EPISODE · May 1, 2026 · 42 MIN
Teachers
from Screenshot · host BBC Radio 4
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode head back to class to learn how teachers have been depicted on screen, from Goodbye, Mr Chips to Adolescence. What can film and television teach us, if anything, about what it takes to be a good teacher? Mark speaks to east London-based teacher and film critic Charlotte Harrison about the enduring appeal of inspirational mentor figures in cinema, from Sidney Poitier in To Sir, with Love to Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, and how far these stories reflect - or distort - the realities of life in the classroom. She also highlights the films and TV series that come closest to capturing the day-to-day experience of teaching.Ellen talks to Guz Khan, star of Man Like Mobeen, who first honed his crowd-control skills in a Coventry classroom before turning to stand-up comedy and acting, about how screen depictions compare with his own experience as a teacher.She also speaks to British television legend Sir Philip Redmond about Grange Hill, the groundbreaking, long-running school drama he created in 1978, whose characters - from Mr Bronson to Mrs McClusky - became as familiar to generations of British pupils as their real-life teachers.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4.
What this episode covers
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode head back to class to learn how teachers have been depicted on screen, from Goodbye, Mr Chips to Adolescence. What can film and television teach us, if anything, about what it takes to be a good teacher? Mark speaks to east London-based teacher and film critic Charlotte Harrison about the enduring appeal of inspirational mentor figures in cinema, from Sidney Poitier in To Sir, with Love to Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, and how far these stories reflect - or distort - the realities of life in the classroom. She also highlights the films and TV series that come closest to capturing the day-to-day experience of teaching.Ellen talks to Guz Khan, star of Man Like Mobeen, who first honed his crowd-control skills in a Coventry classroom before turning to stand-up comedy and acting, about how screen depictions compare with his own experience as a teacher.She also speaks to British television legend Sir Philip Redmond about Grange Hill, the groundbreaking, long-running school drama he created in 1978, whose characters - from Mr Bronson to Mrs McClusky - became as familiar to generations of British pupils as their real-life teachers.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4.
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Teachers
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