THE story of troubled teacher Jenna is told in the new four-part series The Teacher.
The Channel 5 drama sees Jenna’s life turned around after a drunken encounter with one of her students – here’s when and how to watch the story unfold.
How many episodes of The Teacher are there?
The Teacher has a total of four episodes, airing consecutively throughout the first week of February 2022.
The first episode premiered at 9pm on Monday, January 31.
Viewers watched Sheridan Smith in the role of protagonist Jenna Garvey, a popular secondary school teacher in her forties, confronted with accusations of having an inappropriate sexual encounter with one of her students, 15-year-old Kyle.
The rest of the episodes follow Jenna as she tries to put the pieces of her drunken night together, to figure out what happened during her blackout, while her life unravels around her.
Dominic Leclerc, the series’ director, has noted The Teacher is not based on a specific true story, but is an original plotline written by writer and actress Barunka O’Shaughnessy.
However, in order to create the story, the creators researched real-life student-teacher relationships, mostly through ones reported in the media.
Leclerc told the Radio Times: “We wanted to approach the story through character, to make this a nuanced, subtle exploration of the subject matter.
“There’s complex terrain here that brings up issues about grooming, consent, power, accountability, and boundaries.”
Who is in the cast of The Teacher?
Sheridan Smith plays main character Jenna Garvey, a teacher who loses herself after being accused of an inappropriate encounter with a 15-year-old boy.
Sheridan has also starred in shows including Gavin & Stacey, The Royle Family and Benidorm.
The 40-year-old, who was awarded an OBE for her services to drama in 2015, is also an acclaimed theatre actress and has appeared in shows including Legally Blonde, Funny Girl and Little Shop Of Horrors.
Sheridan is joined by Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher and My Mad Fat Diary actress Sharon Rooney, who play Jack and Nina, two of Jenna’s teaching colleagues at the school.
Samuel Bottomley steps into the role of teenager Kyle, Jenna’s alleged victim.
Meanwhile, It’s A Sin star David Fleeshman plays Jenna’s father in the show.
Also in the cast are:
- Cecilia Noble as Pauline
- Sarah-Jane Potts as Mary
- Tillie Amartey as Izzy
- Karen Henthorn as DI Sowerby
- Dhillon Aaronveer as Adnan
- Matt Devere as Jojo
When is The Teacher on Channel 5?
The four-part drama premiered on Channel 5 on January 31, 2022, at 9pm.
The remaining episodes will air at the same time over the next three nights, meaning that the series will conclude on Thursday, February 3rd.
They’ll also be made available to watch online through Channel 5’s streaming service, My5.
