1973 Born Andrew Clutterbuck in London

1984-91 Beechen Cliff boys’ school, Bath

1991-94 Attends Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

1994 Appears in Drop the Dead Donkey

1996 Plays Egg in cult BBC2 series This Life; small part in film Boston Kickout

1999 Supporting role in Human Traffic

2000 Plays baddie Maxie King in British crime flick Gangster No 1; stars in Blue Orange at the National Theatre

2001 Plays Simon, an English teacher, in the new Channel 4 series Teachers

2002 Second series of Teachers (last episode May 15, 10pm); visits Ghana with Voluntary Service Overseas as part of its teacher recruitment campaign

I went to Beechen Cliff grammar in Bath, which was then an all-boys’ school, and I loved it. I think I was a bit unruly but I also think I was all right. I wasn’t one of those people who didn’t work, I was just a bit of a joker. I always used to be the one who got sent out of the classroom because I was laughing too much. The teachers that I really admired at the time were John Scrine, a maths teacher who also taught drama, and Tony Lawdham, an English teacher.

John Scrine was also my head of year when I was in the fifth year and we were a pretty unruly year. He was really a wonderful teacher - he had a great sense of humour and he encouraged me to do drama.

With Mr Lawdham, it wasn’t so much the lessons or the subject matter, it was more to do with the personality of the guy. He was tough - a real disciplinarian but very fair. He didn’t seem to have any kind of hierarchy with the bright kids and the tough kids. While other teachers reacted differently to different kids, he treated everyone the same. He was absolutely fair and there is something beautiful about being consistent, as not many people are. That is something that really stays with you as you’re growing up. My lasting impression of Mr Lawdham is his sense of humour and enthusiasm when he was really into something. He loved getting involved in drama societies and all that kind of stuff, and he was a great influence in encouraging me in that direction.

Beechen Cliff was a very science-oriented school so I was encouraged to do sciences and I did biology, physics and chemistry A-level. Mr Scrine and Mr Lawdham were the only ones in a science-oriented school to encourage me to do drama. They kept dragging me off the rugby or football pitch and telling me to get on stage and try a bit of that.

Mr Scrine got me into the school play, which that year was Oliver!. I played the Artful Dodger, and that’s where my singing career began and ended. I was 15 or 16 at the time and that’s when I really got the bug. I then joined a local am-dram society called Musical Youth and went on to the National Youth Theatre.

When I started auditioning for drama school, I was just coming into the upper sixth. Everyone was saying, “Go to university and get a degree first”, which was a fair call. The careers advice was “Well, you don’t want to do acting, it’s rubbish, there’s no career in it.” My father just said to me, “Look, if you get accepted by five drama schools you can go.”

Fortunately I did, and got into Rada (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art).

Mr Scrine and Mr Lawdham were really inspirational teachers and I believe that you remember people like that. My brother is a teacher - a proper teacher - and he teaches RE and philosophy. Having a brother who teaches, I realise absolutely how little time that teachers have for themselves socially. You see how much of their emotional life and social life is devoted to the school and the kids. I see how much of a tie the job is, and how much he has to take on board with the responsibilities that go with that. I used to see him a hell of a lot but now he’s too tired or he’s got extra work or he’s taking kids on outward bound courses or overseeing Duke of Edinburgh awards.

Teaching is an extraordinary job and a very difficult and demanding one. It really is a vocation. But Teachers, it’s not really about that side of things - it’s a fictional drama in a heightened world. It’s not about teaching, it’s more about a group of friends within a particular environment. It is far more concerned with flawed human beings. It is not trying to be a Jimmy McGovern series.