Bad Education [DVD]

For anyone who has yet to see Bad Education, where on Earth have you been hiding? A relatively new BBC3 comedy that I am sure will be around for some time, focuses on a newly qualified teacher in a secondary school, with a class of typical 15 year old pupils. What makes this so funny and 'likable' is the fact that the teacher (Alfie Wickers - Jack Whitehall) seems to switch from being bumbling and pathetic, saying the wrong things and portraying himself as a useless and offensive teacher, yet at times shows that he genuinely cares for his students. In his own, almost always incorrect way, he's trying to help.

There are several undercurrents in the show, one being Alfie being almost obsessed with Biology teacher Rosie (Sarah Solemani) and is always trying to either impress her or get her to go out with him, which currently is failing miserably. The head teacher Fraser (Matthew Horne - Gavin & Stacey) is almost useless as the head of such an inner city school. He fails to control any issue, usually makes it worse and the cringing I do watching almost reminds me of the cringing I did while watching Ricky Gervais in The Office.

The students nearly always, along with Jack, steal the show. Nikki Runeckles who plays Chantelle Parsons, according to a recent survey on the Facebook page, is the most likable student. She is obsessed with her teacher, continually fantasizing about being his girlfriend and is played remarkably well by Nikki. The other students seem to have their own continuing story line, the typical 'hard' lad, the disabled lad in a wheelchair, the gay student, the foreign student et al

My only small, minor gripe is the head teacher Fraser needs some better material to work with. Because he is portrayed in the way he is, you sometimes start to wonder in reality how how long he would be left to run a school. It seems unbelievable he would be head teacher for long.

This has already been commissioned for a second series and I am looking forward to a long run of this show. It's nice to have a comedy with no smut, no sex, no violence, no swearing and just good quality, inspired writing.

When I first heard Jack Whitehall was writing his own sitcom I didn't know what to think. Sure, the man is very talented, but he is still quite new to the comedy scene and I wasn't sure if he was yet up to the task of writing an entire comedy series himself. But to be fair to the man, he's pulled it off with style. The show can be absolutely hilarious at times and even more importantly, the characters are actually likeable and you care about what happens to them. Jacks character, Alfie, despite being a complete tool at times, has a good heart and you sometimes even feel bad for him when his schemes go awry. Matthew Horne is also fantastic as Frasier, the schools headmaster who thinks he's down with the kids and is constantly giving Alfie misguided advice on how to handle his students.
Speaking of the students, if the show does have one flaw, it's that the students(as likeable as they are) can seem a bit unrealistic at times, almost like they exist purely for the shows script to work. For instance, the Asian student frequently shouts insults at Alfie in her native tongue, which Alfie then interprets as meaning something else. The joke is used way too frequently and becomes tiring after awhile. That said, the cast of students are quite memorable despite how stereotypical some of them are. (The gay student, the disabled kid etc. )
All in all however, it is a really good show that hopefully in time can turn into an excellent one. It's not full of swearing, it doesn't need to make fun of others for it's laughs and it has a surprisingly big heart. Don't get me wrong though, all that stuff can be great, as the inbetweeners and others have proven. It's just nice to see a comedy in this day and age that doesn't need to be overly offensive to get it's laughs. Jack Whitehall should be very proud of what he's achieved with Bad Education. The show was commissioned a second series after only it's first episode. That must be some kind of record. And in my opinion, Bad Education is probably the best original BBC 3 sitcom ever. Well, maybe after Him and Her, but that's up for debate.

I was hooked on this as soon as I saw the first episode. It's just hilarious. The script is sharp, the cultural references spot-on, and the direction and musical score are the perfect icing on the cake. Watching this, I can see how it was influenced by the comedy greats; 'I'm Alan Partridge', 'The Office' and 'Fawlty Towers'. (In fact I see the character of Alfie Wickers as a baby-Basil Fawlty.) The casting is pure genius. Matthew Horne is, as ever, brilliant. And there are also moments when this comedy shows some 'heart'. Jack Whitehall should feel immensely proud of this superb comedy. It's the best British sitcom in a long, long, time. I'll be pre-ordering the DVD pretty sharpish....