The Inbetweeners stars land new Channel 4 travel show about growing up
The Inbetweeners is coming to Netflix for a new movie, but actors Joe Thomas and James Buckley have another project in the pipeline.
Joe Thomas and James Buckley are launching a new travel series about growing up.
The Inbetweeners co-stars, who rose to fame as Simon Cooper and Jay Cartwright in the iconic sitcom and now host the Joe and James Fact Up podcast together, have signed on for a new Channel 4 show exploring how to navigate being an adult without a midlife crisis.
Joe recently turned 40 and James will join him in 2027, and they are coming together for a four-part series figuring out what that means.
While they have very different personalities - Joe is more introspective and his pal has a more no-nonsense approach - they have both joined the show to find people and experiences to help answers their questions about midlife.
Vivienne Molokwu, Commissioning Editor, Channel 4, said, “Whether you rewatch an ep of The Inbetweeners or catch them on their hilarious podcast, the chemistry between Joe and James is undeniable. Their genuine friendship and different perspectives on life make them both engaging and entertaining so I can’t wait to see them explore the very modern question of what to do when you’re too old to be young but too young to be old.”
Will Macdonald, Idle Industries, admitted he could "quite frankly watch Joe and James decide which takeaway to order".
He added: "The thought of seeing them set off in a small car to get answers to big existential questions, and crack the meaning of midulthood is nothing short of thrilling. And hilarious.”
Meanwhile, the duo are getting back together with Blake Harrison (Neil Sutherland) and Simon Bird (Will McKenzie) for a third Inbetweeners movie being produced by Netflix.
The sitcom originally ran on Channel 4 for three series between 2008 and 2010, and was followed by two feature films.
Co-creators and writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris previously said: "It's been super-fun hanging out with our friends again, and we're going to work hard every week to ensure there are no problemos making this new film for humans."
However, they recently warned fans that while the four main stars are back, not all of their favourite characters will be part of the new movie.
In an Instagram post, they wrote: "For the record, we’d like to clarify that, try as we might, we couldn’t squeeze every single beloved character from the TV shows into this new film."
They added that the snubs are "on us, and us alone", but stressed that any decisions came down to fitting characters into the story being told.
They added: "Again, people will speculate about why we make these choices, but sadly the truth is we just couldn’t find a plausible way in the script to bring back all our lovely ‘friends’.
"It’s not as headline worthy, but it’s the truth."
