gets her to report his bullying to Mr Gilbert.
Polly attempts to begin a relationship with a former schoolfriend named Fergus, the first since her separation, but it is ruined by Will's dramatic reaction and consequently getting drunk and vandalising a garden; Fergus breaks up with Polly because he cannot deal with a "problem child".
In the second film, Polly begins a relationship with Will's former head of sixth form, Mr Gilbert. Originally, when she is seen on Skype, Will becomes suspicious on seeing that she has laid two bowls for breakfast, although she pretends that Will's grandmother is staying. Then, at the end of the film, Polly announces to Will that she and Mr Gilbert have entered into a relationship and are engaged, to Will's horror as Mr Gilbert is to become his new stepfather.

Pamela Cooper

Pamela is Simon's mother. She is caring and supportive to him, but her efforts to help are often met by embarrassment and surliness from Simon. The details of her and Mr. Cooper's sex life are often shared with the boys by him, which makes Simon feel awkward. When Simon is being unreasonable, she attempts to reason with him and make the best of things, which usually serves to make him more ill-tempered.
In one episode, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper separate temporarily, which upsets her greatly; however when Simon hears her about her crying, it embarrasses and annoys him. However, they reconcile by the end of the episode, and according to Will's narration, have noisy sex upstairs whilst the boys are in the front room.

Alan Cooper

Alan is Simon's father. He constantly reminds Simon of his sex life, often going into unwelcome, inappropriate, intimate detail of his sexual life both with and before his marriage to Pamela. While dropping the boys off at the airport he tells the boys that they are in for a great time stating "girls just seem to let themselves go a bit more abroad". Despite his sexual nature Alan is an ultimately caring parent and reasonable disciplinarian, but he is often described by his son to "go mental" when he does something irresponsible or lets him down, i.e. going out to London at night and not attending the 'Father-Son Golf Tournament'.

Andrew Cooper

Andrew is Simon's younger brother, with whom he often argues. He has been seen to outsmart Simon on more than one occasion, and it seems that he has a bit of disdain for Simon's uncool "sad case" status, suggesting he is probably more popular and more liked at school than Simon.
In the series finale when Mr Cooper announces that after a hard decision, he is moving the family to Swansea, Simon reacts badly and says he will stay in London and get a flat with Jay, and that Andrew can live there too; Andrew flatly refuses to even consider it, implying that he would rather move to Wales than live with Simon and Jay.

Mrs Cartwright

Neil's mother is mentioned several times throughout the show. She is divorced from Neil's father, Kevin. Neil claims that she was in a difficult place, though many assume the reason for the divorce was Kevin's alleged closet homosexuality. She has since dated a man similar to Kevin, leading Neil to believe that she has a type. She bought Neil a motorbike for his eighteenth birthday, which Jay crashed shortly afterwards. She is the only parent among the four boys who is never seen in the TV series, though she is seen at the end of the second film.

Katie Sutherland

Katie Sutherland's boyfriend

Katie's boyfriend is first mentioned in the episode "Thorpe Park" in which Neil tells the boys that he works as a cashier at a local BP garage. He is mentioned again later in the show where he is again referred to as a mechanic.

The Headmaster - Mr Hopkins

The Headmaster has a speaking role in a deleted scene in series 1 in which he is played by Martin Ball. In the first episode he can be seen sitting next to Mr. Gilbert but he does not say anything. He does not appear in the assembly in the film.

Sadie Cunningham

Sadie is a girl in Jay's tutor group, and sits next to Jay. Jay often steals things out of her bag including hair removal cream and an invite card to Louise Graham's birthday party. There is a real actor who plays Sadie and it turns out that she has a 'voice only' part; in Series 3 Episode 1 when Neil is complaining with Simon that he cannot see the girls because of the curtain, one of the girls overhears and angrily tells Neil from the other side "We can hear you". This is the voice of the actor who plays Sadie.

Jack Stephens

Neil mentions that he dropped a ruler next to Miss Timms.

Chris Groves

In the first episode of Series 2, Jay mentions that he has a mate in Year 13 by this name. He mentions his name again in the Series 3 preview. Due to the outlandish nature of Jay's claims, it is questionable whether he even exists, since Simon had never heard of him.

Sarah Bell

In the first episode of series 3, Neil is very annoyed that a curtain has been put up meaning he cannot see the girls getting changed for the fashion show. He mentions to Simon that he imagines that "Sarah Bell's got lovely big nipples", much to Sarah's disgust.

Jo Larken

Similarly to Sarah Bell, Neil quickly also tells Simon that he reckons "Jo Larken shaves her pubes" when he realises a curtain has been put up meaning he cannot see the girls.

Paul Keenan

In the first episode of Series 3, "The Fashion Show", Paul is supposed to be modelling with Charlotte Hinchcliffe in the 1970s disco theme section. However he supposedly drank a bottle of vodka and passed out due to a mix of alcohol and nerves, leading Will to take his place, despite his previous criticisms of the Fashion Show, saying it was "exclusive vanity".

Chris Yates

In "The Fashion Show", Chris is supposed to be modelling with Carli D'Amato in the 'Sexy Finale' Theme in which he had to wear speedos, DMs, a tophat and a leash. But according to Carli, his back was disgustingly hairy so she sacked him. He can actually be seen in the episode, if one looks behind Carli whilst she is talking to Simon, he can be seen in the background with a hairy back, technically making him a 'one off' character.

Chris Wharton

A boy Jay claims he used to sit next to in woodwork class, and who now works in a newsagent's. During "The Trip to Warwick", Jay tells Neil and Will the story of how Wharton got his head stuck in a bottle bank and by the time he was found in the morning he had been "arse-raped eighteen times". Neil believes the story, but Will does not, questioning how the first eighteen people who found Wharton "turned out to be opportunistic homosexual rapists" and why Wharton would tell Jay about the ordeal due to its embarrassing nature.

Steve D'Amato

Steve is Carli's father. Carli tells Simon that he went ballistic when Simon vandalised their driveway, and Mr. Cooper tells Simon that Steve threatened to "fuck him up" when he sneaks into Carli's brother Chris' bedroom in the middle of the night, which he mistook for Carli's.