Bad Education

Although creator and star Jack Whitehall hasn't confirmed whether school's out forever at Abbey Grove, tonight's series three finale ties things up nicely just in case. With their GCSEs over, Form K have some important decisions to make about their futures, as does their tutor Alfie (Whitehall), who has decided that he can't carry on at the school without them. With headteacher Fraser (Mathew Horne) in bits at his resignation, can Gulliver and Form K get Alfie to the prom and perhaps back to the classroom?

Jack Whitehall on Bad Education's final ever episode

"We always wanted to make it a little bit more dramatic. I feel like I have to work harder to do that kind of acting than I do sort of just pratting around so it was more challenging and also genuinely quite sad."

Bad Education series 2 DVD review

School-based comedy series have a somewhat hit and miss reputation as anyone who has seen Teachers or the more recent David Walliams/Catherine Tate sitcom Big School will agree. But while not exactly disproving this rule, BBC Three's relentlessly hip sitcom Bad Education is well worth skipping homework for.

5 Reasons why Bad Education is exactly like school

His lessons may defy belief and his class may be out of control but is Jack Whitehall's BBC Three comedy really that outrageous? Here are five reasons why Bad Education is exactly like school.

Radio Times review

It's sports day at Abbey Grove School and fearsome South African PE teacher Preet (a brilliant Harry Peacock) returns to make Alfie's life a total misery. All the running and jumping enables Jack Whitehall to show what a good physical comedian he is, as Alfie gets pummelled and pursued by the amorous, psychotic newcomer. There's the additional embarrassment of having his Dad (Harry Enfield) on hand.

This is predictable and silly comedy, but there's a charm and warmth at its heart (especially in Alfie's solicitousness towards his students) that carries the day. The boy's an idiot, but at least he's a nice, funny one.

A busy week for Alfie, who has to simultaneously attend Miss Gulliver's book group, pupil Mitchell's leaving do, and headmaster Fraser's live-action roleplay night (while dressed as a hobbit). Boisterous as ever then, but there's a sense that Bad Education is training its sights beyond schoolyard smut in its third series, with some gentle commentary on Michael Gove's school reforms ("He wants to get the kids to write with quills," reports Fraser), and strong guest turns from Seb Cardinal and Dustin Demri-Burns as a pair of orcs.

Radio Times review

The rude school sitcom, starring Jack Whitehall as the spectacularly loyal, endearingly thick teacher Alfie Wickers seems to have improved a notch from the slightly flat opener. Here we have a contrived but confident episode, which uses the classic trick of forcing our hero to be in three places at once.

So there's the fantasy convention organised by Alfie's tragically pitiable colleague (Mathew Horne), his girlfriend's book group and student Mitchell's leaving party. Will it go wrong? Of course it will... up to a point. Because just as with Whitehall's posh buffoon from C4's Fresh Meat, you wish Alfie well against your better instincts. And the writers don't let you down.

Charlie Wernham: I'm not leaving Mitchell behind

Having played many young reprobates I can safely say that Mitchell is the most exciting and shocking. His constant abuse means I get to insult Jack Whitehall and the other cast members on a daily basis!

Somebody who appears to have no desire to be a fully-rounded grown-up just yet is Jack Whitehall, whose sitcom Bad Education returned for a third series. In the series opener, Whitehall and co-writer Freddie Syborn tried to convince us that much had changed over the holidays. Tarty Chanelle was becoming engrossed in her studies, brainy Ying had become an existentialist and wheelchair-bound Rem Dog had turned Emo. However, I wasn't convinced that anything had changed at all as Bad Education still contained the same juvenile jokes and the recurring gag that Alfie Wickers (Whitehall) was the world's worst teacher. Although things appeared to be turning around for Alfie due to his blossoming relationship with Miss Gulliver (Sarah Solemani) the arrival of his father Martin (Harry Enfield) at the school look to threaten his domestic bliss. Martin threatened to sack one of the teachers due to Abbey Grove's limited budget and the prime target looked to be his idiot son. However, just before Martin could fire anyone, the teachers went on strike with the resulting consequences making Alfie question his teaching abilities. Just when I thought that Alfie's new attitude would make Bad Education interesting again things reverted back to type as the kids once again began to slack off in lessons. Once again I found that the most enjoyable moments of Bad Education featured Matthew Horne as woeful headteacher Fraser who was more interested in selling his new invention, the Segdesk, than he was at running the school. Horne appears to be having so much fun in the role that it's hard not to enjoy his scenes however I personally wish he'd appear more. Meanwhile the young actors who portray Alfie's class are full of energy and eager to make the show as funny as possible. Unfortunately I feel that Whitehall is phoning his performance in this series whilst Solemani is under-utilised as the principled Miss Gulliver. Whitehall recently claimed that this would be the final series of Bad Education, which I feel is the right move as it now seems to be rehashing old ground. I'm just hoping that the sitcom reverts to the quality set by its first series as I'd love it to end on a high rather than peter out with a disappointing final run.

Bad Education is welcome, light-hearted, puerile, peculiarly British relief. Abbey Grove has a new deputy who, worse luck for Jack Whitehall's character Alfie, turns out to be his dad (Harry Enfield). Or, put another way - headteacher Fraser's way - there's a new banterlope at the watering hole. Fraser (Mathew Horne), incidentally, has started a new clothing range, Dolce and GoBanter.

Someone needs to go, to save money. There are interviews. Not Fraser, says Fraser. He is a "succeedophile ... a massive unrepentant succeedophile and you better put me on the goddam register sister, cos I will reoffend ... at succeeding."

Not Alfie either, says Alfie, who insists he's not feckless: "I've got loads of feck, I'm a fecking motherfecker so why don't you three just back the feck off ..." I know, very much the same kind of idea as the succeedaphile one. And very silly. But still funny.