''Ahead of the Class'' is a single British television

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, based on the book of the same name by

Marie Stubbs Marie, Lady Stubbs, DSG (born 1939) is a British educator and academic, mostly known for being the headmistress who reformed St George's Roman Catholic Secondary School, in Maida Vale, London. Career in education Early career Marie Margaret ...

, that first broadcast on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

on 30 January 2005. Adapted for television by Robert Jones and directed by

Adrian Shergold Adrian Shergold (born 24 March 1948 in Croydon, Surrey) is a British film and television director. Selected filmography *''Danielle Cable: Eyewitness'' (2003) *''Dirty Filthy Love'' (2004) *''Ahead of the Class'' (2005) *''Pierrepoint (film), Pier ...

, the film stars

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a ...

as Stubbs, a diminutive Glaswegian headmistress who takes on the challenge of improving the fortunes of St George's Roman Catholic Secondary School in North West London.

Reece Dinsdale Reece Dinsdale (born 6 August 1959) is an English actor and director of stage, film and television. He is a Huddersfield Town fan. In 2017 he became a patron of the Square Chapel, an arts centre in Halifax. He is also an honorary patron of The ...

and

Hannah Yelland Hannah Yelland (born 1976) is a British-born actress now living and working in the United States. Early life Hannah Yelland was born in Hammersmith, west London, and brought up in Richmond, Surbiton and East Molesey. She is the daughter of Br ...

are credited as the other two principal cast members, who star as Stubbs' deputies, Sean Devlin and Tracy O'Leary respectively. The film was shot on location at the former

Kingsland Secondary School Kingsland Secondary School was a school located on Shacklewell Lane in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It closed in August 2003. The school, originally built as Dalston County School around 1937, was closed in August 2003, demolished and ...

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas includ ...

, Hackney, London. The film drew 9.6 million viewers on its debut broadcast. The film was nominated for two awards at the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Awards 2006, in the categories of Best Single Drama and Best Actress, for Julie Walters. A DVD of the film was released on 21 May 2007.

Premise

Marie Stubbs is close to the age of retirement. After leaving her role as headteacher at

The Douay Martyrs School The Douay Martyrs RC School is a Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Ickenham within the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. It serves around 1,300 pupils from a range of social backgrounds. Hist ...

, Ickenham, she takes over as headmistress at St. George's Roman Catholic Secondary School, which is facing closure after its previous headmaster, Philip Lawrence, was murdered in 1995, whilst breaking up a fight between his pupils and students from a rival school. The school is suffering from a multitude of problems, including bullying, gang culture, persistent absence and vandalism. Staff morale is at an all-time low, and Ofsted have placed the school in special measures.

Cast

as Marie, Lady Stubbs, headteacher *

as Sean Devlin, deputy headteacher *

as Tracy O'Leary, deputy headteacher *

Inday Ba Inday Ba (10 August 1972 – 20 April 2005), also known as N'Deaye Ba, was a Swedish-British film, stage, and television actress of Senegalese descent born in Gothenburg, Sweden. One of her most notable Swedish on-screen roles was as Hillevi in t ...

as Trudy Gower, teacher *

Michelle Fairley Michelle Fairley (born 1964–1965) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is best known for playing Catelyn Stark in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2013). She has since appeared in the USA Network series '' Suits'' (2013), the Fo ...

as Sonia Venning, teacher * Danny Nussbaum as Tomas Moreira, school caretaker *

Tony Slattery Tony Declan James Slattery (born 9 November 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He appeared on British television regularly from the mid-1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' His ...

as Stuart Stiles, teacher * Alan McKenna as Simon Linder, teacher *

Anton Lesser Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series '' Game of Thrones'', as Thomas More in ''Wolf Hall'', as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', as Prime Ministe ...

as Graham Ranger, Ofsted inspector *

Adrian Rawlins Adrian John Rawlins (born 27 March 1958) is an English actor best known for playing Arthur Kidd in '' The Woman in Black'' and James Potter in the ''Harry Potter'' films. In 2019, he starred in ''Chernobyl'' as Nikolai Fomin. Early life Rawli ...

as Tony Mackersie, diocesan representative * Gerard Canning as Father George Dangerfield, school priest * Amy Jo Lamb as Debbie Campbell, student * Frances Gold as Lusha, student * Callum McNab as Jason Foley, student *

Heshima Thompson Heshima Salim Thompson ( ; born 23 October 1986) is a British actor and singer. Born in the London Borough of Brent, son of Jamaican Reggae singer Dr Alimantado and brother of soul singer Zalon. In 2001, Heshima began his career singing on BB ...

as Rory, student *

Chris Hemsworth Christopher Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor. He rose to prominence playing Kim Hyde in the Australian television series ''Home and Away'' (2004–2007) before beginning a film career in Hollywood. In the Marvel Cinemati ...

as Michael Reynolds, teacher

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahead Of The Class 2000s English-language films 2005 television films 2005 films British television films ITV television dramas British films based on actual events Films directed by Adrian Shergold