First Day (The Inbetweeners)

"First Day" is the pilot episode of The Inbetweeners which aired on 1 May 2008 on E4. When originally broadcast, it was viewed in 240,000 households.^[2]

Plot

Will (Simon Bird) arrives at his new school, Rudge Park Comprehensive, as he cannot continue to have public education as his mother is struggling financially due to her recent divorce from Will's dad. He goes for a meeting with the other new kids otherwise known as 'The Freaks' and the Head of Sixth, Mr Gilbert (Greg Davies). Will is forced to wear a "massive green badge" which says in big letters "My name is WILL, Stop me and say Hello" which is one of the causes of Will being bullied at the school. He arrives at his class where he loudly insults Mr Gilbert in an attempt to impress a student, without realising that Gilbert is standing right behind him and has heard everything Will said. Gilbert tells Simon (Joe Thomas) to look after Will as they share the same classes, which is subject to laughter from his classmates. Simon immediately protests not to, alluding to Will's blazer, "actual briefcase", "clumpy shoes", "gay hair" and the green badge.

As Will walks around the school people begin to call him names due to the aforementioned items (a younger child even insults him, telling him "Nice badge, dickhead!") and Simon tries to avoid spending time with him. He decides to go to the toilet for "one of the more eventful shits of (his) life", where he listens to Simon and his friends Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison) talk about sex, with Jay telling them about his fake & imaginary sexual experiences, which becomes the trait of the character. Neil falls for Jay's lies but Simon is not fooled, telling him that "you've never fucked anyone, nor have I, nor's Neil", revealing that the group are virgins and most likely unpopular. Mark Donovan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), the school bully, walks in with a friend and tells the three boys to "fuck off" after he thinks Simon is "tryin' to look at (his) cock". Donovan and his friend spot Will's feet in the cubicle and realise he is defecating, and take photos of him on the toilet which they display all around the school, the posters referring to his badge, saying "Hello, I'm Will, and I'm doing a shit". Will walks through the school again and is subject to further abuse when he is told by a bully "you're gonna die here Will".

Simon, Neil and Jay are sat in the common room when Carli, Simon's huge crush and friend, appears for the first time. She notices that Simon wears aftershave now and leans towards him to smell it, exposing her cleavage near Simon's face. She asks for Simon to come with her to Sociology, but he declines. Jay is shocked and realises that Simon has an erection. Simon tries to shush him but Jay announces it to the whole common room, and everyone gathers round to check out Simon's "boner". Will sees this as an opportunity to make his first friend "with the boy they now called 'boner'". Simon agrees to go with Will but he is restrained by the crowd, so Will promises to save him a seat.

At the end of the school day, Simon, Neil and Jay are walking out of the building, when Will walks beside them, to Jay & Neil's annoyance. Simon then tells them that Will's "all right". The others discuss the school's annual visit to the Black Horse pub, but Neil forgets and reminds everyone the pub they are meeting at is the Black Bull. We then see Will's mother in her car to pick Will up from school, to Will's chagrin. The boys comment on how attractive she is and call her fit - a common feature throughout the show, with Jay then saying "yeah, I'd fuck her". Will constantly denies he would fuck her if she weren't his mother. Will invites himself along to the annual first day of term student gathering at a local pub despite Jay and Neil's protesting. Will has a small argument with his mum in the car and it is revealed why Will was moved to the state comprehensive, and Will's mum claimed Will was bullied at his old school.

On arrival at the Pub, Will meets up with Jay, Simon and Neil. Jay uses his fake ID to get the boys a pint, but is unsuccessful as the others require an ID too, so only Jay has a pint. Will tries to get served, and is remotely successful, getting cider and a carvery if a man called Steve sits with them. Later they find out that they are in the wrong pub. After reaching the right pub Simon is snubbed by his crush Carli D'Amato (Emily Head) and a frustrated Will tells the barman that everyone in the pub is under age, leading to them all being kicked out. Outside, Mark threatens to kill Will and is most likely about to hit him, but he notices Will's mum arriving and he also comments on Will's mum's physical appearance, whilst Simon seems to be coming round to the idea of being friends with Will.^[3]

Cast

• Simon Bird as Will McKenzie
• Joe Thomas as Simon Cooper
• James Buckley as Jay Cartwright
• Blake Harrison as Neil Sutherland
• Emily Head as Carli D'Amato
• Greg Davies as Phil Gilbert
• Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Mark Donovan

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: First Day

• "First Day" at E4.com
• "First Day" at TV.com
• "First Day" at channel4.com
• "First Day" at the British Comedy Guide
• "First Day" at the Internet Movie Database