2010 TV Preview: 'The Inbetweeners 3'

Last year, we put forward a few shows which we predicted would be big in 2009. While we were pretty bang on with a number of them (Torchwood series 3, Being Human, 24 season 7), we recognise that some may have been a little off the mark (the ill-fated Minder remake, the dearly-departed Dollhouse).

Now, Tube Talk is looking ahead to 2010 to bring you our pick of the best new and returning shows. First up, E4's teen comedy The Inbetweeners, which returns for its third series next year. Recently, we caught up with one of the show's writers, Iain Morris, to find out what we could about round 3 with Will, Simon, Jay and Neil.

Where are you at with series three?
"We're literally sitting in a room in Shoreditch, covered in post-it notes on the wall - literally covered. All the walls are plastered with ideas. We're about halfway through writing the first draft. We'll have all of the episodes done by Christmas, then hopefully we'll shoot in the Spring."

Are you feeling the pressure?
"Pretty much - just getting back into their heads and remembering how they speak. We're writing 'clunge' every other word! We wanted a word that Jay would use that was so graphic but also funny."

Is there any danger of one of the boys holding down a relationship?
"We're thinking about one of them having a relationship for a couple of episodes and seeing how that pans out. I can see a post-it note on the wall now which says, 'Maintaining a girlfriend'."

Do you think the show would lose its magic if one of them settled down?
"I think it'll lose its magic entirely in the third series - everyone will be bored of it by then! We've always tried to be honest and truthful to the teenage experience and getting your first girlfriend is true to that. It won't be a great love affair, but it's about being a boy and playing football in the park and having this girl who you want to kiss all the time who makes you want to stop paying football for a bit."

Carli and Simon have skirted around each other for a while. Will you ever get them together?
"Maybe! I don't know... Carli is a bit of a mix of two girls I knew when I was younger and they both weren't very happy endings!"

Will Neil's dad ever come out as gay?
"I don't think his dad's gay, is he?! He's just a guy who lives on his own and looks after the kids... I'm not saying he's not gay, he's just not definitely gay!"

Don't you think he deserves that defining moment - the big coming out speech?
"Neil's dad comes out and launches a musical theatre company and an interior design company at the same time! And then they all work for him! That's the spinoff - Neil's dad doing a travelling theatre company!"

How many more series do you have planned?
"We don't really have anything else planned - that's not to say we won't do any more after this, but we've always tried to be real and consistent. We've written a film script because for me, the most defining experience of an 18-year-old boy is when you go on your first holiday with your mates. That would be exciting."

Would series three be a fitting end in the event that you didn't get recommissioned?
"Yeah - I think it would be. In our heads, we've thought of the film as the end. It's hard to say because we're in the middle of it but I think it's good."

Skins has survived by changing its cast. Is that something you'd consider doing?
"I'd love to change the cast - those four, they're a nightmare! No, they're seriously lovely. We auditioned literally a thousand people, including Matt Smith who is the new Doctor. And even Dominic Cooper at one point, I think. But the four guys are absolutely brilliant to work with. I can't see us ever doing something like that."

Has anything been made official with the movie?
"Not that I'm aware of. I don't know how films work - I've never made a film before. We're written a script so we're just hoping Film4 will say, 'Here's the money, here's the helicopter, now go to Tenerife and film it!' I think there'll probably have to be a few more conversations before that happens!"

Where would you like to see each of the lads end up by the end of the series?
"I think the idea that we had when we started was that they'd probably still be sort of friends by the end, but that maybe Jay and Neil had sorted of moved in a different direction from Neil and Simon. Nothing hugely dramatic will happen - I see some of my friends a lot, I see some friends at Christmas only, some of my friends I don't like as much as I used to like... That's completely undramatic though - come and watch The Inbetweeners movie, and nothing really happens!"

Are you excited about series 3 of The Inbetweeners? Would you like to see a movie made? Add your comments to this entry below!