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The Inbetweeners became an instant classic when it hit screens for the first time back in 2008.
Over the course of three seasons over three years and with two film spinoffs made as well, the show captured the ups and downs of adolescence – from cringeworthy friendships and failed flirting attempts to the trials of school life and laddish behaviour.
Fans fell in love with the awkward Simon Cooper (Joe Thomas), the nerdy Will McKenzie (Simon Bird), loud-mouthed Jay Cartwright (James Buckley) and dopey Neil Sutherland (Blake Harrison).
While the sitcom propelled them into the limelight, it didn't open as many career doors as they had hoped, with the stars struggling after being typecast as 'dumb' comedic characters.
Aside from their professional woes, Joe and James have also candidly spoken about their health struggles.
Just this week, James revealed he has been diagnosed with a genetic disease and is at high risk of a cardiovascular incident.
Joe Thomas also previously revealed that he suffered crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and a breakdown as a result of working on the Channel 4 show.
L-R: Joe Thomas as Simon Cooper, Simon Bird as Will McKenzie, Blake Harrison as Neil Sutherland and James Buckley as Jay Cartwright
James Buckley
James, who played the obnoxious Jay, revealed this week that he has been diagnosed with a genetic disease following a health check after his wife Clair was taken to hospital in an ambulance suffering from severe dehydration.
The star then asked doctors for further tests after a blood test he had done previously highlighted concern.
The actor revealed he is at risk of a cardiovascular incident due to having high Lipoprotein(a), a genetically inherited type of blood cholesterol, and has had to give up drinking and cut down on takeaways.
It promotes faster plaque buildup in arteries, increases inflammation and increases the risk of blood clotting.
It affects roughly one in five people worldwide, typically presenting no physical symptoms until a cardiovascular event occurs.
He explained: 'I've also had health problems as well. It's something to do with my Lipoprotein(a), something to do with that.
'There's nothing you can do about it, by the way. And the doctor's just been like, "you need to change".'
James, who played the obnoxious Jay, revealed this week that he has been diagnosed with a genetic disease and is at high risk of a cardiovascular incident
The actor revealed he is at risk of a cardiovascular incident due to having high Lipoprotein(a), and has given up drinking and cut down on takeaways
James has given up drinking for the time being and has also overhauled his diet.
He went on: 'I'm at a high risk now for a cardiovascular incident. My heart, my arteries. I'm not a religious man, but sometimes I feel like there is a God that sort of goes "that'll teach you".
'I feel like I've been on this podcast slagging people off that don't drink. Yeah, we have boring stuff.
'But I'm going to have a beer soon.'
The actor added he is also worried because it's genetic that their two sons may have inherited it.
Meanwhile, James has carved out an incredibly successful career on Cameo, after a drop in acting work.
In 2022 he became the first UK celebrity to become a Cameo millionaire, despite his fears no one would want him to send them a message.
He admitted: 'I kept saying "this is going to be really, really embarrassing – my tiny fragile ego. I'm not the most confident person, this is going to send me to dark places.
'I'm going to sign up for this thing and nobody is going to want a video from me", and it turned out everyone did!'
James explained that he 'didn't want to take the p**s out of people' so chose to charge fans £40.
He continued: 'I have done tens of thousands. Tens and tens of thousands, maybe thirty, forty thousand, something like that.
'It was a godsend financially. But I never wanted to take the p**s. I'm in the business of making people happy. I don't want to rip people off.'
Joe Thomas
Joe played awkward teen Simon Cooper in the sitcom and last year the actor shocked fans as he opened up for the first time about the 'immense pressure' and 'crippling OCD' he experienced while filming.
Speaking with co-star James on their podcast Joe and James Fact Up, the former co-stars reflected on their time filming the hit Channel 4 show and shared some of their mental health woes.
Joe revealed he battled OCD and struggled with twitching when he was stressed.
He candidly said: 'There was loads of pressure. I felt tons of pressure. I also just had crippling OCD and I kept thinking I'd f* up the continuity.
'I kept turning up to sound being like "I'm so sorry just worried that I might have made a noise with my chair", and they were like, "Joe, it's fine, we'll let you know".
'It was just generally astonishing OCD... I had it when I left university and when I was on the Inbetweeners it was really, really bad to the extent where they paid for a therapist to come on set and she thought it was a joke.
Joe played awkward teen Simon Cooper and last year the actor opened up for the first time about the 'immense pressure' and 'crippling OCD' he experienced while filming
He candidly said: 'There was loads of pressure. I felt tons of pressure. I also just had crippling OCD and I kept thinking I'd f* up the continuity'
'Because it was a Channel 4 show, she thought it was like a candid camera show and it was a stitch-up.'
The actor added: 'Also it wasn't discussed that much at the time, so it was just like "I'm completely insane" and I need to deal with this privately in these little nine-second breaks that I was asking for and somehow pull my head together.'
Joe went on to be thankful for the creator Iain Morris, who was sympathetic, and spoke about a time he was aggressively blinking on set and Iain said to him, 'Where have you gone?'.
He explained: 'I felt seen, that is what it is... There were times I was just annoyed I was making the show because I wanted to get back to my own private worries.'
James said: 'You've been through a handful of twitches since I've known you as well. Unfairly, this became a DVD extra at one point where Joe was having a breakdown.
'It was on the first Inbetweeners film, there's an outtake where Joe's having a breakdown... He says "can I just have ten seconds" and then he goes "well that did absolutely nothing".'
Joe continued: 'Yeah, I was always asking for these short breaks where I'd try really really quickly get my entire head together.
'I'd be like: "It'll take about six or nine seconds... Can I just... I can't do it".'
