Philip Glenister interview
Life on Mars and Ashes To Ashes star Philip Glenister plays the PE teacher in Big School...
Could you tell us a bit about the show, the set up and your character?
The show is basically set in a dysfunctional school called Greybridge and I play the dysfunctional, unfit, lothario PE Teacher Mr Gunn. Mr Trevor Gunn. He's quite grotesque.
Mr Gunn is a teacher who has a bit of a rapport with the kids?
I think the fun thing about this is the role reversal. If anything, the teachers are the kids and the kids are the teachers - I mean every time we get wrapped in front of the Head Mistress Miss Barron we are like sort of grown up school boys being told off. So it's sort of role reversal in many respects.
Basically the thing about Gunn is that it's all bravado and underneath it he's just a saddo who lives at home with his mum so he's a bit of a fantasist in that respect. All the things he says about 'what do you want to do with Miss Postern', you just know it would never happen.
Any memories of your time at school that has helped flesh out the character?
You know PE teachers were always fairly sadistic creatures, although they weren't at my school from what I remember. They were always quite good blokes. We used to get caught round the back of the mobiles having a sneaky fag and rather than confiscating our cigarettes off us our PE teacher used to give us money for them, then confiscate them. So it was quite a good deal.
Your character is rough and ready between Miss Postern and Mr Church, what's it like playing between that dynamic?
It's bouncing off David really who actually plays a fairly nerdy chemistry teacher who tries to woo Miss Postern in a fairly nerdy chemistry teacher sort of way. I play the grotesque speaking-the-bleeding obvious Mr Gunn.
Have you enjoyed playing him?
It's kind of fun to do some comedy again. I haven't done comedy for ages although I've done stuff that's had comedic elements in. But I haven't done that format - comedy half hour. And it's a cracking cast. I just thought it would be quite fun to do.
What are you hoping viewers can take away from it?
To laugh, you know it's a comedy, we're not doing Pinter. It's just a half hour of a bit of fun that's all, that's what it is. Hopefully people will walk away and enjoy it and see the silliness of it all. It's a very serious business you know comedy.