The Teacher (2022–2024) User Reviews

Poor in all departments - a miss

[JRB-NorthernSoul · 5/10 · 31 January 2022]

Channel 5 have made some good dramas lately - but this isn't one of them. Normally excellent Sheridan Smith plays a teacher accused of having sex with one of her 15 year old pupils after a drunken night out.

Production values were OK but nothing special, lots of strange filters... If you're trying to work out the location it was shot in Budapest but set in Bradford.

The show had a few problems for me. The setup and pacing was very slow and the storyline was dull with lots of clunky dialogue. Characters were all one-dimensional including the 24-hour party protagonist Jenna who I failed to bond with.

Plot had a lot of loopholes, behaviour of the Head to her after she's been accused, police arresting her so quickly, her solicitor who seemed to have taken a vow of silence etc. Acting by the cast wasn't great all round and no-one shone through, even Smith was below par. Won't be back for more, there's better out there.

Should have been so much better

[colinuhe · 5/10 · 27 March 2022]

I wanted to like this, as Sheridan Smith is always great to watch. But in this case her character is so stupid that it is just annoying.

* She knows that she has blackouts when drinking. Why would you touch alcohol then.

+ She seem to have forgotten the teacher she worked with at a previous school who she reported for sleeping with a student

* And she doesn't seem to know the address of her best friend from school who she talks to every day.

* Somehow when she is confronted by her tormentor she is able to have a calm and rational conversation with him.

If they had avoided these strange plot holes this could have been compulsive viewing.

Must try harder next time

[dave-ditchburn · 5/10 · 24 February 2022]

Starts off well with suspicion and questions everywhere. Intriguing up until the last minutes of the third episode. After that, throughout the fourth especially Smiths righteous speech it all drags a little. The hammer scene almost starts to build tension but is a damp squib.

The impression it leaves is that the writers and producers made a great effort in earlier episodes but when they hit the fourth they wanted it all over and done because we knew who had dunnit. The ending we were led to , or meandered to, was predictable and many relevant questions were left unanswered .

The attention to detail in product wasn't marvellous in some places with im sure keen eyed viewers spotting the eastern european look.

Hot For Teacher

[Lejink · 6/10 · 19 April 2022]

Every so often, another scandalous story on inappropriate teacher-pupil relations will make the headlines, so that the story played out here will always have a tabloid-type topicality about it. The ubiquitous Sheridan Smith is the vivacious Miss at a secondary school whose unconventional barrier-breaking teaching style and general mildly-rebellious demeanour makes her a favourite with her young pupils. She loves the job, teaching English and is also popular with most of her staff-mates. Away from work however, she's a bit of a mess. Divorced, she likes nothing better than partying all the time and getting into alcohol-fuelled one-night stands, much to the disapproval of her retired widower dad, himself an ex-headmaster, with whom she lives, if less than harmoniously.

Unfortunately for her, her carefree, if not reckless social life is about to catch her up as she becomes the centre of a sex-scandal when one of her young pupils, in whom she's invested a little more time, accuses her of having sex with him in a nightclub toilet when she was out of her face and on her own. Fanned by a zealous female colleague who's the definition of starchy, the matter blows up into a fully fledged scandal and sees her lose her job and then her social position especially after she pleads guilty to the charge to protect, or so she thinks, the boy from further emotional distress.

Meanwhile she hits the bottle even more until she finds rock bottom, forced out of the family home by her unsupportive dad and generally made a social pariah and the butt of cruel attacks by former acquaintances and unsurprisingly, anonymous tabloid-fuelled members of the public who daub her car and jeer at her in public.

But what if she didn't do it and was actually being set up for her fall? As she pulls herself together, she gradually connects the dots in a carefully-orchestrated revenge scheme aimed at her, originating from an incident at a different school some fifteen years before.

If you're prepared to overlook the plot holes here (who waits fifteen years to carry out a sophisticated revenge-crime?) and unlikely plot devices (particularly the one involving Smith's best-friend fellow-teacher, who herself becomes groomed by the perp), this four-part drama had enough twists and turns and minor cliff-hanging reveals in it to keep my wife and I interested all the way through. Smith is good value as usual as the traumatised teacher who pulls herself together to get her life back on track, although, rather like her stalker himself, we certainly didn't see the out-of-nowhere dramatic finish coming down the road.

