Teachers

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 made a welcome return for a third season this week on channel 4.

I think Andrew Lincoln was wise to take a brake from the starring role this series, as his character had become whiney and his mannerisms beginning to grate. Although he did direct some this season and returns towards the end.

The first episode was business as usual with the new characters from last season plus a couple of others grown into their roles. Susan is gone and will be missed as the mentor in the group, but with Simon gone there would have been little for her to do.

The main ingredients remain such as the great humour at the expense of anyone the script sees fit, including some very unfair jokes at the expense of a little fat kid thats going bald, that are hilarious, and the excellent soundtrack (Feeder rock)

Adrian bower handles his new job as lead well, evolving from the confused teacher that thought maybe he could do more that was the butt of so many jokes previously.

All in all the show is still going strong, the storylines, while not earthshattering are still strong and I hope this goes on for a while longer.

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?

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.

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.