Jack Whitehall

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.

In school sitcom Bad Education, writer Jack Whitehall reworks his toff slacker student JP from Fresh Meat as toff slacker teacher Alfie. So it won't persuade you that Whitehall isn't a one-trick pony but who cares? It's a funny trick. It also has the wonderful Michelle Gomez, of Green Wing fame, as Alfie's ball-breaking deputy head, stealing every scene she's in with just a flare of her mighty nostrils.

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Bad Education review: Young Whitehall shows promise

There was certainly pressure on Jack Whitehall to deliver and with a backdrop as familiar as a secondary school there was a real chance that Bad Education would fail. Fortunately, it's a triumph with believable characters and just enough one-liners to ensure it remains pacey and laugh-out-loud funny.

Fresh Meat's Jack Whitehall goes back to school in this buzzing new sitcom, this time as a teacher. Not that you would want your kids in his charge, of course. Distractions such as the newly single biology teacher (Him & Her's Sarah Solemani) are enough to stop him from doing anything sensible, like, say, marking mock exam papers.

A good first day of term for this new school-set sitcom, the second to launch tonight alongside Sky Living's Gates. Bad Education sees Jack Whitehall casting himself as a flaky loser teaching in a state school, juggling the usual array of tricky students, a ball-busting headmistress (Michelle Gomez), and colleagues both unattainable (Sarah Solemani) and berkish (the brilliant Mat Horne, having a ball). Post-Fresh Meat, Whitehall's on a hot streak, and no mistake.

No school comedy would be complete without an excruciating sex education class and Jack Whitehall doesn't disappoint. As hapless history teacher Mr Wickers he wriggles and squirms and clearly yearns to crawl under a desk away from the pitying gaze of his worldly-wise pupils. The only person more immature is the head (Mathew Horne in a hilariously hideous wig) who befuddles his staff and enrages parents with his senseless slang. There hasn't been a sitcom this masterfully puerile since The Inbetweeners.

Having shown surprising acting chops in Fresh Meat, Jack Whitehall is a man presently in search of a worthy vehicle. In Bad Education - which he also writes - Whitehall stars as feckless, perpetually hungover teacher Alfie Wickers. His pursuit of the concerned, competent Rosie (Sarah Solemani) sees him spin a web of deceit in this opening episode, which concludes at parents' evening. It's funny and occasionally in creditably poor taste, but you get the feeling that Whitehall's phoning it in somewhat.

Jack Whitehall on his Bad Education

"Mr Wickers is a knob, but a knob in a loveable way, I hope... He is quite immature and a bit of a man-child, so I think he is a heightened version of myself in some ways"

More school-based humour as comedian Jack Whitehall stars as a hapless teacher straight out of training college in this infectious new comedy. Alfie (Whitehall) seems to have more in common with his pupils - who treat him with both affection and derision - than his fellow teachers. With a fierce deputy headmistress (Michelle Gomez) forever looking for an excuse to fire Alfie, it's just as well that the bonkers headmaster (Mathew Horne) is more tolerant. Alfie's chief quest, however, is to go on a date with the biology teacher (Sarah Solemani).