DVD Review: Teachers

What's it all about?

Teachers is what it says on the tin... it's about teachers. It's a British sitcom that follows a group of secondary school teachers in their daily lives. The series starts following Simon but as it continues and the cast are changed around Brian and Kurt are the two main characters that are largely featured. 

Series 1

This follows Simon, Brian, Kurt, Jenny and Susan as the main protagonist (Simon) struggles in a new relationship, torn between his feelings for Jenny and Maggie. This brings foundations for the group.

Series 2

This sees relationships develop between the characters as the headteacher, Clare, and other teachers, including Bob, have their roles widened.

Series 3

This sees a cast change but, despite this, Brian and Kurt remain strong group leaders and help encourage this transition to run smoothly.

Series 4

I won't lie, I refused to see Series 4. Very few characters remained in this season and three (including two with extreme comic value) were killed off for no seemingly valid reason. 

The Good

I'm not a huge fan of any British programming. I think we either really hit or really miss and there's a fine line. However, Teachers truly cracked this. It's one of the funniest British sitcoms I've ever seen. Not only do the characters compliment each other but they also work in the fact that they contrast too. They seem to genuinely get along in the bonus features too which is shown on screen. It's hilarious. I'm happy to say that I fully believe it's brilliant.

I believe its peak is reached in Series Two but, despite a change of characters, the fact that Brian and Kurt remain makes this change acceptable and it feels fresh. Although not needed it stopped the show from becoming stale.

I also love the additions such as the feature of a donkey, the ignorance of the teachers to real life issues and the 'un-teacherness' of the programme that mocks teachers. It really does take the comedy value to a point where although it's extreme it's not unbelievably so and is enjoyable even if you aren't familiar with the art of teaching. (Although if you are I'm sure it'd be even more enjoyable.)

The Bad

I cannot bring myself to watch Series 4. There was no need to change the cast and get rid of the only 2 originals. They added the perfect comedy value to bounce off of each other and I feel as though they made a massive error. One series is not sufficient enough to feel close enough to a character and, as the show never made a Series 5, it seems slightly irrelevant that they bothered with a fourth whereby it takes a while to warm to some people.

The move of characters without any real reasoning is slightly annoying. This means their storyline can't develop - possible romances could not grow or bloom as characters are shunned away. 

Verdict

Teachers is one of the funniest British sitcoms I've seen. The portrayal of teachers is extreme to comic lengths and the mixture of characters work in such a beautifully funny way. Despite that I've not seen series 4 (I will do, one day) the rest do make up for the lack of original cast members I became attached to. I would rate this full marks but, due to the change so disappointingly drastic in series 4, I think it would be unfair to do so.