| Genre: | Sitcom |
| Creator: | Jack Whitehall |
| Composer: | Vince Pope |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 5 |
| Num Episodes: | 33 |
| List Episodes: | List of Bad Education episodes |
| Executive Producer: | Ben Cavey |
| Producer: | Pippa Brown |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Company: | Tiger Aspect Productions |
| Network: | BBC Three |
| Related: | The Bad Education Movie (2015) |
Bad Education is a British television sitcom set in a dysfunctional secondary school broadcast on BBC Three. Running from August 2012 to October 2014, the first three series were written by Jack Whitehall, who starred as Alfie Wickers, "the worst teacher ever to grace the British education system". Set at the fictional Abbey Grove School in Hertfordshire, the series follows Wickers' class of misfits, Class K, headed by eccentric headmaster Shaquille "Simon" Fraser (Mathew Horne), and Wickers' ploys to win the affection of crush Rosie Gulliver (Sarah Solemani).
Despite a mixed reception from critics, the show remained "a hit with the target audience", and was adapted to a 2015 film starring the original cast. In January 2023, a fourth series aired, though no longer starring Whitehall. In the revived show, former pupils Stephen Carmichael (Layton Williams) and Mitchell Harper (Charlie Wernham) return to teach Class K at Abbey Grove, now headed by Bernadette Hoburn (Vicki Pepperdine), with their pupils caught amid their schemes and rivalries. Mathew Horne also returned now as the school cook. A fifth series premiered in January 2024 following a 2023 Christmas special.
The sitcom focuses on Class K, a class of misfits at the fictional Abbey Grove School, a failing secondary school in Watford[1] or Tring,[2] Hertfordshire, and their incompetent teachers.
Series 1-3 focuses on Alfred "Alfie" Wickers (Jack Whitehall) – a posh, newly graduated History teacher. Ever determined to impress his crush, fellow teacher Rosie Gulliver (Sarah Solemani), Alfie makes repeated efforts to appear "cool", such as by coaching the school football team, organising a weapons amnesty, and fielding a candidate for the school elections. He turns to Class K for help in these efforts, despite them often being unsupportive. The class includes shy Joe (Ethan Lawrence), wannabe hard man Mitchell (Charlie Wernham), paraplegic rude boy Rem Dogg (Jack Binstead), sexually promiscuous Chantelle (Nikki Runeckles), camp Stephen (Layton Williams), intelligent but snooty Jing (Kae Alexander), hot-tempered Cleopatra (Weruche Opia), and school bully Frank (Jack Bence) who often bullies Alfie.
At the same time, Alfie finds himself having to cope with the antics of his eccentric, laidback headmaster, Shaquille "Simon" Fraser (Mathew Horne), and meet the expectations of a string of deputy heads: at first ruthless authoritarian Isobel Pickwell (Michelle Gomez), then the cruel yet pathetic Professor Celia "Pro Green" Green (Samantha Spiro), and then his own father, goofy and naïve Martin Wickers (Harry Enfield). It is clarified in the third series that the three series spanned a single academic year - the final year of secondary school.
Series 4 focuses on Stephen and Mitchell, who return to Abbey Grove to teach a new cohort of Class K. The school also has a new headteacher, Bernadette Hoburn (Vicki Pepperdine), with Fraser now working in the canteen. The new pupils are the glamorous Usma (Asha Hassan), the hustling Blessing (Francesca Amewudah-Rivers), the wannabe-rapper Inchez (Anthony J Abraham), the dim-witted Harrison (Bobby Johnson), the smart and introverted Warren (Ali Hadji-Heshmati), and the socially-conscious Jinx (Laura Marcus).
The first series started airing on 14 August 2012. At the time of the series launch in August 2012, Bad Education broke BBC Three's record for the highest viewing figure for a first episode of a comedy, which was previously held by Horne & Corden, but is now held by Cuckoo.[3] [4]
On 23 August 2012, it was announced that Bad Education would have a second series.[5] The second series premiered on BBC iPlayer on 27 August 2013, a week before the television air date of 3 September.[6] This was part of BBC Three's plans to premiere all its scripted comedy programmes online.[7] The experiment proved successful, as the first episode of the second series received 1.5 million requests prior to its television airing.[8] A Christmas special aired on 17 December 2013.[9]
A pilot for a U.S. adaptation of Bad Education, named An American Education, was ordered by the American Broadcasting Company with Whitehall set to reprise his role as Alfie Wickers.[10] The pilot began filming in Los Angeles in January 2014. However, ABC passed on the pilot on 22 May 2014. Whitehall would continue with the original UK series of the show.[11]
The third series of Bad Education began transmission on 16 September 2014, and ended on 21 October 2014. In late 2014, Whitehall confirmed that the show would not receive a fourth series.[12]
Part of the second series was filmed at St Michael's Catholic High School, Finchley, London. Bad Education was also partially filmed at the former site of Ashmount Primary School on Hornsey Lane. Some scenes were filmed at the former Salesian College in Battersea, London. Parts of Series 3 were filmed at Ricards Lodge High School in Merton. Seasons 4 & 5 were filmed at St Joseph’s Catholic College in Croydon.
