The Teacher on Channel 5 has gone down a storm with viewers up and down the country.
With the finale tonight (Thursday, February 3) fans have watched as Sheridan Smith character Jenna battles to clear her name.
But being a teacher and being a wild one at that hasn’t gone down well with everyone… especially real-life teachers.
What is The Teacher on Channel 5 all about?
Throughout the series we’ve seen English teacher Jenna (Sheridan Smith) lead a torrid life.
She drinks heavily and is still desperately sad about her mother’s death.
To the extent that goes to the local nightclub on her own, she engages in one-night stands and turns up to work the next day with a raging hangover.
Read more: The Teacher episode 3: 9 questions we need answers to in the final
And although she’s a dedicated teacher that’s just bagged a promotion, she wears short skirts to work and is overly tactile with her pupils.
And this kind of behaviour is seen as inappropriate and unrealistic by many viewers.
In fact, some teachers have even slammed the show.
#TheTeacher. I'm sorry but NO. No teacher I know behaves in this manner. They would be fired if they did.
— Jan Dering #Querying (@AskJan) February 1, 2022
#TheTeacher is awful. Was it deliberate this accused teacher got a new job as Head of English (HOE)? Be nice to one day watch a realistic drama about #education. #SheridanSmith #Channel5
— Rowan Charlton (@RowanCharlton) February 1, 2022
Written by someone who obviously doesn't have a clue about teaching or teachers' lives. #TheTeacher
— Gill David (@u2birthday) February 1, 2022
How crap was #TheTeacher on C5 last night? School would have failed Ofsted for shoddy safeguarding training of its teachers. & don’t get me started on her rocking up at school with a hangover. Not possible to survive a day teaching in that state.
— Jill (@littlebrownted) February 1, 2022
4 words for #theteacher: Teacher. Standards. Part. B.
— Jamie Barton (@barton_jw) January 31, 2022
How did teachers react to The Teacher?
A flurry of teachers and those associated with the profession took to social media to lambast the show.
One said: “#TheTeacher. I’m sorry but NO.
“No teacher I know behaves in this manner. They would be fired if they did.”
Another added: “#TheTeacher is awful.
“Was it deliberate this accused teacher got a new job as Head of English (HOE)? Be nice to one day watch a realistic drama about #education. #SheridanSmith #Channel5.”
A third wrote: “Written by someone who obviously doesn’t have a clue about teaching or teachers’ lives. #TheTeacher.”
Teaching standards
The comments from teachers didn’t stop there either.
One said: “How [bleep] was #TheTeacher on C5 last night?
“School would have failed Ofsted for shoddy safeguarding training of its teachers. & don’t get me started on her rocking up at school with a hangover.
“Not possible to survive a day teaching in that state.”
Read more: As Sheridan Smith wows in The Teacher, her best TV roles ranked
Finally, another wrote: “4 words for #theteacher: Teacher. Standards. Part. B.”
This refers to the government’s teaching standards charter, which states: “A teacher is expected to demonstrate consistently high standards of personal and professional conduct.
The Teacher concludes on Channel 5 tonight (Thursday, Febraury 3) at 9pm
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