Simon Bird (I)

The second series of this witty sitcom about the shenanigans of less-than-cool teenage boys is certainly matching the first season. Tonight it's work experience week and a mix-up at school leaves Will (Simon Bird) at a garage where, he announces, he's "too clever" to work.

The arrival of the second series of The Inbetweeners, which charts the halpess misadventures, sexual and otherwise, of a bunch of suburban youths, is something to cheer. Thanks to the huggably hormonal presence of Simon Bird and Joe Thomas, The Inbetweeners catches the horny horrors of adolescence spot on without resorting to saying 'knob' every ten seconds. It's like Skins used to be.

A deserved hit when series one was shown last year, this sitcom returns for a second season. Revolving around four teenage lads who are neither cool nor popular, it's like a nerd's version of Skins. When new girl Lauren (Jayne Wisener) joins the school, Will (Simon Bird) makes a play for her but, embarrassingly, finds she prefers Simon (Joe Thomas).

Simon Bird Interview

The London Paper talks the star of The Inbetweeners.

Simon Bird and Joe Thomas Interview

Forget Skins. The Inbetweeners is a geeky sitcom that shows British teenagers as they really are.

Previously seen on E4, this likeably juvenile sixth form sitcom might not be as cool as Skins but it is a million miles better than BBC3's similarly themed Coming Of Age.

It stars Simon Bird as Will, a borderline geek who's been forced to move from a private school to a slightly scary comprehensive after his parents split.

Rudge Park School is set in a rosetinted suburbia with no teenage pregnancies, drugs, knives or guns - just comedy bullies, raging hormones and a rich seam of American Pie-style mishaps.

It also stars Joe Thomas as Simon, who looks uncannily like a young Peter Jones from Dragons' Den.

Not great, not bad, but definitely in between - but why is it scheduled so late on a school night?

Television loves a geek. There's Sid in Skins, while Reaper and Chuck have both given power to the nerd. Now there's Will in The Inbetweeners.

The programme's funny too, in a knowing kind of way. Will (Simon Bird) is the new boy at his local comprehensive and he's not happy. He's there because his parents have divorced and he's had to leave private school. He wears glasses and a blazer and carries a briefcase - he's definitely not too cool for school. Worse, as a newbie, he has to wear a badge saying, "I am Will, stop me and say hello." He does find some mates - the trouble is, all of them are a bit sad and even they don't like him much.