Contains discussion of themes such as sexual assault that some readers may find upsetting.
In Channel 5 thriller The Teacher, Sheridan Smith (Four Lives, Cleaning Up) plays a high school English teacher who is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old pupil. Jenna is adamant that she’s not guilty, but with no memory of the night in question, she begins to doubt herself.
It’s a provocative story that tackles a range of substantial themes and will undoubtedly elicit debate among viewers, many of whom will also be wondering if the series is based on real-life events.
So, RadioTimes.com have taken a look at how much of the drama series is based in fact and which is based in fiction.
Here is all you need to know about The Teacher.
Is The Teacher based on a true story?
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Director Dominic Leclerc (The Syndicate, Bulletproof) said that while the premise of The Teacher is “a fiction drama”, he “did a lot of research across a whole range of real-life incidents”, scanning the internet for comparable incidents.
“But I’m also from a family of teachers,” he continued. “My mum was Head of English at a secondary school in Bradford where the series is set, my sister is a teacher and my best friend works at a college in Bradford, so I spoke to them a lot. They’ve experienced a whole range of complex issues with students, so it was good to get their perspective.
“Two of my cousins work in social care in Bradford too, so I talked to them as part of my research. We came at the project from a range of different directions to make it as real as possible and our writer [Motherland’s] Barunka [O’Shaughnessy] did her own research too.”
Leclerc added: “We wanted to be informed. The last thing we wanted was to grab viewers via salacious taboos. 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.”
The importance of handling this story in an “informed” manner was echoed by creator Mike Benson (The Madame Blanc Mysteries, Cold Call): “We knew the gravity of the subject matter and it’s not something we approached lightly or without the necessary research and advice.”
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You don’t have to look far to find real-life cases that the cast and crew could have drawn on for their research. Just a few days ago, it was reported that a teacher at a private school in Bournemouth was found not guilty of sexually assaulting one of his pupils. In another case, a former PE teacher at a school in Kent was jailed for grooming and sexually abusing a student.
Smith highlighted the contrast between the many factual dramas she’s appeared in, such as Mrs Biggs and Cilla, and The Teacher, where she “can’t rely on any footage of Jenna”.
“I’ve got to make her believable in my own way, which is exciting and a different kind of discipline,” she explained. “I do love doing the factual dramas, but it’s really nice to play something made up.”
But she did research “some similar real-life cases” to help her tap into the material: “There was one quite recent case I read about, which is obviously very different to our story, but it helped me, and the production team have done their research too.”
The Teacher airs on Channel 5 across four consecutive nights from Monday 31st January. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or visit our dedicated Drama hub for the latest news.