Series / Drifters

Drifters is a British sitcom that first aired on E4 on 31 October 2013. The programme stars Jessica Knappett, Lydia Rose Bewley and Lauren O'Rourke as three female friends - Meg, her cousin Bunny and their friend Laura - who live in Leeds following their graduation from university. Seen much as a female version of The Inbetweeners, no doubt aided by Knappett and Bewleys' roles as love interests for the boys in The Inbetweeners Movie.

Not to be confused with Drifters, the manga of the same name.

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This show provides examples of:

• A-Cup Angst: Meg's paranoia about her meagre chest, especially in 'Friend Night Stand'.
• Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Meg talks like this constantly.
• Allegedly Dateless: Meg is considered the least successful romantically in comparison to Laura's tumultuous relationship with Gary and Bunny having sex with at least a different guy every episode. She is at least capable of getting guys to go out with her in the first place, but generally makes an absolute mess of the date due to her awkward nature or messes up the relationship on the rare occasion that she does manage to get past the first date.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: In 'Rock & Roll':
  Jenny: "The last time your dad surprised me was 25 years ago at a Spandau Ballet concert when he proposed, and then we had a quickie in the disabled toilet."
  Meg: "Oh, my God!"
  Jenny: "Whereas now it's - Well, you know, he puts it in where he's supposed to put it in, wiggles it about a bit."
  Meg: "You're making me think of my dad's penis."
  Jenny: "I mean, I have always wanted to be dominated. And I'm not even talking dungeons and chains."
  Meg: "Please stop."
  Jenny: "Just a little bit of S&M!"
  Meg: "She's still going!"
  Jenny: "You know, and that never hurt anybody, did it?"
  Meg: "I feel quite sick."
  Bunny: "Do you use toys, Auntie Jenny?"
  Jenny: "Oh, put it this way, I don't know where I'd be without Bertie."
  Meg: "Who's Bertie?"
  Jenny: "My vibrator."
  Meg: "Right, bye!"
  • Laura is shown to be embarrassed of her own mother, who is basically a cruder, louder and stupider version of Laura and never shuts up about sex.
• Attention Whore: Most of the time, Bunny lies because she's bored and wants attention. She's flattered when people start commenting on her boobs when she accidentally flashed them on the internet, pretends to be pregnant because she feels upstaged by Laura's wedding, tries to start her own vlog channel and complains nobody watches it, etc.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Bunny tends to go full on Large Ham in her acting jobs, whether it's appropriate for the role or not. She also has a tendency to do awful approximations of various accents. The director of Dracteria II calls her the worst actress he's ever seen.
• Bad Boss: Malcolm is quite creepy with the girls, often making them dress in either sexualised or uncomfortable uniforms. Towards the end of the series, he ends up being Put on a Bus due to a Noodle Incident that is described as akin to Harvey Weinstein.
• Bad Job, Worse Uniform: The girls spend much of the series working in promotions, which involves them standing in the streets in a variety of either needlessly slutty or outright embarrassing costumes, such as a mobile phone or a giant condom.
• Best Years of Your Life: The series largely averts this in its portrayal of life as a 20-something. The girls move between jobs and love interests and struggle to control the direction of their lives.
• Betty and Veronica: Gender flipped. Meg is the Archie with Andrew as the Betty, being a devoted boyfriend who actually cares about Meg, with Hot & Cold being at best Friends with Benefits who sleeps with Meg when he hasn't got a better offer (and sometimes even just before he has).
• Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: In 'Wedding', Bunny is seducing Callum, a 15-year old guest. His over-protective mother warns her off, and realises he's in earshot:

Callum's Mum: "I should report you to the police, you... mucky pervert."

• Binge Montage: In 'Sober' - not the best way to spend the night before a charity run.
• Birthday Episode: In 'Hot & Cold', Laura is left alone by Gary on her birthday.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Laura, Meg and Bunny respectively.
• Bottomless Magazines: Bunny's character in the stage play she stars in gets shot over twenty times with a revolver.
• Bread Milk Eggs Squick: In '90s Night':

Meg: "I can't believe you're knobbing the venue manager."
Mark: "Yeah? I'm just so happy. I mean, how fit is she! I really feel like I'm moving on. She makes me feel good about myself. I'm confident, I'm capable, I'm running my own business, I've got new friends, I've got money, I've got a girlfriend. I just feel sexy, and you won't believe this, Meg - she likes it up the bum."

