Series / That'll Teach 'Em

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That'll Teach 'Em is a British reality TV show that aired from 2003 to 2006 in which 30 modern teenage graduates are sent back in time to the 1950s or 1960s to experience school life in those eras. They experience it in full glory; rough teachers, tough exams, and grueling work. Hilarity ensues as modern teenagers clash with the standards and values of the 50s and 60s. It was produced by Twenty Twenty Television for the Channel 4 network in the United Kingdom.

In total, three series have been made, each taking place in a different kind of school.

• Series 1 (2003): Takes place in Kings School, a 1950s grammar school. All of the students featured are academic high flyers, who are predicted high GCSE grades.
• Series 2 (2004): Takes place at a 1960s secondary modern called Hope Green. The students in this series range from academically average to poor, fitting the secondary modern setting. These schools were meant to teach less intelligent students vocational skills to contribute to society. The boys learned practical skills, like bricklaying and repairing cars, while the girls learned to be perfect housewives.
• Series 3 (2005): Takes place at another 1950s grammar school called Charles Darwin Grammar, and once again featured academic high fyers. This time, a greater emphasis is placed on practical sciences, and on boys and girls being taught seperately. The students are also stimulated into competing with each other in order to improve. After all, the school's motto is "Only the fittest survive"

All three seasons can be watched on YouTube on the World's Strictest Parents channel.

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"LOOK AT THESE TROPES NOW, REPORT SIHT!"

