Teachers

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.

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.

Teachers is your own playground years - every dilemma, cock-up and confusion is reflected in the life of the eponymous hero, thoughtless new to the game teacher simon (25 going on 15), who breezes through life wrapped in a cloud of his so-called problems (does his girlfreind have more sexual expereince than him? if doesn't shower will he get an extra 10 minutes in bed?? - lifes a bitch, eh? lol)

Folowing Simon during his first year in teaching, teachers has an easy warm charm carried off by dint of the keystone cops portrayal of simon and his colleagues who are, if possible, even more irresponsible than the kids they are supposed to be educating. Simon's half-baked attempts to graduate to adulthood and his antics at school and home keep the attention and the laughs coming. On a disturbing note though I must confess i found his policewoman girlfriend strangely attractive!

Teachers isn't battleship potemkin but it's elevated above the normal tv fare by good writing, good direction and a fine cast - it took me a few episodes to really tune in it to its wavelength but it's now a never miss.

Ps. a second series is in the post - take a tip and set the video

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.

The first couple of series of Teachers are wonderful. The third is so-so.

The fourth is dire, and I'm honestly surprised the cast agreed to many of the story lines.

Many other reviewers have commented on character changes being problematic in the later series. The loss of lead characters is a problem, but it's not the real reason that Series 4 is an unmitigated horror. Let's detail why:

1. Three new characters are introduced. The first is a "hot guy" to effectively replace Andrew Lincoln/James Lance. His character works okay, or would have done if they tried to establish more chemistry with established characters (as with Lindsay/Matt in Series 3). The other two characters are mystifyingly awful in how they are written. One (the "hypochondriac") is simply never funny. The other should be on TVTropes as the ultimate "token" hire. The poor actor is literally given no personality at all and nothing interesting to work with. Even straight men (in the comedy usage of the term) are supposed to be funny.

2. The themes and story lines are puerile, gross-out and frequently offensive, without being funny. In the earlier series the joke was having puerile characters in adult situations (teaching). In the last series, the situations are puerile. I feel particularly sorry for Vicky Hall (Lindsay) having to act the "fat episode". As for the "Ping" storyline, words simply fail. Little Britain handled the concept of a mail order bride more amusingly and more sensitively than this.

Teachers is definitely worth a watch. The final series is definitely worth a skip. It's amazing to realise that it was written by pretty much the same team of writers: what were they thinking?