The Inbetweeners is a British comedy, written and created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, that focuses on four teenage boys as they engage in typical teenage activities. It isn't a programme that is focuses fully in nerds, but one of the four main characters is a nerd. The character of Will Mackenzie is portrayed to be extremely academic, as well as being formally dressed and being a character who lacks social skills. He had previously attended a private school and he speaks in a formal tone which can be classed as nerdy. He gets called names by the other students, is one of the few students to wear the full school uniform, and carries a briefcase instead of a normal back pack.
The above link leads the Channel 4oD website, which shows the sixth episode of the second series. The episode is named 'End of Term', and is focuses on the students taking their AS exams. Will is the only one out of the four boys that spends time revising, and in the end spends too much time revising. The increased attention and anxiety that Will applies to his revision and exams is a typical characteristic of a nerd/geek. If a person spent most of their time studying at school instead of playing sports or socialising with others, then chances are they would be unpopular and be singled out as being a nerd or geek; which mean the same thing.
In terms of Will's nerdy characteristics, this is as far as they go. The way he is portrayed is that of a typical British nerd, as oppose to American. This is clearly Beesley and Morris's view of a nerd; someone who is well educated and dresses formally. Will isn't portrayed to spend multiple hours gaming online like characters from the Big Bang Theory or Francis from the previous post. He in fact spends a lot of time out with his three close friends, and the antics they get up to ultimately make the programme. This programme, along with the IT Crowd, provides an example of the British perception of a nerd, and we can look at it and draw up similarities and differences to the American perception of a nerd. It seems that the two perceptions can appear different, and that will become increasingly evident in future blog posts.
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