This comedy-drama is very surreal in places in the Ally Mcbeal dancing baby vein. However it is also funny, witty and has a wonderful soundtrack. The series centres on the new English teacher Simon, played by Andrew Lincoln of This Life, at a 'typical' city high school. As the series progresses the audience sees his relationships with the other teachers, pupils and his girlfriend, policewoman Maggie, develop. There is quite a bit of tension between Simon and the other English teacher, some of this is sexual. It is the sexual tension between the two English teachers that leads to the McBealesque fantasy sequences.


Also of interest is the friendship of Simon, Karl and Brian. One problem of the series is that the supporting characters often seem two - dimensional and stereotypical. For example is Karl, the geeky, sex - obsessed information technology teacher. The series is so good that i am now watching it for the second time as it is being repeated on terrestrial television. The comedy lies mostly in the actions of Brian and Karl, two teachers who are more immature than the youngest student. also of interest in the series are the lovelives of the teachers, and how they all relate to each other. The comedy balances the drama enough to make this light viewing, great for after that bad day at work.

The second series has now has had a chance to establish two new characters, JP who is a gay languages teacher and Penny who is a (bad) english teacher. In this series the piece has become more of an ensemble work rather than focusing mainly on Simon as in the first series. It is still quirky, my friends and i record it and then watch it back to see all of the weird little touches in the background such as the dwarf dinnerlady and the kids walking on their hands. It has managed to stay fresh and original.