See main article: The Bad Education Movie. On 27 February 2015, Whitehall confirmed that a feature film edition of Bad Education was in production. Filming took place in Cornwall, with the majority of the main cast reprising their roles for the film. The Bad Education Movie was released on 21 August 2015 in the UK, and saw Alfie Wickers and Class K travel to Cornwall. Entertainment Film Distributors, who also handled the release of the box-office 2011 hit The Inbetweeners Movie, dealt with the release of the Bad Education Movie.[13]
On 11 May 2022, to celebrate the show's tenth anniversary, the BBC confirmed that a special reunion episode would be broadcast on the recently relaunched BBC Three channel.[14] The special followed the characters Stephen Carmichael (Layton Williams) and Mitchell Harper (Charlie Wernham) becoming teachers. The BBC also announced that the special would be followed by a new six-part series "written by a team of breakthrough writers" following the BBC's plans to invest more money in high-impact comedy programming.[15] [16] The special episode aired on 15 December 2022.[17]
Alfred Prufrock "Alfie" Wickers (Jack Whitehall) stars as a newly-qualified History teacher of Class K. An incompetent but fun-loving teacher, he struggles for authority in his form. He has a crush on fellow teacher Rosie Gulliver (Sarah Solemani), a socially-conscious Biology teacher with whom he enjoys a will-they-won't-they relationship through most of the series. Alfie is good friends with headteacher Shaquille Banter "Simon" Fraser (Mathew Horne), the school’s eccentric, laidback and incompetent headmaster who invests the school's money in unprofitable schemes.
While Alfie enjoys a good relationship with Fraser, he clashes with the school's deputy headteachers, beginning with the strict disciplinarian and fascistic Isobel Pickwell (Michelle Gomez), who fakes her death. She is replaced in Series 2 by Professor Celia "Pro Green" Green (Samantha Spiro), who begins a relationship with Alfie's father, Martin Wickers (Harry Enfield), who in turn replaces Green as deputy headteacher after they marry and Green leaves Martin destitute.
The Class K pupils are:
Recurring characters include:
Other notable guest characters who were the focus of episodes included India (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), a drug counsellor; and Kevin Schwimer (Kyle Soller), a fraudulent History teacher who competes with Alfie for the affection of Class K.
The special revival episode featured most of the original cast of pupils, with the exception of Alexander. Bernadette Hoburn (Vicki Pepperdine) is introduced as the blunt, strict new headmistress of Abbey Grove; Horne reprises his role as Fraser, but it is explained that he accepted a promotion to working in the school's kitchens.
The episode introduced a new set of Class K pupils, and set the premise for Williams and Wernham to reprise their roles as Stephen Carmichael and Mitchell Harper in the fourth series, teaching Drama and PE. Hoburn navigates their rivalries and antics, as do the pupils with whom they compete for affection. The new Class K pupils were:[18]
Hoffman reprised her role as Olive Mollinson in a guest appearance in the fourth and fifth series while Hilary Whitehall reprises her role as Stephen Carmichael's mother. Bianca Del Rio makes a guest appearance in episode two.
See main article: List of Bad Education episodes.
The series received mixed reviews from the British press. The Guardian called it "funny and occasionally in creditably poor taste", but accused Whitehall of "phoning it in".[19] The Daily Telegraph gave the show a rating of 2 out of 5, claiming that the show "uses too many stereotypes" and that Whitehall "tends to repeat many jokes" rather than creating new ones. Both the Daily Mirror and The Sun gave the sitcom a rating of 2 out of 5.
Rotten Tomatoes gave the show 71%; a critic said, "the script is patchy and the story is too silly for its own good but there are enough laughs to make this a hit with the target audience"
The revival series received a mixed reception. Radio Times praised the decision to allow viewers to say goodbye to Whitehall's character in the reunion special and noted "this new season of Bad Education is a joyful, quick-witted and comforting reminder of the old show, while still marking out its own territory with some smart casting decisions and structural shake-ups" and highlighted the strength of the Williams and Wernham as a double-act, the writing, the "genius" and "outrageous" reinvention of Horne's character, and the introduction of Pepperdine's headmistress and the new student characters.[20] In The Guardian, Jack Seale gave the series two stars, calling it "juvenile", "still lack[ing] any coherent structure or purpose", and a "pointless revival", but "slightly better" than the original show and "not as obviously empty-hearted".[21]
| Title | Release date | Running time | Special features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 9 September 2013 | 168 mins | Making of Bad Education; Video Diaries |
| Series 2 | 29 September 2014 | 205 mins | Audio Commentary on Episode 1 |
| Series 1–2 | 373 mins | Making of Bad Education; Video Diaries; Audio Commentary on Series 2, Episode 1 | |
| Series 3 | 31 August 2015 | 168 mins | |
| Series 1–3 | 540 mins | Making of Bad Education; Video Diaries; Audio Commentary on Series2, episode 1 |