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The Boys
Dakin
Dakin
Actor: Dominic Cooper
Dakin is the most confident and handsome boy in his class.
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Bi: Dakin successfully seduces Irwin while still dating Fiona, but his exact sexuality is never labeled.
- Have I Mentioned I Am Sexually Active Today?: Dakin gives Scripps constant updates on his sex life, whether he likes it or not.
- Teacher/Student Romance: For Irwin.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: To IrwinDakin: Why are you so bold in argument and talking but when it comes to the point, when it’s something that’s actually happening, I mean now, you’re so fucking careful?
Posner
Posner
Actor: Samuel Barnett
Posner is a Jewish boy of small stature and the youngest student in his sixth-form class.
Tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: In the film. In the play his ending is just depressing.
- Gayngst:I’m a Jew. I’m small. I’m homosexual. And I live in Sheffield. I’m fucked.
- "I Am" Song: Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered
- Jewish and Nerdy: He is both.
- Kick the Dog: He’s playfully mocked several times, particularly by Lockwood.
- Love Martyr: Dakin finds Posner’s crush on him to be annoying at best, but Posner carries on pining nonetheless.
- Teacher's Pet:Akthar: It’s just the knowledge, sir.
Timms: The pursuit of it for its own sake, sir.
Posner: Not useful, sir. Not like your lessons. -
The Woobie: He spends half the movie looking like he’s about to cry.
Scripps
Scripps
Actor: Jamie Parker
Scripps is an Anglican student and the most religious boy in his class.
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Bi:Scripps: Just because you’ve got a scholarship doesn’t mean you’ve got to give him unfettered access to your dick.
Dakin: So how would you say thank you?
Scripps: Same as you, probably. On my knees. - Ambiguously Christian: Subverted. Scripps is the only character who is outwardly Christian.
- Deadpan Snarker: Everyone tends to be somewhat snarky, but Scripps stands out as being exceptionally dry, especially in response to Dakins love life.
- Nostalgic Narrator: Scripps is the main narrator of the story, and he tends to speak about events in the past tense as they’re unfolding.
- The Piano Player: Subverted. While he does accompany Posner on piano several times, he does more than just that.
- Vow of Celibacy:
Rudge
Rudge
Actor: Russell Tovey
Rudge comes from a working-class background and struggles in school; none of his teachers expect him to get into Oxbridge.
Tropes:
- Dumb Jock: Rudge isn’t necessarily dumb, he just isn’t as smart as his ridiculously clever classmates.You may think it’s a joke, but golf makes the same sense to me as architecture or films do to you. You may not rate it but it’s an accomplishment. I may not know much about Jean-Paul Sartre, but I’ve got a handicap of four.
Timms
Timms
Actor: James Corden
Timms is overweight and plays the role of the class clown.
Tropes:
- Fat Comic Relief: Timms’ main role in the play is as comic relief.
- Stoners Are Funny:Irwin: It’s your eyesight that’s bad and we all know what that’s caused by.
Timms: Sir! Is that a coded reference to the mythical dangers of self-abuse?
Irwin: Possibly. It might even be a joke!
Akthar
Akthar
Actor: Sacha Dhawan
Akthar is a Muslim student of unspecified South Asian descent.
Tropes:
- Token Minority: Alongside Crowther.
Crowther
Crowther
Actor: Samuel Anderson
Crowther has notable acting talent.
Tropes:
- Token Minority: Alongside Akthar.
Lockwood
Lockwood
Actor: Andrew Knott
Lockwood is an argumentative student.
Tropes:
- Killed Offscreen: Only in the film.
The Staff
Hector
Hector
Actor: Richard Griffiths
The eccentric General Studies teacher who believes that exam preparation is the enemy of education.
Tropes:
- Armoured Closet Gay: Is an extremely closeted gay man, to the extent that he’s married to a woman.
- Big "SHUT UP!":WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THESE EXAMS!
- Cool Teacher: Deconstructed. He’s the “cool teacher” but he also gropes his pupils and is a “bit of a shambles”.
- Fired Teacher: Hector isn’t quite fired, but he is pressured to resign until Dakin gets him his job back by blackmailing Felix.
- Killed Offscreen: The aftermath of the accident that kills Hector is shown, as is his funeral, but we never actually see a body.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Generally.
Irwin
Irwin
Actor: Stephen Campbell Moore
The young and savvy supply teacher whom the Headmaster brings in to prepare the boys for their Oxbridge entrance exams.
Tropes:
- Gayngst:
- Self-Deprecation:Mrs Lintott: Don’t you ever want to go back?
Irwin: To Oxford? Not clever enough. Not… anything enough really. - Teacher/Student Romance: For Dakin.
Mrs Lintott
Mrs Lintott
Actor: Frances de la Tour
Mrs. Dorothy Lintott is the history teacher who has quietly and steadily been teaching the boys everything they need to know to excel academically.
Tropes:
- Better than Sex: She states to Hector that prefers her first pizza to losing her virginity.
- Motive Rant: Non-criminal, but an example nonetheless.History’s not such a frolic for women as it is for men. Why should it be? They never get round the conference table.
- Only Sane Man: In between Hector fondling the boys, Irwin pining after Dakin, and Felix being an overall imbecile, Lintott comes across as stark raving sane.
- Stern Teacher: Deconstructed. She’s stern, but she’s kind and clearly cares first and foremost about the boys education.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Brief but to-the-point.Hector, a grope is a grope. It is not the Annunciation.
Headmaster
Headmaster
Actor: Clive Merrison
Mr. Felix Armstrong is the Headmaster of the school.
Tropes:
- Hate Sink: Universally disliked by staff and students alike.Mrs Lintott: Our headmaster is a twat. An impermissible word nowadays but the only one suited to my purpose. A twat. And to go further down the same proscribed path, a condescending cunt.
Fiona
Fiona
Actor: Georgia Taylor
Fiona is the Headmaster’s secretary with whom Dakin has an affair.
Tropes:
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: She’s mentioned many times in the play but never makes an appearance. In the movie, however, she is in several scenes.
Wilkes
Wilkes
Actor: Adrian Scarborough
Mrs Bibby
