Jack Binstead

The first episode kicked off with hapless teacher Alfie Wickers trying to get into the good books of the headteacher while gearing up for parents evening, where he has to break the bad news that all his pupils have failed their mock exams.
Jack Whitehall gives a good physical comedy performance throughout - twitching, gurning and blinking his way through foppish stances in a beige cardigan that could easily achieve cult status. However the really funny performances came courtesy of the supporting cast.

Matthew Horne was delightfully cringeworthy as Wickers' colleague Fraser; Jack Binstead as Rem Dogg and Ethan Lawrence as Joe made a double act that it'd be good to see more of in upcoming episodes; and Jack Bence's Grayson gets the medal for the best line of the show: 'You learn to defend yourself when you're the only kid in the playground with a Sadé ring tone'. More of him as well, please.

The attempts at gags came thick and fast - attempts, that is - but often they ended up falling flat. One 'joke' involving a Chinese student called Jing who speaks mostly in her native tongue (a running gag clearly lifted from American Dad), is made to sport an oriental headband in a lesson on Pearl Harbour. You can see the punchlines coming from a mile off.

While the inclusion of social networking was a nice touch (follow Whitehall's Wickers on @Alfie_Wickers - no tweets as yet, though) ridiculous Alfie just irritated.

'Shut up, Downton Abbey' spat the school bully at one point. Can't help but agree.