Simon Bird (I)

The Inbetweeners are Chickens

The Inbetweeners' Joe Thomas and Simon Bird go back in time for a new comedy - where they chicken out of World War One.

The Inbetweeners Movie: An interview with Simon Bird

As The Inbetweeners prepare for their big screen debut, Simon Bird tells us about trying to say no, the "Big Bugger tour" and the similarities between himself and Snoop Dogg.

'The Inbetweeners Movie' premiere - in pictures

The Inbetweeners Movie held its world premiere in London yesterday, with stars Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas turning out to launch the film to UK audiences.

Video: The Inbetweeners on the big screen

Actors Simon Bird, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas and James Buckley star as four teenage friends in the TV comedy The Inbetweeners.

They are now making their debut on the big screen with their film called The Inbetweeners Movie.

The film premieres in London on Tuesday evening. The cast spoke to BBC Breakfast about what fans can expect from the film.

James Buckley: Inbetweeners is 's***'

Inbetweeners star James Buckley called the sitcom that launched his acting career 's***' as he promoted The Inbetweeners Movie alongside co-star Simon Bird.

Simon Bird and Joe Thomas become men in Chicken

They're famed for their roles as awkward teenagers in The Inbetweeners and now Simon Bird and Joe Thomas are shooting a new TV comedy called Chicken.

More toe-curling in suburbia as Robert Popper's delightfully daft sitcom comes to an end.

Tonight, Jackie has organised a surprise for son Adam: inviting her friend's daughter Tanya to the Goodman's Friday night meal and a spot of match-making.

The appearance of good china and odd ­background music should be a hint that something sinister is about to take place.

"Is that somebody playing the lute?" demands Adam, confused.

Adam and Tanya haven't seen each other since they used to take baths together as babies, so have a lot of catching up to do.

Needless to say, Adam would prefer to do this without his mother and deaf, parsley-eating father shouting ­encouragement.

This episode ends the series on a pinnacle of ­embarrassment.

But am I the only one who can't quite get their head around Tamsin Greig being cast as Simon Bird's mother?

If playing their real ages, she'd have been pregnant at 16. What would the neighbours say?

Adam arrives for dinner at mum and dad's, but things seem a little off-kilter. Dad Martin (Paul Ritter, who should be crowned a comedy king in a special ceremony) is dressed in a suit, the table is laid with flowers and "mum's posh bowls" - and there's an extra place set for dinner. Of course, it's a trap, one that Adam (Simon Bird) walks straight into when mum (super Tamsin Greig) announces that Tanya Green will be joining the Goodman family for their end-of-the-week get-together. Poor unsuspecting Adam has been set up on a date by his infuriatingly well-meaning mother and what follows is excruciating: an acutely painful succession of burps and nosebleeds from dad and inappropriateness from mum ("Give her a kiss hello, Adam"). But even these levels of raw embarrassment count for nothing when weird neighbour Jim (Mark Heap) arrives with Winston, his lugubrious dog. Winston has swallowed Jim's keys, which is the cue for a toe-curling sequence with man, beast, a newspaper and a twig. It's the last episode of Robert Popper's cheerfully silly comedy. Oh, how I will miss it. There'd better be a second series, Channel 4.

Last in the run of the sitcom about a Jewish suburban family. It's been low-key but likeable, each episode squirming with minor social embarrassments. Tonight, Mum (Tamsin Greig) invites a girl called Tanya over, in the hope she'll take a shine to Adam (Simon Bird), the elder of her sons. As always, the best lines come at the expense of Dad (Paul Ritter). Mum: "Jonny, don't leave your dad on his own with Tanya. He'll only start talking about Isaac Newton or somebody." Cut to Dad: "He also invented the first practical reflecting telescope..."

Robert Popper's soft-centred but sharply observed sitcom about a suburban Jewish family continues. Tonight it's hapless elder son Adam's (Simon Bird) birthday. Barmy Martin (Paul Ritter), his father, makes a disastrous attempt at a celebration roast. "Is it clay?" asks Grandma. The family decamp to the local Chinese where they run into blousy, Mercedes-obsessed neighbour Shelia Bloom (a sparkling Frances Barber). Popper's deft plotting and a top-notch cast make this a small-scale gem.