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Troublemaker Victoria Buxton falls for fellow troublemaker Scott Peters. At one point, they try to fraternize, breaking the six-inch rule as they do, and try to give each other a quick peck on the lips, only to get caught. When Vikki learns that Peters had been expelled, she is devastated. See also: Yandere.
• Alliterative Name: Ben Barber.
• Alma Mater Song: Charles Darwin Grammar School, the fictional school in Series 3 of has one. As the name of the school suggests, the song emphasizes competition in which only the best students survive. During one night, the boys decide to sing a parody of it, when they were supposed to be sleeping. Naturally, this gets them into trouble with the house master.
• Apathetic Student: Several of the students don't seem to care about doing their best when the subject doesn't interest them. Good examples are Amy Jampa-Ngoen and Scott Peters from Series 3. Scott Peters malingers during Combined Cadet Force training, while Amy is just mucking about in general. This ultimately costs them their place in the school.
• Apron Matron: Matron is tough as nails and isn't afraid to assert her authority to the students.
• Asleep in Class: Peters falls asleep during Mr. Stanley's music test, something that Mr. Stanley does ''not'' appreciate.
• Assimilation Academy: During the 50s settings, apart from having to wear a school uniform, the students are also required to wear their hair in a specific way, with the boys even forced to visit a barber at the start of term. Several teachers and students also comment in front of the camera that these schools were meant to mold teenagers into perfect members of society and that individualism is severely discouraged. If a student attempts some humor towards a teacher, they will be yelled at for sure.
• Berserk Button: The teachers are easily angered by the students' antics — and any attempt by the students to reason with them only provokes the teachers further.
• Big Good: Matron. While tough and strict in her own way, she always helped out the teens in their dark times.
• Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: During an angry outburst towards Scott Peters, Mr. Stanley calls him a "stupid insolent silly little thing".
• Bile Fascination: An in-universe example; Sarah's apple pie in season 2, which tasted awful, is this for the boys and staff who just want to see how awful it truly is.
• Boarding School of Horrors: The basic premise of the show; modern teenagers experience, to their standards, strict teachers, grueling lessons, terrible food and harsh punishments. However, it is not all gloom and doom, as several fun activities are still organized by the staff.
• Break the Cutie: Headmaster MacTavish deliberately averts this when reprimanding Nichola Greenhalgh for her bad table manners. When he saw his reprimand brought her to the verge of tears, he encouraged her to improve. To the camera, the headmaster told he did not want to destroy Nichola, saying the message was already coming through.
• Butt-Monkey: Amy is always getting in trouble. Defied when she leaves voluntarily.
• Catchphrase:
  • Miss Gibson says "HOW DARE YOU?!" so much it might as well be.
  • "Insolence" seems to be every teacher's favourite word in Series 3.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Holly tries to explain the food problem.
  Holly: You've seen that I heave when I look at the food, and I can't stay here if I'm not eatin'. It's just not good for me.
  Matron: Can I just say that eatin', is the word "eating", it's got a "G" on the end.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Some of the punishments the students are subjected to are original to say the least. Examples include cold showers, swimming a few laps in a cold swimming pool, being forced to run around a tree and searching the bible for verses about forgiveness. The worst punishment is holding a heavy object with outstretched arms for a certain amount of time, which can be very painful. Headmaster MacTavish in Series 1 endured this punishment himself, as to not demand from the students he himself couldn't do.
• Cool Teacher: Mr Vince from Series 1 and 2 encourages his students to do well and compliments them when they deserve it. In Series 1, he leads the Combined Cadet Force by example, showing the students who to climb a wall. Near the end of the term in Series 2, he even gave the students their first driving lessons, using his own car.
• Corporal Punishment: Averted. Despite this being a common disciplinary practice during the 50s and 60s, this practice is outlawed in modern times, so teachers in this series aren't allowed to use it.
• Deadpan Snarker: Several of the teachers resort to snarks when reprimanding the students. Mr Simon Rockell is very good at this, as seen when he discovered a forbidden bag of Jelly Babies.
  Mr Rockell: "Mr Perry! Someone here has been pregnant and gave birth to babies! Immaculate Conception!"
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Part of the premise of the show is seeing the modern teenagers deal with the values of the past, some of which really clash with modern sensibilities. This is really notable when it comes to gender roles.
  • During career advice in Series 1, whenever a boy aims for a high status job, he is encouraged to pursue it. When girls aim to do the same, they are discouraged and told it might interfere with their role as housewife and mother. They are instead encouraged to marry a man holding the job they desire.
  • Series 2 takes it a step further, as boys are taught skills useful on the workfloor, like car maintenance and woodworking, while girls are taught to be good housewives, learning skills like cooking, cleaning and taking care of children.
• Don't Make Me Destroy You: When headmaster MacTavish reprimanded Joe McCready for his behavior, he made clear that if McCready does not improve his behavior, the headmaster could easily render his life a misery. He asks McCready to think very hard about if that is what he wants.
• Double-Meaning Title: On the one hand, the title implies the obvious nature of the show; sending teens back in time to experience life in a post-war boarding school, but it also gives a rather dark hint of what the teens have let themselves in for...
