Chat Ed : Good evening everyone & welcome to tonight's live chat with RAQUEL CASSIDY who plays SUSAN in TEACHERS! The soundtracks from the 1st and 2nd series: A Class Soundtrack and Teachers 2 are available in the shops now. Details can be found at channel4.com/shop
Raquel Cassidy : Hello, thanks for signing on. Whatever you want to ask, go for it.
Chat Ed : Welcome Raquel everyone!
Gemma : hello!!!!!
mark kinslow : hi raquel
son of a teachers ma : Raquel you are the best! Do you enjoy the pranks on the show, or is anyone a prankster in particular?
Raquel Cassidy : I very much enjoy. Andy was a real prankster and the boys more than anyone.
Andy would do things that would make me laugh during takes and they would keep those in the show, so that was brilliant.
lily : What do you like best about Susan? And is she anything like you?
Raquel Cassidy : I like it that she is really good-hearted and that she is extremely witty.
There are elements of me in her but I'm not nearly as witty as she is, which is fairly irritating.
Qamran : Heya Raquel! I was just wondering how you are coping with your newfound status as a sex symbol.
Raquel Cassidy laughs
Raquel Cassidy : Well, extremely well because it hasn't hit me in the least. It's so newfound that I haven't found it yet.
maxs mama : she is so a sex symbol * nods sagely*
Raquel Cassidy : Cheers maxs, thanks for that, I'll write that on my bathroom mirror!
LauzG! : Do the boys come to you for advices- like their characters do?
Termoil0 : Are you as good at gving advice as your charactor is?
Raquel Cassidy : We kind of go to each other for advice. I'm sometimes good at giving advice but never quite as pithy. If you need any advice, you can always try me out right now!
Eve : have u any advice for me as i want to be an actress i am curently studying a levels
Raquel Cassidy : Eve, find out all the courses that are going, find the one you really want to do and don't stop until you get it. Follow your heart.
Paul B : Thanks for enlivening my Wednesday nights! How do you think you would get on teaching for real?
Raquel Cassidy : Well I have taught for real and was told I was a live wire but I needed a bit more structure. I taught English as a foreign language. I think I'd be rubbish now because it's too much like hard work.
VinK : Have you tried to portray any teachers you had while you were in school?
Raquel Cassidy : God no!
ro : Susan has some relationship problems, clearly, would you mind if I asked what you look for in a relationship/bloke?
Raquel Cassidy : I don't mind at all. It's fairly open ended: honesty, truth, growth, courage, humour, joy, delight, willingness, and so it goes on, I could go on for hours.
Sarah Hilton : Hi Raquel, Think your shows brilliant, especially with the donkey and penguins appearing, was was difficult filming with the animals
Andy M : how can you concentrate when during scenes something out of the ordinary enters, like a donkey? I would not keep a strainght face!
Raquel Cassidy : Well we often don't. The animals are even more difficult than we are. The donkey is gorgeous! And the penguins just stopped the show - everyone thought they were fantastic.
Taraneh : i don't get why the donkey is there, why exactly is it there?
Raquel Cassidy : We couldn't have sheep because of foot and mouth.
E-Wing : In the scene tonight where Brian, Kurt and Simon all downed a pint after you told them about your dream involving sex and them, was it real beer?
Raquel Cassidy : Hehe, no we film with low-alcoholic lager but it's just as filling though.
The only real alcohol we use is when they drink Guinness, because you can't get pretend looking Guinness. It wasn't real beer but they are real men!
Eve : where is teachers flimed is it in a real school?
Raquel Cassidy : Yeah, it used to be a real school but it was closed by OFSTED, so it's filmed in its shell. It's in Bristol.
scorpio : Hi Raquel, love the show! Will there be any relationship anytime soon between you and another teacher from the show?
Jon from Mannie : Can we expect to see you get it together with Simon?
Raquel Cassidy : It's top secret! I can't divulge that kind of information.
charlotte : Please don't get it together with Simon - it would break my heart!
Ginger : And Mine!
Raquel Cassidy chuckles
Raquel Cassidy : You're in very good company, charlotte, you're probably much more his type than I am!
Shani : My English teacher loves Teachers. She says its hilarious because its so unreal. Have you met any teachers that hate the show?
Raquel Cassidy : I've heard that there are teachers that don't like it, but most of the ones that come up to me like it a great deal.
Naomi : i actually think teachers is quite realistic!! i know what the teachers get upto in the staffroom!!
Freakyhat : big issue said the show worked because it wasn't about teaching at all, it was about crap mates... d'you agree?
Raquel Cassidy : Nobody thinks it's based on reality - that's because it isn't! I've never worked in a staffroom, so I can't tell if it's real or not. I suspect that it's not very real and yeah I think it's about mates that really love each other but are just crap and that's why it's funny. But if you think it's real, then that's great!
Peter : Are you thinking of doing any other TV series or films?
Raquel Cassidy : I'm about to start filming a series for the BBC called Red Cap with Tamzin Outhwaite.
Andrew17 : I love you, but who do YOU love on tele at the moment?
Raquel Cassidy : Pretty much anyone from The West Wing, but my favourite would have to be CJ.
Alastair : Hi Raquel, there's a crack team of typists from your old college (?) Girton in Cambridge, trying to get a question through to see if it's true: did you really go here (and do modern languages part 1 and arch and anth part 2). Please tell us it's true. We all love you.
Raquel Cassidy laughs
Raquel Cassidy : I did do languages part 1 and I did do biological anthropology part 2 and I did go to Girton, so hello! Hello to Dr Jondorf if you are still there!
floss : are you as cynical as Susan or are you ever surprised by some of the lines you get
Raquel Cassidy : I'm certainly not as cynical as she is, no. I'm ever-hopeful.
Lex : You've got about 300 different facial expressions to react to the antics of your fellow teachers, do you practice them in front of the mirror as you're going through the script? ;o)
Raquel Cassidy : Erm, no, in fact I'm horrified by the amount of muscles I use when I'm saying my lines!
Emily : is there likely to be another series then? wednesday nights won't be the same without teachers!
Sam : teachers totally rocks!please say there will be another series???
Raquel Cassidy : Aah bless you Emily. Thank you for that. It's possible that there will be another series.
Chat Ed : And finally, the question of the evening:
Willis : Who would it be then out of the lads, to have your baby ;) ?
Raquel Cassidy laughs
helen_uk : come on tell us!!!!
Rob Kinder : please we must know!
Raquel Cassidy : Well I think Susan answers that one. Thankfully in real life the gene pool is considerably wider - so watch this space!
Chat Ed : That's it! Thanks so much Raquel for being here with us, we really enjoyed it.
The soundtracks to series 1 and 2 are available in the shops now. Details can be found at channel4.com/shop
Lizzy : Thank you! ; )
jimbo : thanks raquel
scottie boy : we luv u keep up the wicked work!
Reevery : Thank you, you're a star!!
Raquel Cassidy : Thanks very much, thanks to Girton for trying to get through. Goodbye to each and every one of you. And to anyone that thinks they might want to have a baby maybe don't choose one of your friends! Or maybe do! I don't know! That's it, over and out!
Raquel Cassidy leaves the room
