Layton Williams

Venue probe after TV star thrown out of Fringe show

An Edinburgh Festival Fringe venue has launched an investigation after Bad Education star Layton Williams accused security staff of "racial profiling" when he was thrown out of a show.

Layton Williams: 'filming the movie was emotional'

Layton Williams plays the flamboyant Stephen in the BBC comedy, and he will return alongside his madcap friends in the movie version. The actor and dancer told Digital Spy that shooting the film was an emotional experience.

Bad Education's Layton Williams on coming out

Plucked from school in Manchester aged just 11 to train at the Billy Elliot Academy after responding to a newspaper advert on a whim, Brian Layton went on to fulfil every aspiring theatre fan's childhood dream as the West End musical's longest-serving young lead.

The third series of Jack Whitehall's sharp secondary school comedy kicks off with some big surprises for his incompetent educator Alfie Wickers. Abbey Grove's new deputy head is none other than his dad Martin (Harry Enfield), and money worries at the school mean that Alfie's job is on the line. As usual, the pupils are on fine form: as the teachers begin a strike, Stephen's (Layton Williams) ignorance sparks a hatchet job from a local journalist, while Joe (Ethan Lawrence) struggles to adapt to his newfound veganism.

Bad Education's Christmas special saw Alfie Wickers facing another big problem, as he'd been tasked by the headmaster (Matthew Horne) to direct the school play or face being sacked by the governors. Inevitably his ramshackle group of students are roped in to be the stars of the show with Stephen (Layton Williams) being the only one with any discernible talent to speak of. Alfie is then shocked when school bully Frank (Jack Bence) auditions for his production and delivers an incredibly awful audition. But because Alfie is incredibly scared of Frank he casts him as the human lead opposite Stephen in his original production Robocracker a combination of Robocop and The Nutcracker.

Elsewhere, Alfie is attempting to impress Miss Guilver (Sarah Solemani) by volunteering at a soup kitchen where his class are insulted by a mouthy tramp (played by Whitehall's Fresh Meat colleague Greg McHugh).

Right at the start of the Bad Education Christmas Special, Horne and Whitehall warn us that festive editions of shows are often sloppily written with a loose seasonal feel. I would say that was true of Bad Education to an extent as it just didn't have the energy the sitcom normally possesses. The funniest moments were provided by Steven, whether it be his one-man production of Precious or his performance in the incredibly entertaining Robocracker.

Overall, while I can't say I wasn't entertained, I just expect a little bit more from Whitehall and his class of talented young actors.

The Doonan family are excitedly looking forward to their first foreign holiday tonight - but when the cash dries up they only manage to get as far as their front room. Turning their house into a mini-Butlins for a fortnight of karaoke, cocktails and tanning sessions turns out to be frighteningly easy.

Amid all the usual silliness, which this week runs to Bette Midler impersonations and a snarling dog called Madonna, Simon's best friend Kylie (Layton Williams) turns in some properly starry moments. He was one of the Billys in Billy Elliot The Musical and his high kick is quite a show-stopper.

Kylie's real dad turns up unexpectedly this week, too - an uncharacteristic moment of darkness and danger amid all the froth.

Eurovision winner Dana International makes a guest appearance tonight, as Simon Doonan (Luke Ward-Wilkinson) and his camp best mate Kylie (Layton Williams) dream of forming a boyband to fill the void left in 90s pop by the demise of Take That. Their body-popping ambitions are given a boost by their cool music teacher Mr Carr (Tom Payne), who also turns out to be their new neighbour. Until, that is, Simon's parents invite him over for dinner.

Family life with the Doonans is served up with the usual trimmings of bad-hair days, body glitter and lashings of chicken and mushroom wine.

Review in The Stage

The humour is gentle rather than hysterical, but the jokes are clever, unforced and in plentiful supply. Great performances too, particularly from its young stars Luke Ward-Wilkinson as Simon and Layton Williams as Kyle, aka Kylie.