• Brick Joke:
  • The girls at one point watch a movie called Dracteria, a B-Movie featuring vampiric bacteria. Bunny later gets cast as the scientist lead in its sequel.
  • Bunny's awful attempt at a Scottish accent for her furniture commercial gets used again when she plays a Disposable Sex Worker on low budget slasher flick.
• Broke Episode: 'Skint' in series 3.
• Butt-Monkey: All three girls in general suffer from a lot of misfortune, but Meg easily gets it the worst of the three, even if a lot of it is her own fault.
• Childish Older Sibling: Meg's petulance plays a part in being less successful than her younger brother James.
• Clashing Cousins: In 'Wedding':

Bunny: "Ooh, I'm Meg - I can't stand anyone else having a good time... I'm Meg, and I'm such a failure, I messed up again."
Meg: "Ooh, I'm Bunny - I'll f**k anything. I want to f**k my cousin!"

• Class Reunion: Basis of episode 'Homeless'.
• Comically Missing the Point: In 'Wedding', Laura's indifference to the honour of being Sara's chief bridesmaid.
• Compulsive Liar: All three of the girls tend to get themselves into trouble because they're obsessed with lying to try and look better than they are, but the winner tends to be Meg.
• Cringe Comedy: Expect a major scene of this at least Once an Episode
• The Danza: Lauren O'Rourke plays Laura.
• A Degree in Useless: Meg's 2.2 in Combined Studies gets her nowhere near her dream "cool, arty, media-y job".
• Descended Creator: Created by and starring Jessica Knappett.
• Dirty Old Man: Bunny gets a middle-aged boyfriend in 'Dry Run' - who turns out to be a former teacher.

Hugh: "Why do people always say this? You sound just like the PTA! It is not creepy to take an interest in young people, especially if the feeling is mutual. Hmm, I suppose it was creepy that I chose to run netball club, like it was 'creepy' that I did a gym-knicker check. There is nothing creepy about having your favourites, watching them ripen then contacting them online once they're of legal age."

• Disaster Dominoes: Meg tries to find a partner for James and Sara's engagement brunch in 'Plus One', and Bunny tries to help. Lack of communication brings everything to a head.
• Downer Ending: Frequent
• Dresses the Same: In 'Wedding', Meg thinks it's embarrassing that Laura's wearing the same outfit as the bridesmaids - turns out she is a bridesmaid.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Meg's attempts to gain employment that doesn't involve dressing in an embarrassing costume handing out flyers never manage to stick. Laura and Bunny do manage to move onto other employment, though.
• Fatal Flaw: Meg's is always wanting what other people have - she makes Mark dump his girlfriend Fay when she gets jealous that he's moving on from her, then when Mark loses his venue and starts sliding back into being a creepy weirdo again, Meg decides she doesn't want him anymore and Fay refuses to take him back as well. Plus she gets offended when her new lesbian friend clarifies that she isn't attracted to Meg - even though Meg is straight, she gets upset when the girl prefers Bunny. She also repeatedly ignores Nice Guy Andrew who is everything she says she wants in favour of Hot and Cold who ignores Meg except when he wants sex.
  • She also cannot go a single conversation without putting her foot in her mouth, whether that's turning a guy off on a date by yelling the C-word at top volume even when he begged her not to and mentioning she has scabies, accusing her new boss of being a coke fiend, shouting for an entire bar to hear that she hasn't had sex in twelve months, saying on live radio she once walked in on her dad going down on her mum, etc.
  • Bunny's is she always wants to be the centre of attention and she will lie and put herself in absurd situations to get it, including eating a chilli pepper (which she's violently allergic to) so she can flirt with a hot doctor who rejected her on a dating app.
  • Laura's hot-headedness and big mouth get her into a trouble or not.
• "Fawlty Towers" Plot: Much of the humour stems from this.
• Feud Episode: Many of the episodes featuring Gary, when he's dumped by Laura.
• Foreshadowing: In 'Halloween', Bunny's idea of an uncanny prediction is the impending death of their 83-year old grandmother. Her funeral is 5 episodes later.
• The "Fun" in "Funeral": In the final episode, the funeral of Meg and Bunny's grandmother is rushed so that they can get to a pop festival punctually.
• Gasshole: Bunny farts frequently throughout the series.
• Gender Flip: Meg is essentially one for Will, being the uptight voice of reason within her friend group who always publicly embarrasses herself thanks to thinking she's smarter than she actually is, having No Social Skills and lying to try and fit in with others, blurting out whatever comes to mind and being terrible at taking responsibilities for her own mistakes.
• Halloween Episode: First of series 4.
• Hidden Depths: Laura displays some knowledge of tabletop RPGs when she insists the girls be allowed to join in with Gary's guild, knowing the exact way to reverse a spell cast on her by one of the other players, inadvertently killing her character. Meg even lampshades this by asking her how she knows how to do this.
• Hypocrite: In 'Wedding', Bunny relentlessly flirts with a young wedding guest even though Meg repeatedly tries to tell her he's underage and accuses her of "fanny-blocking", when she got completely grossed out when she realised the old man she was dating was actually her teacher from primary school.
• Hypocritical Humour: In 'Goole', Laura breaks up with Gary for being on BangR despite using the app herself.
• I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: The title character in 'Leia'. Meg tries the same thing and the bouncer is not impressed.

