Revival and Revisionism: 2009–2021. Part 2: Schools, Legacies, and Mockumentaries

This chapter continues the exploration of the British sitcom spinoff film’s third mannerist/decadent phase, where it becomes more openly self-reflexive, even parodic. The recent resurgence in the genre is here grouped into three (at times overlapping) trilogies of films. First explored are a set of spinoffs treating school classes or school leavers, the breakout hit The Inbetweeners Movie (2011), its sequel The Inbetweeners 2 (2014) and epigone The Bad Education Movie (2015). Next examined are a set of spinoffs made long after their source text ceased to hold public attention, here labelled the belated or ‘legacy’ sitcom spinoff film. This nostalgic/revivalist strand, tapping into longstanding audience awareness, comprises Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013), the (to-date) sole spinoff remake/reboot in Dad’s Army (2016) and the cameo-saturated Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016). The third recent strand examined is the spinoff film from a mockumentary sitcom, including the political satire In the Loop (2009), then two music-centred pieces, David Brent: Life on the Road (2016) and People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan (2021). It is argued that, if contemporary in setting, language and meta-fictionality, these films, and not just those reviving source texts long absent from the small screen, are often residual in their thematics and ideology.