His co-star and longtime friend agreed that while the lads spent the majority of the show being filmed joking around and having fun, it also came with huge pressures.
James said: 'It was stressful... But we also did put so much pressure on ourselves. It's really ironic when you think about it, but there was such a pressure to be funny. We were obsessed with being funny.
'There was always funny stuff in the script, but even when you're not saying lines I was like, "Well I've got to be doing something funny right now".
'There was just this immense pressure of being funny.'
Joe agreed: 'Feeling like you were supposed to be funny and then you weren't, and the scene being over was the worst feeling in the world.'
Simon Bird
While Simon keeps his private life out of the spotlight, the actor has been open about the hindrance The Inbetweeners has had on his career.
Despite being almost two decades old, his role as Will McKenzie has typecast Simon as a particular comedic character.
He told NME in 2021: 'My career [depends on] being able to wriggle free of being Will from The Inbetweeners. I’ve been trying to escape his shadow.
'The need to [escape our characters] has become apparent to all four of us over time. When the films came out and they were hits, we all hoped they would lead to new opportunities for us.
'The reality is there’s not much comedy made in this country. If you’re associated with a big role, I can understand why the makers of other series wouldn’t want you. You’re bringing baggage with you and they’re trying to create new characters. It makes total sense…'
Despite being almost two decades old, his role as Will McKenzie has typecast Simon as a particular comedic character
He told NME in 2021: 'My career [depends on] being able to wriggle free of being Will from The Inbetweeners. I’ve been trying to escape his shadow' (pictured in Friday Night Dinner in 2017)
Later in an interview with The Independent in 2023, he made several quips about his career struggles as he teased: 'I’m not turning down a lot of active work – they’re not banging on the door.'
He joked: 'As you’ll find out in this conversation, I couldn’t be more of a beta male. What’s below beta? That’s sort of where I am. So I understand why I’m not offered the alpha male roles.'
After The Inbetweeners, he bagged himself a role as Adam Goodman in Channel 4's Friday Night Dinner, as he teased: 'They’re the only channel that give me any work.'
He has gone on to star in a range of TV projects and has also tried his hand at producing and directing, retreating more behind the camera.
Yet when he is out and about, he still gets recognised as Will. He told the Daily Mail in 2024: 'People come up to me in the street and quote lines from the show and I have no idea what they're talking about.
'I don't watch myself back, I can't remember the show – I don't think I've even watched it back since I made it in 2008.'
Blake Harrison
Blake played the dopey Neil Sutherland in the hit show and, like Simon, the star has struggled to break away from that stereotype.
Speaking on Virgin Radio in 2023 while promoting his BBC drama World On Fire, he said: 'It's a weird thing... you go into comedy – not that I intended to – it was just the first job I got out of drama school was this good comedy that turned out to be The Inbetweeners.
'Yeah obviously doing something like that, people start to go, "Oh well that's what you do, you play dumb guys in a comedy" and so there's had to be a lot of moments where I've had to turn stuff down and say no to things because it was just keeping that going and kind of putting the nails in the coffin that is your career.
'Then you finally get opportunities to do things like World On Fire and you go into an audition and you do put pressure on yourself and think this would make such a difference for me, I would love to showcase that I can do this, and then it happens.'
Explaining he didn't want a career focused in comedy, he added: 'That wasn't what excited me. I come from doing theatre and drama schools and all that kind of stuff where you're playing different characters all the time and that's what you enjoy.
Blake played the dopey Neil Sutherland in the hit show and, like Simon, the star has struggled to break away from that stereotype
Blake explained: 'Yeah obviously doing something like that, people start to go, "Oh well that's what you do, you play dumb guys in a comedy"' (pictured in World On Fire in 2019)
'You enjoy going "oh this is different to what I played before" and you work out how to do it and that is what excites me.'
Blake also spoke about the struggles of rejection in the industry. He told the WalesOnline podcast In the Spotlight: 'The times when you're not working are when you can really struggle.'
'When people don’t see you [for roles] is when your mental health can deteriorate. It’s in moments where you've had ten auditions and none of them have gone your way. No one gives you any reason why.
'That can be difficult at times, especially when you’re like me and have spent your entire life wanting to do this. You just sort of hit a brick wall for a while and don't know how to knock through it – that’s the toughest moment.'
Anthony Head
The late Anthony Head also had a small part in the series as Will's dad, Mr McKenzie.
The actor, who was best known for his roles in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Ted Lasso, passed away in June at the age of 72.
His daughter Emily Head also starred in The Inbetweeners as Simon's crush Carli D'Amato.
The British star's death came just six months after that of his partner, the animal therapist and rights campaigner Sarah Fisher, who died of thyroid cancer aged 61.
A statement from his daughters, actresses Emily and Daisy, said: 'It is with heavy hearts that we announce the death of our extraordinary father, Anthony Head.
'He passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family.
The late Anthony Head also had a small part in the series as Will's dad, Mr McKenzie. His daughter Emily Head also starred as Simon's crush Carli D'Amato (pictured in 2008)
'It has been, and forever will be, an honour and a privilege to be his daughters, and to have witnessed firsthand the impact both he and his work have had on so many.
'We know how dearly he will be missed by friends, colleagues, and fans of the shows he was in – he loved his job very much, and he always considered himself incredibly lucky, to have been able to work alongside such exceptionally talented people, in such wonderful productions, across a career that spanned several decades.
'Our grief is far greater than the hole he has left behind, but we know his legacy will live on, in the shows he was a part of, and in the audiences that love them.
'How lucky we are to know we are able to watch him doing what he loved, even when he is no longer with us.
'We kindly ask that our privacy is respected at this difficult time.'