We all know nowadays that the grooming of children of course is a serious subject and I'm not altogether sure that hanging it on an old-fashioned revenge plot as was done here was completely appropriate, but putting that aside, this on the whole was watchable if not exactly cutting-edge prime-time TV entertainment.

Solid Accusation Terror!

[cthetrancedone · 7/10 · 22 March 2022]

The first 2 episodes nailed it with the terror and consequences of accusation.

Everything that could've happened in a situation like this happened.

Realistically portrayed terror directed at the accused.

A rarity for a show to use every last drop of potential.

Brilliant acting all round especially from lead actress Sheridan Smith. Very likeable character, so selfless. How the producers of the show showed how seriously she took her role as teacher with regards her pupils.

The first 2 episodes would have me scoring this 10 stars but after the fallout of the accusation the show became just watchable with the investigation leading to one of those 'make it up as you go along' poor endings.

Well worth watching for what the teacher went through being accused.

Set on revenge? First dig three graves in case the viewer loses the will to live

[ianlouisiana · 3/10 · 10 February 2022]

Semi - drunk 'Inspirational' schoolteacher is accused of sexual misconduct towards a 15 year old boy.

Well,did she or didn't she?

He's a dim,graceless oaf,she's a promiscuous graceless oaf.

A complaint is made and another set of graceless oafs i.e. The Old Bill ( appallingly acted even by TV cop standards) 'investigate' and charge her.

She decides to plead guilty just in case she might have done it.

The way you would.

Suddenly the dim graceless oaf has a crisis of conscience'You weren't supposed to plead guilty',he whines.

Teacher begins to realise there might be something afoot.

It takes her two more episodes to remember reporting a teacher for inappropriate behaviour 15 years earlier and that these events might be connected.

Must try harder,teacher.

Huge suspension of disbelief is required to swallow the convoluted plot.

Or you could watch 'The Yorkshire Auction House' for more excitement.

Cheap and shoddy fare all round I'm afraid.

Wanted to like it more

[MattHankinson · 7/10 · 5 February 2022]

I was instantly drawn to the concept of The Teacher. The storyline has potential. However it was a tad disapponting on the whole.

Some of the acting/writing was a little basic/amateur. Jenna Garvey doesn't half bring it on her self going out getting mindlessly drunk on school nights where kids go and her choice of outfits were inappropriate. Her character seemed unprofessional with a cig hanging out of her mouth and looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge. I get that this shows a naivety to her character but even she should realise the right/wrong actions in her role.

She did her best but the acting of some of the support cast was terrible, especially Pauline and Nina. Very soap opera. Talking of soap opera it was good to see Kelvin Fletcher even though he didn't really have much time to shine.

The main negative is the storyline. It started great and seemed to tail off. Jenna Garvey was happy to mess her whole life up on an allegation, and then backtracks. Then when she does find out the truth she doesn't try and clear her name. Not very realistic.

Not very good

[antide-42376 · 4/10 · 3 February 2022]

A good start and a very weak ending sums up this four episode series. Completely unrealistic given the fact that 'The Teacher' is perfectly willing to let her life and career be destroyed by a lying brat. The conclusion was a bore too. The whole story started to drag and became tedious.

Sheridan Smith was average, not great as her acting seemed too forced at times and the story actually made less sense as it went along. She blows out her cheeks all the time which I suppose was her trying to look frustrated. Below average marks for this one.

Great Yarn

[phippysma · 7/10 · 8 February 2022]

This was a good yarn that could have been a bit better directed but it was enjoyable and kept you wondering. Sheridan Smith's portrayal of a flawed but brilliant and committed teacher was exemplary. Some of the other characters were a bit on the weak side, but overall it was well worth the watch.

Waste of time

[corinnescrapbook · 3/10 · 19 February 2022]

I only watched until the end as it was only 4 episodes. Seriously, far fetched rubbish.

Hard to believe this is the same actress from Four Lives.

Save yourself the time and watch something else "yawn".

Well worth watching.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 14 February 2022]

Competent teacher Jenna Garvey stands accused of sleeping with one of her pupils, she sets out to prove her innocence.

Another really good drama from Channel five, I liked the format, four episodes was a good amount, I also found the story very original.

