Pretty Good

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This was one of the last really popular sitcoms to be broadcast on BBC Three before it was shut down and taken online, I was really thankful that it was repeated before I missed out on the opportunity to watch it. Basically the series takes place at the fictional Abbey Grove School, in Watford or Tring, Hertfordshire, and it focuses on posh, newly graduated secondary school history teacher Alfie Wickers (Jack Whitehall, also writing). Alfie is a bigger kid than the kids he is teaching in Class K, his students include teacher's pet Joe Poulter (Ethan Lawrence), tough guy Mitchell Harper (Britain's Got Talent's Charlie Wernham), wheelchair-bound rude boy Leslie "Rem Dogg" Remmington (Jack Binstead), inappropriately flirtatious Chantelle Parsons (Nikki Runeckles), camp Stephen Carmichael (Layton Williams), the studious Jing Hua (Kae Alexander) and outwardly fiery Cleopatra Ofoedo (Weruche Opia). Throughout the series, the mismatched youngsters give him a hard time and take the mick, but often they can relate to them, banter with him, and become his good friends. Also throughout, Alfie is constantly trying to impress his crush, openly bisexual biology teacher Miss Rosie Gulliver (Sarah Solemani), trying to appear "cool", often his efforts turn into embarrassing situations or humiliation for himself, the students or the teaching staff. Alfie also has to contend with the the teaching staff, including eccentric headmaster Shaquille Banter "Simon" Fra$er (Mathew Horne), and meet the expectations of the deputy heads, including demanding dictator Isobel Pickwell (Michelle Gomez), ruthless yet cringe-worthy Professor Celia "Pro Green" Green (Samantha Spiro), and his own father, dramatically inappropriate Martin Wickers (Harry Enfield). Also starring Jack Bence Jack Bence as Grayson, James Fleet as Richard, David Bradley as Ennis, Roger Allam as Maurice Hewston, Lethal Bizzle as Rapper and Colin McFarlane as Politician. Whitehall gives a fantastic performance as "the worst teacher ever to grace the British education system", the supporting cast members, young and old, all do great as well, Whitehall's writing is brilliant, all three series are both cringing and hilarious, it may have had the critics being negative towards it, but I found a very entertaining and funny comedy show. Very good!

Considering Bad Education is 'just' a sitcom and therefore not typically expected to have complex characters and plot lines, I think the writing and casting of the series was and remains fantastic. Not only is there witty and well-delivered dialogue, as mentioned in other reviews, but it touches on sensitive issues in an admirable way. Let me expand on this, because it is debated hotly and largely disputed, especially for this show.Bad Education is called 'puerile' by a few reviewers online due to its rather rude humour. OK, this is a fair point... but it's well-written humour, even if a lot of it is dirty, and the majority of it is extremely funny. Even the clichéd jokes are delivered and inserted in new ways and the few that aren't still work in the context of the show. If someone was wanting highbrow humour, they shouldn't have chosen a sitcom: the way the humour is written is, yes, 'puerile', but it is funny and it works.In addition to this, the characters each start stereotypically clichéd: this is another point reviewers touch upon in a negative light. But, again, in the context of the sitcom, they are lovable and well-written and consistent, which makes the show. And, even though they START stereotypically (eg. camp gay boy, clever Asian girl, class clown, etc.) they develop throughout the course of the show and develop personalities and hobbies and show sides that you wouldn't expect (eg. the tough bully turns out to be gay) and stereotypes are merged in new ways (eg. class clown turns emo/Gothic). On top of this, it is never explicitly mentioned, but it is implied that we, the audience, are seeing these kids through Mr Wickers' eyes and therefore are accompanying them on the journey of HIM seeing them develop from just cardboard cutout characters in a class he's got to control into real people who respect him and whom he respects. In episode 1 in the parents' meeting, he mentions their talents as aspects of them that nobody else notices, showing he notices and respects them as people - not just learners - and this is reflected in the last scene in season 3.Other good points include the facts that: -Parents match up to their children, psychologically, in appearance, and are (except for the movie... sorry Mrs. Poulter) kept consistent even when in the background. I am especially impressed with the psychological accuracy in the portrayal of the parents and their children. Examples include Stephen Carmichael's ability to be confident and open, matched up to Mr and Mrs Carmichael and their acceptance of their son's personality and sexuality, and also Frank Grayson's mother, whose neglectful and abusive relationship with her son versus the pampering of her dog explains the constant need for her son to assert dominance alongside his need to hide his soft side and 'true self'.-The morals are admirable and repeated: even though the humour is dirty and Wickers himself does not shy away from doing ridiculous and immoral things to reach his end goals, morals consistently include 'be yourself: you will be richly rewarded' (such as in Grayson's transformation from bully to confident and proud boyfriend of Stephen), 'people are people not just stereotypes' (each character is complex and respected and liked by the end of the series by every other character), 'things are illegal for a reason', 'sexuality is nothing to be ashamed of' and 'immaturity can be overcome'.-Scenes are reflected subtly to show growth throughout the series, one particular example being (credit to the Tumblr user who brought this up) the first and last lines of each character being meaningful and summing up the character in question. Grayson's first and last lines towards Stephen are 'Hi ugly' and 'You look amazing'.-Plus, representation is very inclusive: there are main characters who are disabled, from a large section of ethnicities, strong female characters meeting the Bechdel test (Gulliver and Pickwell talk to each other quite a lot about various issues), and there are multiple and complex queer plot lines which are not trivialised or made into a joke and get their own happy endings... mostly.So, yes. Bad Education could be called 'immature' and 'puerile'... but it really isn't...

I absolutely love this show. Very funny indeed and a MUST WATCH! The actors are just amazing! I hope they produce more because it is a crazy addiction! YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS or you'll regret it for the rest of your lives! When i saw this for the first time, I thought it was a normal comedy program which was going to be boring. But i watched more episodes and every episode led me wanting to watch more and the comedy and jokes were fresh and new. Every episode for me is just amazing and you may disagree with me here but i can never criticise it because they are just so perfect. The fact that pupils can be normal with their teachers shows that this show is very unique and not like other comedy shows where all the typical things happen with people. I love this program and you should too.

If you haven't watched this then give any of the episodes a go. It is just pure entertainment, there is not supposed to be a point to any of it other than to make you laugh, (which it repeatedly succeeds in doing). It is slick, has fresh tight scripts moves along at a pace and you don't really need any prior knowledge of the characters to enjoy each episode fully. Don't expect the main protagonists to develop over time. This isn't one of these get to know the characters and feel empathy with them over a course of a series things. Ultimately comedy is about making you laugh and this one manages to do that with its absurd set-ups and excellent dialogue. Co-written by Jack Whitehall, he deserves credit for creating something which is very enjoyable.