Leia: "Don't worry guys, I've got this. Is there a problem, officer?"
Security Guard: "Yeah there is, actually-"
Leia: (raising her T-shirt) "I said - is there a problem, officer?"
Security Guard: "Er... no. No, no problem." (He walks off).
Leia: "Didn't think so."

• The Internet Is for Porn: Five minutes into the first episode:

Laura: "Gary! What are you looking at?"
Gary: "Porn."
Laura: "Do you know how insulting this is? I do all the same stuff that they do."
Gary: "Oh, come on, Laura, you're not as dirty as the internet."

• Intimate Telecommunications: Laura is really, really bad at this when she tries phone sex with Gary, because she doesn't seem to know how to talk to him without berating him.
• The Jailbait Wait: Bunny is seeing a much older man in one episode, who, as it turns out, was her former teacher who took notice of students he liked best and waited for them to be of legal age. In primary school.
• Last-Name Basis: Hot & Cold only ever refers to Meg by last name.
• Like Father, Like Son: Bunny, unable to understand how familiar her latest date's house looks in 'Truth or Dare', is recognised by his dad.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: When Laura's mother Cath turns up in 'Hen Don't', it becomes obvious where Laura gets her ways from.
• Likes Older Women: In 'Vanilla', Gary admits a preference for MILF porn. Laura indulges him - by pretending to be his real mother.
• Luvvies: Encountered by Bunny in 'Hot & Cold'.
• Mistaken for Cheating: In 'Work Experience', Laura dreams that Gary is cheating on her so she breaks into his house - to catch him playing online computer games.
• Mistaken for Gay: Meg in 'Friend Night Stand' and Mark in 'Roomies'.
• Mistaken for Suicidal: Meg in 'Wedding'.
• Mister Muffykins: Harper, Rebecca's pampered pooch in in 'Meg's New Job'.
• Mundane Made Awesome: The girls' appearance at the mud-marathon's starting line, to the accompaniment of a certain fanfare.
• Noodle Incident:
• In 'Scabies', Bunny turns out to have a guilty conscience when Meg realises they've gatecrashed a wake.

Meg: "Bunny, listen to me. I've found something out, it's pretty bad."
Bunny: "It wasn't my fault. How was I supposed to know he was underage?"
Meg: "OK, not that."
Bunny: "Oh, good."

• In 'Roomies':

Gary: "Look, we can go and get a bigger wardrobe!"
Laura: "We can't go back to Bargain Interiors, Gary. The magistrate was very clear about that."

• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Bunny has an audition to voice-over a furniture commercial in 'Skint'. Determined to be "Anywhere but boarding school", she practises in a pirate voice. At the audition, she affects a broad northern accent but soon discards it. The producers, increasingly desperate not to laugh, make her say her piece in Liverpule, Oirish and Beermingum voices.
• Oop North: Set in and around Leeds.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Apart from with Laura and Bunny, Meg is completely incapable of going a conversation without doing this.
• Parental Sexuality Squick: In 'Skint':

Jenny: "Why aren't you at work?"
Meg: "I could ask you the same question, mum."
Jenny: "! always pop home at lunchtime for a pork sandwich."
Meg: "I really hope that's not a euphemism."
Jenny: "Depends what mood your dad's in."
Meg: "Gross."
Jenny: "Well, we got very tired at bedtime - in many ways, it's actually the worst time for intercourse."

