A FRENCH teacher who appeared in Channel 4's The Inbetweeners as his brother's doppelganger says he cannot watch Joe Thomas's new show - because he does not have Sky.
Adam Thomas and his family have previously told the Chronicle that they would not be buying a Sky package until "Rupert Murdoch died".
The six-strong family from Writtle have since stuck to their word, but while Adam watches Joe in his co-written sitcom Chickens tonight (Thursday) at a friend's, his parents will be flying off to Menorca.
"I guess we didn't get the Sky package because Rupert Murdoch isn't dead," joked Adam. "My dad just isn't keen on him. Anyway, it's only my brother."
But the family, who live in Mayfield Road, have had a sneak peak at an unedited first episode, set in the imaginary Rittle-on-Sea but filmed in Finchingfield.
Adam, who attended Writtle Junior School then Hylands School, is one of four brothers including 28-year-old Edinburgh University academic George and KEGS student Gregg, 17.
After five years at Leeds University studying French and Arabic, Adam has left teaching alongside his mother at Anglo European School in Ingatestone to work abroad.
He said it would be nice to see Joe, who made his TV debut on The Big Breakfast aged 11, in a show he first imagined during his time at Cambridge University with fellow actors Simon Bird and Jonny Sweet.
"When I first saw Joe in The Inbetweeners, I liked it but I didn't take it seriously because Joe was in it, so it wasn't proper telly," he said.
Adam, like his teacher parents, is bombarded by people asking after his brother, and says Joe gets crude Inbetweeners references shouted at him in the street.
"The Chickens episode I saw is fantastic. There is a nice dynamic between the three characters, which is how I imagine they were like living together in London. Joe is the one who does the cooking and cleaning while the others lounge about."
Adam recalls the moment he, Gregg and friends starred as extras in an episode of The Inbetweeners.
He was asked to be his brother's doppelganger as he drove away the show's infamous yellow Fiat Cinquecento in the final scene.
"They just thought 'who looks a bit like Joe?' but I stalled it twice as I was so nervous. What should have been a three- second take lasted ten minutes."
He added that Joe is nothing like his socially inept character Simon in The Inbetweeners.
Chickens premiers at 9.30pm tonight on Sky1 HD and follows the lives of three young men who for various reasons are not fighting in the First World War.