I wasn't overly impressed with episode one, it didn't set the pulses racing, it was just too slow, however from episode two onwards, it really does switch into gear, it's dramatic and full of intrigue.

Very well acted, Sarah Jane Potts and Samuel Bottomley are both so good, Sheridan Smith as always puts in a powerhouse performance.

Smith is clearly in demand, this, No Return and Four Lives, she really is just wonderful.

Bizarrely this was filmed in Budapest, which really isn't isn't anything like Bradford, I wonder if that was down to cost.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyable, 8/10.

What the hell with all the negativity??

[darrenbirt · 7/10 · 7 January 2023]

Watched all four episodes and found it to be a good, engaging, interesting drama. The low ratings lately are incomprehensible and I can only assume are placed from our American cousins who prefer their drama's to involve car crashes and chase scenes... IDK.... If you like a good British drama, well acted. Then you can do far worse than giving this a few hours of your time.

The story trots along from the initial disbelief of the lead character, to her eventual realistsation that all is not right with the story as its being presented. He own guilt at her drunken behaviour leads her to suspect that she may be at fault but then her suspicions start to grow as more details come to light.

Altogether a good story line, well played out, and the threads slowly pull together to a good conclusion..... what more do you need in a gritty drama ? .....

Mind-numbingly unlikely

[danielkilleen-43432 · 1/10 · 9 February 2022]

Who the hell was responsible for this ridiculous storyline which sees a person pleading guilty to a life-changing, career ending crime... without challenging it, without investigating it in any way.

Insultingly bad .

Mediocre

[roobypie · 6/10 · 10 February 2022]

Had such potential. Started well. Had me guessing if she had abused the kid or not. But then as the plot developed it also showed some major plot holes/unexplained things. For a start why did this bloke pick that kid. And why did the kid agree to it. Was the bloke sexually abusing him too. Not really sure what went on here. Except the kid agreed to lie and ruin his favourite teachers career for no apparent reason.

At the end the bloke makes mention of her mother... is he insinuating he was involved in her suicide. Or that her dad was an abuser. Totally lost me at this point.

Also annoyed it didn't show her getting her name cleared. Or an apology of some sort. Just showed her reaching out to the kid and them having a moment. Which was weird. And that's it.

It's also unbelievable how someone on probation. Ona. Sex offenders register could manage to be around kids in so many different ways without getting remanded. She parks outside the school several times. Goes to her old school and walks around the corridors. Seems to follow the kid around many times. Also not many adults seem bothered by the fact she is a convicted offender. As someone else said. If this was a male teacher he would have been treated very differently.

All in all a great premise. Some good bits here and there. But was sadly left underwhelmed and a bit annoyed tbh.

Great series, stupid ending

[jackie5077 · 6/10 · 6 March 2022]

I really enjoyed watching this series. Sheridan Smith can always be counted on for great acting. The end was just stupid though, it didn't make any sense at all and was totally unbelievable.

Could have been done in 2 episodes

[kellylangille-44180 · 4/10 · 2 March 2022]

Too much useless filler. Just get to the point already . It drags on and on with no point to the endings. I didn't need Episodes 2 and 3. I could have been a 2 hour movie.

The idea was there but...

[joanamarah · 6/10 · 12 February 2022]

Sheridan Smith is a great actress but this series was a little odd. The plot was there and it was good but the character was weird in the way that I couldn't tell whether she wanted to have a relationship with him as she seemed infatuated with him in a way. Still worth a watch but yeah, a little odd.

Awful

[nenathedobermann · 2/10 · 5 January 2023]

Really sad to write this but it was absolutely awful from start to finish. I endured the whole thing in order to actually find out what the flip was going to happen in the end. I've enjoyed much of Sheridan's work but this wasn't her finest hour. Many of the other actors were cringeworthy over acting and as someone else has said, there were too many fillers throughout. What was the point in having her ex boyfriend?? The story with her mum?? The colleague who she was seeing?? The initial scenes in the club were almost too awful to watch! I can't help but think it would have been difficult to film. Such a shame as the storyline could have been an excellent drama and why the hell did they film it in Hungary? The 'council estate' was so obviously not in this country. Just a complete let down :/

Great drama but too short ending!