• Pregnancy Scare: Bunny in 'Hen Don't', though it's subverted since she's making it up for attention.
• Real Song Theme Tune: Leeds United by Amanda Palmer.
• Really Gets Around: Bunny has a different boyfriend Once an Episode.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mark finally blows up at Meg in Season Three, telling her the reason he turned her down when she offered him sex is because he actually can't stand her, calling her conceited and self-obsessed and calls her out on it when she tries to bluster her way out of it, telling her to shut up and just apologise for being wrong for once.
  • Meg finally stops pretending to be Leia's old friend and calls her out for being a dull, self-obsessed leech who pretends to be spiritual and above rules when actually she's nothing more than a Pretty Freeloader with terrible hygiene.
• Right Behind Me: In '90s Night':

Meg: "So, you heard all that, did you?"
Mark: "Most of it, yeah."
Meg: "Did you hear the bit where I said I didn't actually want to get back together with you and just not wanting to see you happy with anyone else?"
Mark: "Yeah."
Meg: "Did you hear the bit where Fay said she also found you intense and creepy and she was just using you for sex?"
Mark: "Yeah."

• Rummage Sale Reject: Meg's fashion sense is pretty awful, which other characters are quick to point out.
• Running Gag: Meg's parents keep betting each other whether or not she will really do what she promises.
• Same Language Dub: In universe. Despite being laughed out of two auditions, Bunny gets cast in a commercial for a furniture shop. Rather than use whichever of the various accents she's been trying out, the producers simply dub her voice over with someone else.
• Sex with the Ex: Despite the fact that she's finished with Mark, Meg is more than willing to sleep with him from time to time.
• Shout-Out:
  • To Dragons' Den (in 'Skint') when Meg attempts to call her boss's bluff:
  Meg: "Malcolm, unfortunately, we are looking for a higher investment opportunity, so, with that in mind, I'm afraid we will have to withdraw our assets... ourselves as employees. I'm afraid, Malcolm, we're out."
  • Meg tries to invoke one to Dirty Dancing by attempting to get a hotel staff member to lift her into the air as "Time Of My Life" plays at her brother's wedding only to faceplant due to him not realising her intention.
• Skewed Priorities: In 'Skint':

Laura: "Meg, will you calm down? Everything's going to be OK. Don't forget it's Apocalash tonight."
Meg: "Oh, yeah! We can sell our Apocalash tickets to buy food!" (Laura slaps her) "Ow! Laura!"
Laura: "Not thinking straight, are you?"
Meg: "No. Sorry, Laura. It's just, I haven't eaten for a day and I'm really hungry and I'm scared about not having a job and I think I might die."
Laura: "In other words, you need a good night out."

• Spooky Séance: Played for laughs in 'Halloween'.
• Stalker with a Crush: A recurrent problem for Meg - Mark in series 1, Gary's best friend Maggot in 'Plus One'.
• Surprise Incest: In 'Wedding':

Bunny: "Are you on your own?"
Henry: "Yes, unfortunately."
Bunny: "Have we met? I just felt like we had a connection."
Meg: "You do realise he's your cousin?"
Bunny: "Oh! First or second?"
Henry: "First."
Bunny: "Tom! Tim?"
Henry: "Henry."
Bunny: "Henry."
Henry: "I've got to go now, I feel uncomfortable."
Meg: "Spiritual connection, blood relation - same thing."

• Toilet Humour: Abounds.
• Too Desperate to Be Picky: In 'Hot & Cold':

Meg: "He twisted his ankle playing football."
Laura: "I thought he forgot."
Meg: "For a minute there, I thought he was going to stand me up."
Laura: "He did."
Meg: "Because if he had stood me up, I would not be going over there."
Laura: "He has and you are."
Meg: "But he's hurt his ankle and lucky for him, I am-"
Laura: "Desperate."
Meg: "-nice. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."

• Too Much Information: Meg, during her brief stint at a radio station, ends up disclosing that she once walked in on her father performing oral sex on her mother. Seemingly, this is too much even for the Dumbass DJ and his two sidekicks, who have been notorious for driving interns to quit in tears with their "banter" and Meg gets the sack on the spot.
• The Unfavorite: Meg to her family. Her brother is lauded over by her parents, while her bedroom is turned into a walk-in wardrobe. This even extends to her extended family with Bunny inheriting a large bundle of cash and some jewellery from their grandmother with Meg only getting £10.
• Waiting for a Break: Aspiring actress Bunny. In 'Hot & Cold', gets a job selling refreshments in a theatre and attempts to impress the cast.
• Would Hurt a Child: Possibly unintentionally. In 'Sober', Meg, seething at being barged aside by a fully-costumed runner, brings them down just before the finishing line - but only then realises how young they are.
• You Need to Get Laid: In 'Dry Run', when Meg admits to not having had sex in 12 months.