Teachers (C4); Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC2)

Much has changed since we last attended class with C4's Teachers - the school has merged with another and three leading characters have been killed off.

This emerged in the opening scene when the surviving teaching staff, after a night at the pub, relieved themselves on the graves of their dead colleagues. Disrespectful maybe, but what we've come to expect from this bunch of educators.

Later, the marvellous Bob, complete with new toupee and Thai bride in the wings, was caught peeing into a blazing wastepaper basket that he'd set alight while trying to sabotage the work of the new head of English, who's got his job

He's convinced that Clare, the head teacher, wants rid of him, and he's quite right. She much prefers the youthful English head and called him into her office, put her leg on her desk and asked if her shoes went with her outfit. "I'm going to put you in an awkward position," she told him. You could see her mentally flicking through the pages of the Kama Sutra.

The series has lots of sex, swearing, smoking, drinking and behaving badly - and that's only the teachers. Despite the demise of the leading trio, I'm happy to report that the donkey is still wandering the school corridors, one of the surreal moments that makes Teachers such a joy.

Actress Sue Johnston's education in the latest edition of family tree show Who Do You Think You Are? concerned her father's father, Alf Cowan, whom she remembered as a driver on the railways. Finding out that he never drove the Flying Scotsman, as she'd always believed, was the first shock. As her investigation continued, she discovered why her grandfather had turned his back on a white collar job to work on the railways.

Relatives, retired railwaymen, birth and death certificates, and old street directories all played a part in unravelling the complex and, for her, moving family history as she travelled from the National Railway Museum in York to Workington and Carlisle.

Seeing the squalor of the conditions in which her great-grandparents had lived was an emotional experience for her. "It makes it real," she said.

When her grandfather gave up the good life that his father had worked hard to achieve, it caused a rift in the family. He thought his son was going back to the lowly life that he'd struggled to overcome.

In the event, her grandfather did well for his family, although there was no denying the drama of the tale. "It's a good story," admitted Johnston.

The outcome proved a surprise to her, although left her feeling a closer connection with her grandfather. In his early twenties he turned his back on a certain way of life for something he wanted - exactly like she did when, at 21, she gave up a job in the tax office to go to drama school.

Published: ??/??/2004