About Teachers

Channel 4's most successful ever drama series is back for an unprecedented fourth series. Following the lives, loves and timetables of a group of hapless teachers no sane parent would want teaching their kids, this irreverent comedy drama continues to steer clear of anything remotely educational or politically correct.

Starring Tamzin Malleson as the manipulative sex kitten Penny; Vicky Hall as lardy Lindsay, the biology teacher with a healthy disregard for her pupils; Lloyd McGuire as "new" Bob, having reinvented himself on the cusp of a mid-life crisis; Ursula Holden Gill as squiffy-eyed Carol; Ellen Thomas as scary Liz; and Gillian Bevan as the head teacher Clare.

The cast are joined by Mathew Horne (The Catherine Tate Show, 20 Things to Do Before You're 30) as Ben, a hypochondriac atheist teaching Religious Education; Lee Williams (The Forsyte Saga) as Ewan, the unwitting heart-throb English teacher; and Daon Broni as Damien, the cynical teacher of food technology.

The first episode sees some wholesale changes afoot. The staff and pupils of Summerdown Comprehensive have been forced to merge with a neighbouring school, which results in a playground "them and us" divide, breaking out into naked hostility.

And that's just in the staffroom.

Life at Wattkins Comprehensive gets off to a chilly start for Lindsay and Penny, when existing teachers Ben and Damien refuse to have anything to do with them. Meanwhile, Clare wants altogether too much to do with Ewan, the new head of English, and will stop at almost nothing to get his attention.

One person who's not so keen on Ewan is Bob. Indeed, since he lost out to Ewan as Head of English, he's displaying a degree of bitterness normally reserved for his ex-wife, and is trying to get his new boss fired. Despite claiming to be a "New Bob", complete with terrible toupee, a mysterious fiancée, and a motorbike (well, a small moped), he's just as bad as ever - if not worse - and for an English teacher, his language is still atrocious!

Oh, and Clare can't stand the sight of him, and is looking for the smallest excuse to sack him.

Lindsay starts making progress with Ben, whom she has persuaded to talk to her, although he's reluctant to reveal what his subject is: Religious Education. "I just teach this bollocks," he tells her desperately, before setting about blaspheming as often as possible in an attempt to convince her he's not a Christian.

Damien, meanwhile, is the last to break. He still won't speak to the new staff, much to Penny's irritation (though at least handsome Ewan is speaking to her). Finally, it looks as though Bob is certain to get fired, thanks to a most unfortunate incident involving a bin, a fire, and Bob's pride and joy. But, at the last minute, he receives help from a most unexpected quarter.

All this, while Lindsay is trying to convince her new colleagues that she's not pregnant, just fat, Carol seems to have postnatal violence, Liz is as unpleasant as ever, there's a new place to smoke, and a new pub to try out. Oh, and somewhere in amongst all the chaos are the kids, whose education is the whole point of the exercise.

Yeah, right!

Teachers Series Three and the Teachers Box Set containing the complete Series One. Two and Three will be released on DVD on 1st November by Channel 4 Video.

Buy Teachers DVD’s and music at the Channel 4 Shop!