Big School

Still mad that it ended only because david walliams decided to start a sketch show. how dare he do that to catherine tate. rude.

This is a really great series with marvellous character development. If you went to school in the UK, Big School is definitely worth a watch since there will no doubt be moments which will spark memories (key the science experiments...)

You end up growing fond of the people and actually hoping things will go well for them. Lots of laughs; a play of human weakness and desire and ineptitude and the show we put up to make up for all our shortcomings.

A slightly lighter, prolonged version of The History Boys - and that is basically as good as it gets in my book.

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So the BBC released a promo for this show, and two comedians who I like very much (Walliams and Tate) were featured in it. I thought, "I should watch it". I missed the first three episodes but caught up on iPlayer, and may I say I'm glad I did.

This show is underrated by other reviewers on IMDb, it really is a good 30 minutes of British TV. The characters are good and the episodes are entertaining and funny on most occasions. It's not THE BEST comedy show there is, but it really is on my top list for the moment. I recommend trying the series on iPlayer, it's worth it. Walliams and Tate work well together on screen, and despite having some sadly true moments, it has very laugh out loud comical moments.

Big School is a win for comedy fans. Drawing inspiration from The Office, Alan Partridge, and even older comedies such as Dear John (Philip Glenister's character channels Kirk St Moritz, especially in Episode 4), there are some incredibly funny scenes.

Better still, because it is character-based - much like The Office and others (Partridge, Frasier) that feature anti-hero cringe characters - it improves on repeat viewing. Familiarity with Big School's characters only makes them funnier.

For some reason Big School has attracted many lukewarm and even highly critical reviews. I recommend that new viewers give it a chance and watch at least a couple of episodes, preferably re-watching them, before dismissing it.

After all, would Frances De La Tour pick a turkey?

The present, ridiculously low score prompted me to write a short review.

The setting, the story, the characters of Big School are both typically British and universal, and though each character is well defined by their role, each actor in the very talented cast is allowed to show their individual craft, sometimes genius, a freedom that, especially in the experienced hands of David Walliams, Catherine Tate and Philip Glenister, produces some high quality comedic characterizations of the archetypal figures that we encounter in the odd, but equally classic school setting that they populate.

I can't fault this production, having very much enjoyed the first two episodes, and I'm rather looking forward to seeing the rest of this well-thought-out, well-produced new BBC series.