Posted by Freddie92

I have watched some guff in my time, but tonight’s episode took the veritable Olivia de Havilland biscuit for the crassest TV show ever. Up until now, I had never watched an episode of Teachers, let alone Waterloo Road. Only dire Grange Hill (As Ben Elton used to say: “The only kids in Britain who don’t say f***!”) and the ancient Please Sir. Tonight’s programme had the family from hell turn up with three mixed-race boys and a white girl to a drunken Irish mammy. All the cliches were there ... the elder son who fancies the headgirl and wants to go straight, the teen ned who is really a Pram Face in action, the easily-led, illiterate youngest school-going son, and then the villain of the piece, the gun-wielding gangsta who lets his little brother have it ... ie the blame.

Utter tosh, but not half as rubbish as the teachers:

- the most wishy washy headteacher in history, who says “Yer” a lot which that seems to work wonders with the degenerate kids;

- a DHT who doesn’t wear a tie (do these creatures actually exist?);

- a wig-wearing staffroom cynic;

- a French teacher who is a battleaxe;

- a trendy new PE guy (he’s head of PE yet looks about 16);

- a Scottish female teacher who has the hots for the new PE guy but keeps putting her foot in it;

- a Nick Frost lookalike who rents out his flat to new neighbours who turn out to be the mad family.

It was entertaining in a so-bad-it-is-good sort of a way, but as a teacher I am worried about what image this is portraying of our kids and members of the teaching profession. Guns and schools should be taboo. All it takes is one idiot to replicate this (even with a fake gun) and the BBC is in bother. Have these idiots not heard of Dunblane?

Posted by grunwald

I got caught up for about 20 minutes, but left it as I sensed it might be bad for my blood pressure.

Posted by jonowen

I was looking forward to its return but was disappointed. The gun storyline was very bad, but evacuation of the school was by the book. The staff drinking after school was cringe-worthy, but doesn’t every school have a Grantleeey (Grant Budgen) and a teacher with the hots for another? Oh, and I have seen a few deputes not wearing a tie, so all in all it’s not that removed from reality. At least it gives some of my relations (who think teaching is dead easy as they were all at school once upon a time) a glimpse of what teaching can be like.

www.tes.co.ukcommunity, click on TES Scotland, then opinion.