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Could you start by telling us a bit about the show; your character Mr Church, the setup, and the idea for the programme?

So this is a sitcom called Big School, I play and my storyline is really that I鈥檝e fallen in love with 鈥檚 character on first sight. I鈥檓 thinking about leaving the school, I see her and I decide to stay.

What drew you to use school as the context for the show? Was that based on your own memories or experiences of school?

My first thoughts about the show were that I wanted to do something a bit like Remains Of The Day - the story of these two servants who were in love with each other but they can鈥檛 quite express it. I was thinking what could be the modern take on that?

I thought, well, a school鈥檚 quite a good environment because you don鈥檛 get any privacy at school. There鈥檚 always corridors teaming with kids, staff rooms, dining rooms, whatever. So I thought that could be a rather good setting and I thought it鈥檚 a universal experience that 99% of us went to school, or have got kids at school.

So I thought it was relatable to and I wanted to do a big ensemble piece. I wanted there to be lots and lots of parts for everybody so it鈥檚 ideal, because of course in any school there are loads and loads of teachers.

Were any of the characters that you or your colleagues were playing inspired by people you or your co-writers the Dawson Brothers knew?

Some of the characters are partly inspired by experiences either I had or the had at school. I mean I certainly had teachers like this. I鈥檓 meant to be in my forties, unmarried, probably never had a girlfriend, a bit dysfunctional and set in my ways.

I certainly had lots of teachers like that at my school. And most people have experienced at some stage in their lives a sadistic PE teacher which is what is. A head teacher who doesn鈥檛 really seem to care that much about anything that happens in the school, so they鈥檙e more like archetypes.

Rather than saying 鈥渢his is exactly based on this specific teacher鈥�, it鈥檚 more about trying to find types. I鈥檓 a chemistry teacher, Mr Church, so it鈥檚 right he would be rather scientific and rather repressed. The world of romance is very alien to him.

Quite a large part of the comedy is people failing to communicate because of certain social deafness on behalf of the characters. Can you say a bit more about how that is the engine for the comedy?

Well a big part, I feel, of the engine of the comedy of this piece is the fact that Miss Postern and Mr Church do like each other but they can never really express it because in their own ways they鈥檙e both quite repressed characters.

Miss Postern thinks about herself as a very urbane person who鈥檚 experienced so much in life but she鈥檚 a French teacher who鈥檚 never been to France. She鈥檚 never really had any big experiences in life, so a lot of it is about that they can鈥檛 quite communicate with each other which I feel is often the stuff of comedy.

You鈥檝e been filming a lot on location with school kids and even a few hanging about today. What鈥檚 that been like? Have there been any funny or memorable moments on set so far?

It鈥檚 been great filming with kids. Obviously it鈥檚 an important part of any show filmed in a school and we鈥檝e got real kids. We鈥檝e been on location at a real school in Uxbridge and today we鈥檙e in a set, but the best thing is it鈥檚 just fun getting their take on something.

And of course we wanted as writers, me and the Dawson Brothers, to get the kids and their dialogue as accurate as possible. I went to school in the 70s and 80s so it鈥檚 a long time since I鈥檝e been at school and it鈥檚 very important that we get their way of speaking. So we listen very carefully to the things they鈥檙e saying and tinker with the scripts.

It鈥檚 just funny as well because they know us from off the TV so it鈥檚 fun seeing their responses to us. They鈥檝e all been really, really sweet. I thought 鈥渢his is going to be a horror鈥� because they鈥檇 be all badly behaved but they were all very well drilled.

Did you have a favourite episode that when you were writing you thought this is the one I鈥檓 looking forward to filming?

When me and the Dawson Brothers approached this, we really wanted each episode to be as distinct as possible and have a set piece in it. There鈥檚 an episode for example around a school play, a school trip, a talent show, one around exams, so we always wanted to feel like we wanted to build towards something big.

The talent show episode is a lot of fun and I get to play the oboe as Catherine Tate sings. It felt, as we were doing it, like a lovely moment and I hope that will come across on screen.

As one of the writers are there any shows that you liken Big School too? Or indeed that you鈥檇 like it to be likened to?

Well it鈥檚 a hard one. The thing is you just want it to be like the funny shows that are on. It鈥檚 not particularly trying to be like anything else but you can鈥檛 help but be influenced by what鈥檚 gone before. You have to go 鈥渙h ok we鈥檙e doing a sitcom so we鈥檝e got to think about what other people have done and how things have moved on鈥�. So we鈥檙e not doing it in front of an audience, there won鈥檛 be a laughter track.

was the programme I was thinking of in terms of the tone because it鈥檚 a heightened reality. It鈥檚 real life but just not quite. I wanted there to be jokes in this series, I wanted the characters to be quite big but I didn鈥檛 feel it could be done in front of an audience. It just wouldn鈥檛 be convincing in terms of assembly scenes, a classroom scene. You just wouldn鈥檛 be able to get the scale of a school.

I also wanted to bring out the emotional life of the characters so I felt that really needs to be something worked on, on locations more than something you鈥檇 do on a night in front of an audience. When you do that it becomes a filmed performance.

When you were at school were you devising narratives for your teachers鈥� lives, similar to the ones in the scripts? It seems to me as if the children wield the power in the school?

I remember being in this department store in Sutton and seeing a couple of my teachers, a physics teacher and a geography teacher, necking. It was mind-blowing because I didn鈥檛 know they were together in any way. They didn鈥檛 have the same surname so I didn鈥檛 know if they were getting married or something. I was like 鈥渨hat are you doing?鈥� So of course Monday morning I tell everybody.

You don鈥檛 often imagine they have any life outside of school. When you鈥檙e a child you鈥檙e just quite selfish and think everything revolves around you so you don鈥檛 appreciate anyone else has lives. I suppose there鈥檚 a question of power, were I think children en masse in a school do have a lot of power. Like in a dining room when someone drops their plate and everyone jeers them. There鈥檚 so many of you doing it they can鈥檛 possibly punish all of you, so at certain points you do have the upper hand on the teachers.

I wanted to reflect that, and the sometimes complete disinterest kids have in their teachers. I didn鈥檛 want this to be an extreme school in any way, like being the poshest public school in the country or the roughest comprehensive. I wanted it to be somewhere in the middle so hopefully anyone can identify it.

What have you enjoyed about working on this series, and what are you hoping the viewers will take away from it?

For me personally I really enjoyed playing one character for an entire series. I鈥檓 used to doing sketch shows with Matt (Lucas) and then we鈥檇 play four characters a day. This character has got to be a lot realer because you鈥檙e going to spend a lot more time with them, so I鈥檝e really enjoyed that journey.

I suppose I hope that people find it funny but enjoy that it鈥檚 a slightly subtler thing from me and enjoy the playing, and a lot of it is in the playing, as opposed to having big gags served up. It鈥檚 more about the relationships between the characters and the way we relate to each other.