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: In the 50s, a subject the boys were expected to attend was Combined Cadet Force training, CCF for short. During these lessons, the boys were trained to become good soldiers for Queen and Country. As expected, these lessons were taught by this trope. In Series 1, this trope is downplayed, as Cool Teacher Mr Vince teaches this and generally gives off positive vibes. In Series 3, this subject is given by Sgt. Allen, who plays this straight by yelling at the students and isn't afraid to let the whole class suffer because Scott Peters doesn't want to participate.
• Dustbin School: The narrator in Series 2 explains that Secondary Modern schools were seen as educational dumping grounds for the less academically gifted children. For each pound the government invested in a Grammar school pupil, only 30 pence is invested in a Secondary Modern pupil.
• Enraged by Idiocy: The teachers have little if any patience at all for the students' bad behavior.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Matron is never once called by her name and only referred to by her title.
• Foul Cafeteria Food: The food served at the schools is not well liked by a lot of the students. Several of them obviously show their distaste by playing with their food, which gets them into trouble with the staff.
• Get Out!: A typical command given by a teacher to any student, particularly during music class.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: It takes very little to arouse a teacher's wrath, doesn't it?
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Miss Gibson shows this on a number of occasions, such as when comforting Holly over her homesickness in Series 2. Another moment is when she compliments Alex Roberts for his poem in which he apologizes for his behavior in class. She even admits to him she was frustrated at him wasting his time, because Alex is good at English.
• Historical Re-Creation: Thirty modern teenage graduates go to a 1950s-ambiented UK high school. Not only do their values crash but they are subjected to inflexible teachers, strict clothing codes, exams based on rote memorization, and grueling manual work.
• I Ate WHAT?!: The girls are horrified to learn that they ate lamb hearts in season 3.
• Important Haircut: In the first episode of each season, the boys all get their hair shaved to a 50/60s haircut, to signify they become students in that time period. Girls are taught to put their hair in braids.
• Insufferable Genius: Mr. Williams, the biology teacher who likes to rub it in the students' faces how bad they failed their tests.
  Jess: 0/20.
  (Laughter)
  Mr. Williams: You're an idiot! A numbskull! A fool! And that'll have to change!
• Jack of All Trades: Kathryn McGeough.
  Kathryn: I'm good at just about everything. I few things I enjoy are skiing and snowboarding, swimming and sailing and singing, karate, clarinet and kayaking, archery and off-roading, Ten Tors, Duke of Edinburgh, and lifesaving.
• Jerkass: Most teachers seem that way, yelling at students they tried to reason with them. Justified as this was common practice in the 1950s and 1960s.
• Last-Name Basis: All the boys were referred to by surname. A rather amusing instance occurs when Mr. Williams accidentally refers to Jenny Ritzman, Rosie Morton and Samantha Wyvill by their surnames, presumably from doing the same with the boys.
• Mean Character, Nice Actor: All of the teachers participating in the program play the role of a strict and tough 1950s or 60s teacher, but most of them aren't like that in real life. Several admitted in interviews they played a character based on their own school experiences.
• Morton's Fork: Miss Gibson reprimands Sophia Madisonte for answering back, outside of just saying "Yes, sir," or "Yes, miss," then asks if Sophia if she is unclear about that. Sophia responds affirmatively, but adds that she doesn't see why she should be polite to Miss Gibson if the latter is going to be rude to her. Miss Gibson asks if that means she doesn't understand, and when Sophia tries to explain herself, Miss Gibson SCREAMS at her for answering back again and demands that she not hear a single word from Sophia, who responds by accusing Miss Gibson of demonstrating Morton's Fork.
  Sophia: You're asking me questions, I'm going to answer! What you want me to do? If I don't answer you, I get shouted at, and then when I do answer, I get shouted at. So what am I meant to do?
  Miss Gibson: You stand—
  Sophia: I can't win with you!
  Miss Gibson: You're right — you cannot win with me.
  Sophia: Exactly! So why am even I bothering to try?!
• Mouthy Kid: Victoria Buxton, Scott Peters, Amy Jampa-Ngoen and Ashleigh Walters play this straight by frequently talking back to the teachers.
• Name And Shame: Throughout this show, students can be publicly ridiculed for poor academic performance and behavior. If a student is expelled, the headmaster may call an assembly to announce the expulsion.
• Neat Freak: Matron is very keen on students dressing and making their beds properly. She will berate any student who does not meet her standards.
• No Hugging, No Kissing: This is enforced in both series 1 and 3 with the "6 inch rule" referring to the minimum distance boys and girls must keep from each other. Several students break this rule, which gets them into trouble.
• No Indoor Voice: The teachers almost never speak in a normal voice, especially when provoked — they will make it clear how infuriated they are by yelling and shouting. The narrator tells that this was commonplace in the 50s and 60s, but discouraged nowadays.
• Nostalgia Filter: The narrator seems to have vibes of this when comparing the education of the 50s to that of modern times. He mentions the 50s are the golden age of education in which discipline and knowledge stood central, while modern schools are too easy and students get away with too much. Lord Tebbit, a conservative politician who visits the school during Series 1, is also of the opinion education went downhill. Some of teachers themselves avert this when speaking to the camera, as they openly discuss the flaws of past education, while admitting modern education gives students more chance to think for themselves, as opposed to cramming facts and figures.
• Only Sane Man: Matron. She's the only one who doesn't yell or do dangerous things.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The teachers frequently give these out to students, whenever they give wrong answers or display inappropriate behavior.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • Matron certainly is one. While she is very strict when it comes to the tidiness of both the students and their beds, she is always there to provide a listening ear to them when needed.
