Debashine Thangevelo
WHEN interviewing a personality, they generally have an impact on you, for different reasons, of course. Some of the personalities, whether famous or just starting to plant their footprints in the entertainment world, provide insight into their world, thereby making their journeys distinctive.
For me, comedian, TV presenter and actor, Jack Whitehall, remains unforgettable. It was perplexing to find that he had no inclination to promote his TV series, Bad Education.
As the creator and co-writer, I thought he’d be bombarding me with all the details behind putting together this comedy. The fact that he was a notable comedian in the UK also triggered my enthusiasm to chat to him.
Instead of this witty and talkative person I imagined to find on the other side of the line, I was greeted by an aloofness and indifference that left me quietly suppressing my annoyance and utter disappointment.
Of course, that’s par for the course in this industry. You learn not to take it personally, your time and effort notwithstanding.
On the germination of the idea for the series, he says: “The idea came about from a friend of mine, who just left school and got a job teaching at a tough school that he was totally ill-equipped for. I felt there was a good premise to build up for a comedy. I talked to him quite a lot. We also went into a lot of schools and talked to the kids. We were lucky enough to have a lot of good source material for the show.”
Unlike the trend in South Africa, where we often watch shows 24 hours after they have aired in the US or UK, we are behind on the storylines. Bad Education has completed its three-season run.
As the title suggests, it centres on a teacher and he takes “bad” to new levels of cool.
Whitehall plays Alfie Wickers, the teacher in question. He isn’t a stickler for rules at Abbey Grove and is headmaster Shaquille “Simon” Fraser’s (played by Matthew Horne) worst nightmare, and vice versa.
Of the challenge in generating humour in this contained world, Whitehall says: “We have so many fantastic avenues to mine, from school events and exams to swimming galas.”
It goes without saying that casting is a drawn out, and sometimes fruitless, process.
He recalls: “Casting kids is hard, but very rewarding. A lot of our children in the cast are relatively new – they had never acted before. The wheelchair bound Leslie ‘Rem Dog’ Remmington, played by Jack Binstead, has never done any acting. We liked his style. Ethan Lawrence, who plays Joe Poulter (the socially-ostracised one in class and Alfie’s closest ally), was pretty untested. So it was really exciting to find him.”
The other colourful characters include the very promiscuous Chantelle Parsons (Nikki Runeckles), a defiant Jing Hua (Kae Alexander), tough guy Mitchell Harper (Charlie Wernham), the uber-camp Stephen Carmichael (Layton Williams) and the school bully, Frank Grayson (Jack Bence).
On what he brings to the table, Whitehall offers: “The basic premise is that he is a bigger kid than any of the kids. I enjoy the physical comedy of the role.”
Now the British know a thing or two when it comes to comedy and Whitehall seems to have his pulse on the universal themes that are bound to tickle the funny bone. And the characters are swathed in plenty of quirkiness to coax curious viewers into watching.
After all, he didn’t do much to sell the TV show himself and I was only too glad to cut short my tutorial on exasperating “celebrity” interviews.
Bad Education airs on BBC Brit (DStv channel 120) on Tuesdays at 8pm.