[Naon-75670 · 26 June 2022]

I enjoyed this series a lot and found it thrilling, was eager to see next episode throughout. Good actors, for me most of them new (Im not living in UK). The last episode went from an exciting upper to a complete downer cause we didnt get to see how things went with any of the characters, and in the end the scene between the teacher and her student left us with many questions. Its like the episode went from #4 to #10 and skipped all info in between. I hate endings like that coming too fast and think they could have made the storyline more complete with at least five more episodes.

Short skirting around a short story

[xmasdaybaby1966 · 6/10 · 4 February 2022]

I am not sure why people are leaving series reviews here when they haven't watched the full series but the reviews are quite accurate.

It starts well with Sheridan Smith catching the eye in short skirts and heels but this eye catching doesn't cover the cracks later in the series as her legs disappear for a couple of episodes.

Scenes which were obviously filmed in Budapest rather than Bradford are a bit off-putting and Sheridan Smith's teeth were annoying at times (has she had dentures put in or is it just for this character? She didn't have them in Four Lives so we will have to wait for No Return next week to find out).

Kelvin Fletcher receives second billing here but doesn't appear that much. More scenes together might have been an improvement.

Even the dark and mysterious Ian Puleston-Davies can't really bring his real depth to a sadly lacking storyline.

I don't watch much on Channel 5 apart from All Creatures Great And Small and this won't encourage me to watch it again in a hurry.

If this was a comedy I'd give it 10 stars...

[destined-to-win · 1/10 · 19 December 2022]

Every actor, from lead to extras are terrible. Everything is overacted. The club scene is like a 9 year olds idea of what happens in a club. The silent detective is hilarious - like he never talks he just excessively nods. Maybe it was cheaper to pay him if he didn't talk. The script is appalling, the use of language at times had me bursting out laughing. If I could score it 0 I would. If I'm honest I think the teletubbies have put on better performances than any actor in this series. It's a shame because when British shows are done well they blow so many shows out of the water. This one has tanked entirely.

Great

[iainsmith-18061 · 8/10 · 7 February 2022]

Sheridan Smith once again showing us what a great actress she is . Her character is a teacher who is accused of sexually abusing one of her students but did she or not ? Great story and worth watching .

Solid Accusation Terror!

[cthetrancedone · 7/10 · 22 March 2022]

The first 2 episodes nailed it with the terror and consequences of accusation.

Everything that could've happened in a situation like this happened.

Realistically portrayed terror directed at the accused.

A rarity for a show to use every last drop of potential.

Brilliant acting all round especially from lead actress Sheridan Smith. Very likeable character, so selfless. How the producers of the show showed how seriously she took her role as teacher with regards her pupils.

The first 2 episodes would have me scoring this 10 stars but after the fallout of the accusation the show became just watchable with the investigation leading to a mediocre ending.

Well worth watching for what the teacher went through being accused.

Incredibly bad and entirely nonsensical

[gkvcggcnj · 1/10 · 18 December 2022]

Not sure what the point of this film was. 'People love to make rape accusations for no big reason'? Cast a female actress to make it more digestible? Feels weirdly malicious, and I really don't even think that was even the intention. It's that bad.

She's accused of rape, everybody turns against her and she for some reason decides to 'confess' to something she never did. Her life is so ruined and everybody is mean to her for this insane crime she confesses to for no reason.

Acting was decent for what they had but they deserved a much better script - and plot. None of the decisions she made made sense.

I wish I could sue to get these few hours of my lifespan back.

A decent series.

[luckystar-59196 · 7/10 · 4 February 2022]

Ignore the reviews below the 6 mark, clearly have no idea what's gone on for the past 2 years to see why this series is as poor as they make it out and considering what we ve been through they've done a good job all in all. People expecting gritty drama when a simple story line with a who dunnit which you clearly don't know until second half. Sheridan Smith does a decent job of it all despite the slight over the top after school antics which I doubt happens in reality but looking at the reviews on here people think teachers are as good as gold and don't do anything wrong at all when they compare. Don't expect wow stuff in this series but there's enough to watch it and enjoy, people taking things so seriously and try mirror realism.. sometimes you just want escapism. It's watchable, but needed more connect the dots towards the end, felt rushed.. I enjoyed it, defo not 5 like some people make it out on the reviews but it's far from perfect.