Wednesday, 8 September 2010

Waterloo Road for tutors?

I watched Waterloo Road the other night and it got me thinking. The television show set in a fictional comprehensive in Rochdale is immensely popular. One of the (now former) actresses, Denise Welch, won the Best Actress award at the TV Choice awards for her portrayal of the French teacher with her knowledge of the language as skimpy as her skirts. Waterloo Road is among a number of television series set in schools (Teachers, The In-Betweeners, Grange Hill...). What if there were to be a television series set in a tutoring agency? Who would the characters be? Here are my ideas for The Agency...

Gordon - the agency boss. A former headteacher who gave up the classroom to make some cash. He wants to compete with his friends who run engineering businesses with multi-million pounds turnover. A real character who believes his agency has the potential to take over the world.

Sally - a stressed teacher. She has a real heart and struggles keeping control of the classroom. She decided to start tutoring in a bid to remind herself of why she wanted to teach in the first place. She is a well-respected tutor but outside her tutoring sessions, cracks are starting to appear.

Michael - a bit of a loner. He had always wanted to be a teacher but did not have the confidence. He prefers the one-to-one setting of tutoring but still has the odd crisis of confidence, particularly with bright pupils who ask him lots of questions.

Katy - a postgraduate university student. She has severe financial problems and is frantically trying to cram in as many tutoring sessions as she can as well as living off a diet of caffeine in order to get her dissertation finished.

Izzy - the secretary of the agency. Bright and breezy, she tries to juggle the requests of parents with the availability of the tutors. She feels undervalued by Gordon but gets on well with all the tutors. She throws her energy into her job in a bid to hide her dark secret...

Graham - a retired maths teacher. He cannot accept his body is slowing down and he feels that if he keeps tutoring, he will keep his brain active. He loves his job but he does not know how much longer he will be able to tutor.

What do you think? Any ideas for story-lines? Would you watch The Agency? Should I get in touch with a production company or stick to the day job?! I'd love to hear your ideas.

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