The Inbetweeners Movie: When comedy takes a break

It's a path well-travelled, from TV sitcom to holiday movie. Will those Crete-bound 'Inbetweeners' make the trip more successfully than their predecessors? Matt Chorley investigates

Fans of The Inbetweeners will step into their local multiplex with trepidation this week when the hit sitcom following four students of Rudge Park Comp makes the perilous leap to the big screen.

The millions who watched the E4 show will be willing it to buck the trend of sitcoms and comedians who have made cinematic history with some of the worst films ever made. Die-hard devotees of the show may choose to stay away.

The cringeworthy chronicles of geeky Will (Simon Bird), love-struck Simon (Joe Thomas), dopey Neil (Blake Harrison) and sex-obsessed Jay (James Buckley) was so exquisitely observed that one wondered why no one had done it before. From the awkwardness around girls to the exaggerated claims of sexual prowess, it hooked teenagers seeking the antithesis to uber-cool Skins.

The Inbetweeners Movie, out Wednesday, sees the quartet leave their schooldays behind them and set off on a holiday to Crete. Bird told The Independent last week that the film has "so much more of an emotional heart than the TV series" and is a coming-of-age tale before they wander off into the sunset of adulthood.

But will it be funny? Previous experience is not good. Sitcoms that swap their familiar sit' for sunnier climes all too often forget to pack the comedy.

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Additional reporting: Jermaine Haughton