Bad Education

Whitehall: We'll have to change show after Gove exit

Jack Whitehall has said that he will have to make some changes to his BBC comedy Bad Education following this week's cabinet reshuffle.

Jack Whitehall: Bad Education USA wont butcher original

Jack Whitehall, who will star in An American Education for ABC, and told Digital Spy that the script by Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory had not "butchered" the BBC show.

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.

Bad Education Christmas Special, review

Yes, it sent up teachers convinced they're the next Terence Rattigan, with Alfie writing a multi-faith mash-up of Robocop and The Nutcracker. But that was about as satirical as it got. Whitehall's script relied once more on toilet humour and tired, tasteless digs at 'the fat kid', 'the kid in the wheelchair' (who is given Twister for Christmas) and the homeless.

With Jack Whitehall due to reprise his role as the toffish, self-deprecating teacher in a US pilot next year, Alfie Wickers is arguably one of the most successful characters in Brit comedy today. This seasonal outing of the sitcom is a triumph of awkwardness, as Alfie combines RoboCop and The Nutcracker for the school play. There's even a role for bully Frank, who shows his sensitive side. Meanwhile, headteacher Fraser tries to organise a Christmas miracle: a reunion between the hapless Mr Wickers and his estranged mother.

Jack Whitehall, fresh from retaining his crown as King of Comedy, takes a crack at that old favourite, the school nativity play, with the help of his Bad Education reprobates. A somewhat uneasy marriage of Robocop and The Nutcracker, teacher Alfie's ambitious production finds room for tolerance channelled through the medium of expressive dance, guest turns from Frances Barber as Alfie's mum and Howard from Fresh Meat (Greg McHugh) as a thespian tramp, and no shortage of near-the-knuckle humour. Not forgetting some clinches with no need of mistletoe to pack some heat.

With a glut of costumes, Christmas songs and festive trappings, the Bad Education Christmas special is far from an understated affair. Forced to put on a play by elf/headmaster Simon (Mat Horne), the reluctant but unfazed Alfie (Jack Whitehall) must use the questionable student talent at his disposal to stage a story which incorporates every major world religion.

Sensitivity and subtlety not being Alfie's fortes, the Robocop- Nutcracker hybrid that he creates isn't exactly traditional Christmas fare. Silly, fun and light-hearted, Bad Education is patchy and seldom cerebral, but it still makes for an entertaining half-hour. Filled with puns, cultural references, extravagant dance routines and displaying a distinct lack of either taste or tact, it's a gaudy smorgasbord of verbal and physical comedy. Even the most committed of scrooges may find this raises a smile.

TV preview: Bad Education Christmas special

This is one of those shows that looks like it was filmed in the blazing heat of the British summer with the cast sweltering in their winter woolies as they get up to their usual mischief, with a bit of soppy sentimentality lobbed in for good measure like a lucky sixpence in a Christmas pud.