I love Bad Education, so was excited to suddenly see a new episode.
When I started to watch this - I had one of those moments, when you feel like, hangon, I recognise the people - but the lines are all off, have they got rid of the writer.
A bit like watching Tony Hancock when he thought he was too good for the writers of Hancocks Half Hour, and ended up killing himself while making some dreary 'comedy' in Australia.
You recognise the faces, the mannerisms are all there - but absolutely not a single one of the lines rings as funny.
Then I googled it, and find that Alfie is one of the writers, so how can it possibly be this cringey.
You forgive the kids having grown up, and no longer able to play quite the little teen horrors that they once were - but even the adults dont seem to be able to get it together.
Mathew Horne seems to be able to stay on point. Replacing Pickwell with Bernadette Hobum who play the delightfully deranged Princess Anne in the Windsors looks possibly good on paper - but she's not as off the wall, or comedic as Michelle Gomez.
Jack Whitehall has done some brilliant brilliant things, and Bad Education series as a whole is fantastic (screw the reviewers who dont get it) - but the Reunion probably DOES deserve the comment from one of the tabloids which a reporter attributed to the entire series but I do just this one episode - that Jack White just phoned it in.