Teachers

Our television guide described this show as a British version of Ally McBeal, with the big difference that the setting isn't a fancy lawyers office but a rundown school. And that's the thing that is so great about this show; it doesn't glamorize anything. Its Protagonist, 26- year old Simon, is a shallow minded antihero, selfish to the core. He's using people to fulfill his own desperate needs, trying to avoid every responsibility if something goes wrong. Then there is Susan, his emotional female buddy, trying to be strict and decisive but with the tendency to have a turbulent inner life. Add Brian and Kurt, two teachers that behave as a pair of 13-year olds, to the mix and you have a very funny show. I also adored the at the surface ice cold Jenny Page. She has that kind of cool and distant beauty that some women have. I truly believe that a woman like her can make a man like Simon mad.

This is how I want to see a comedy show; realistic, filled with dark humor and, most importantly, having a good balance between seriousness and wackiness. You start to loved its flawed yet charismatic characters.

When I sat down to watch this show I did it with low expectations as (although I hate to admit it) British series of recent years have not been up to scratch. Instead I have enjoyed watching American series such as 'The West Wing', 'Ally McBeal' and 'ER'. However I was pleasantly surprised by 'Teachers'. As well as being incredibly funny, this show is realistic.

It shows the everyday life of a twenty -something secondary school teacher, Simon, who everyone would love as their teacher as he doesn't seem to want to grow up. We see how he copes with teaching his rowdy class and how he gets on with his workmates. There's Jenny, the teacher who has a reputation for being a bit of a dragon and shows obvious contempt for Simon, which he returns equally (although he has a secret crush on her). There's his two slobby mates who are also teachers and there's his friend Susan who is the head of year and who he consults for advice on his personal life. He also has an on-off relationship with policewoman Maggie (who smokes pot when she's off duty). In my opinion it's unmissable.

This show is so refreshing and good. First two seasons were terrific, the rest not so much. This happens with a lot of shows when they change the main cast - it just feels like a different show. They've written out characters and gave us unsatisfactory explanations (in some cases no explanation at all) for their absence. I've seen only a few episodes from series 3 and 4 so this review is focused on the first two series.

Simon and Susan were great characters. I could easily identify with them 'cause I work in school and I share some of Simon's attitudes towards students and my colleagues often come to me with their problems - that makes me feel overwhelmed at times, just like Susan.

The relationship between colleagues is warm and close. I like the fact that they could talk about a lot of topics, including silly conversations. They hang out after work, get involved in pranks and some of them are flatmates. The only character I didn't like from the beginning was Jenny, but eventually she warmed up to me. It's a shame that the main cast wasn't there 'till the end, but at least we got two excellent series with them. It's a fun watch, I guess that the young teachers will like it a lot.

Yes....... I suppose when you watch a show after watching the previous weeks repeat you have to say that you LOVE IT. Brilliant writing and acting. This team of actors look like they've known each other all their working lives, great satirical fun with no cliches. Can't wait for series 3,4,5,6............etc.

David Clayton is WRONG! I loved series 1 of Teachers, but by the end I did feel a little bit "Simon"-ed out, and was worried how the show would sustain itself. I shouldn't have worried - because what we got was an infinitely better Series 2. Where characters who we'd got to know in relationship to Simon, slowly through Series 1, really came into their own - and facets of their characters that were only touched on were really allowed to flourish.

I liked the way Andrew Lincoln left the series (not your usual cliched stuff, but nicely underplayed) - I found it moving, but not over-cooked. You were sad to see him go, but knew that the world (and the series) would survive without him. Contrary to what David said, I got the impression that it had been really well built to. And it seems much more true to life to me this way. People do drift in and out of our lives - and whilst the idea is always horrible, it's amazing how the gaps they leave heal up.

I thought series 2 was better, funnier and more real. And I thought the pupil stories were better. The kids seemed smarter, not quite so contrived (like adults imagining kids) - more kid like. Overall, for me, series 2 is where Teachers really took off.