  • Headmaster MacTavish from Series 1 is a strict headmaster, but still reasonable when dealing out discipline. For example, when reprimanding Nichola for her bad table manners, she was on the verge of tears. Because he did not want to destroy Nichola, he did not raise his voice and encouraged her to improve her behavior instead. MacTavish also undergoes any punishments he gives to the students himself, as he does not want to make students endure something he isn't prepared to endure himself.
• Sadist Teacher: By today's standards, most teachers would probably qualify, as they insult their pupil's intelligence, yell at them for the slightest infraction and deal out nasty punishments. However, this practice was commonplace in the 50s and 60s and actually seen as a helpful way to shape teenagers into well adjusted members of society. The most notable examples are Mr. Stanley and Mr. Williams of Series 3, who are very easily provoked into fits of rage and giving harsh punishments, without showing any positive reinforcement.
• Shop Class: Secondary Modern schools were meant to teach boys the industrial arts so they could find jobs in these sectors. In Series 2, taking place at a 60s Secondary Modern, the male students were taught woodworking, bricklaying and car maintenance. Girls were primarily taught Home Economics, which is a fancy word for housekeeping training.
• Sickeningly Sweet: When Richard Myles had a falling out with Matron regarding his hair, he was tasked to write a letter of apology to her. Said letter was so full of groveling, that Matron allegedly became sick in the gut.
  Mr Simon Warr "The thought of you, "metaphorically" or otherwise [prostrating yourself at her feet] really caused Matron to have to lie down. It made her feel sick in the gut, so could you cross all that out, please? We don't need any of that."
• Stay in the Kitchen: As mentioned before, in both the 50s and 60s, women were expected to become housewives, instead of pursuing careers. In Series 1, female students are actively discouraged from wanting high paying jobs and instead advised to marry a man holding the job they want. In Series 2, female students are actually given an entirely different curriculum from the boys, focusing on making them good housewives.
• Stern Teacher: All the teachers, as per the 1950s/1960s, setting, are like this. They are strict disciplinarians who correct and punish the tiniest infractions, but ultimately want their students to succeed. Dr. Szydlo, Mr. Vince, Dr Wilde and Matron are a bit more laid back.
• Suddenly Shouting: When addressing a misbehaving student, the teachers can suddenly go from Tranquil Fury to loudly yelling at them.
• Sweet Tooth: Vikki Buxton has an affinity for chocolate. Nic Hall is also an example, having stashed sweets all over the room.
• Tiny Tyrannical Girl: Miss Gibson is a very short teacher with a tyrannical temperament.
• Toilet Humor: Invoked in one episode of series 2, in which Matron asks the kids if any of them have constipation. The prune juice causes multiple kids to throw up.
• Took a Level in Jerkass:
  • Miss Gibson shows more kindness in Series 2 than in Series 3. This is justified, as Series 2 takes place in a 1960s secondary modern, compared to the stricter 50s grammar schools of Series 1 and 3.
  • The same can be said of Mr. Warr. When he was languages teacher in Series 1, he was nicer and more humorous, and one of the more relaxed teachers. When he returned as Headmaster in Series 3, Warr's overall aura was much louder, tougher and more animated in this particular season, particularly when reprimanding students, and his shock and anger felt more raw.
• Tranquil Fury: Mr Perry is infamous for frequently yelling at his students for the slightest infraction. However, when he expelled repeat offender Joe McCready, he never raised his voice once. He only expressed disappointment in McCready's behavior and calmly told him he was expelled.
• Traumatic Haircut:
  • Brennon Gunston of Season 3 had the longest hair of the boys when he arrived, and Mr. Williams even says to make sure "this is a really short haircut". Distress over his haircut is one of the reasons he ends up leaving before the season is over.
  • Richard Mylles is viewed as having an attitude problem for his frequent lateness, talking back to teachers and smuggling in things like an extra toothbrush and deodorant. On noticing how he plays with his hair, Matron orders it to be cut even shorter in the hopes it'll Break the Haughty.
• What You Are in the Dark: While most of the teachers insult their pupils intelligence during class, they are a lot more positive and understanding about them when talking one on one to the camera. For example:
  • Mr Simon Rockell, the history teacher in Series 1 explicitly told the cameraman that he saw the students improving and was proud of them, but that he wouldn't tell it to their face.
  • After reprimanding Alex Roberts, Miss Gibson admits to the cameraman that she perfectly understands his position, suspecting he might be severely under-challenged and that he is actually an intelligent kid. She also adds that under-challenged pupils might have been a recurring problem in the 60s.
• Women Are Delicate: Mr Simon Rockell seems to believe this when giving out career advice. When one of the girls aims to be a barrister, he asks her if women aren't too emotional to work in court.
• Yandere: Vikki is obsessively in love with Scott Peters. Matron lampshades this when Peters is expelled:
  Matron: I don't think there's anything much wrong with Victoria. I think she's a lovesick, brazen hussy who's basically wasting time crying when she should be in revision.
• Yes-Man: James Ingram in Season 3. He's first a suck-up towards the teachers as he hands over a hidden stash of candy, and is soon considered a front-runner for the position of Head Boy, but he soon feels unloved as a suck-up and tries to become a yes-man towards his own cohort by answering back to Mr. Williams, but still fails to earn back his cohort's respect and also loses the respect of the staff. Maybe just being himself is the best James can do...

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