Channel 4 Teachers cast now from US success to soap villains

It's hard to believe that Channel 4 series Teachers aired its final episode 20 years ago.

The ground-breaking drama featured young people smoking, acting daft and not taking themselves too seriously – with teachers acting more like pupils than staff.

The series was a cult hit during its run on Channel 4 and was nominated for six BAFTA awards between 2002 and 2004, nominated for Best Comedy Drama at the British Comedy Awards in 2003.

The series came to a halt after the fourth series was met with a mixed reception from viewers and fans.

Its cast, however, has gone onto huge success and fame. Some cast members have gone on to achieve Hollywood fame, become gripping soap villains and even won Strictly Come Dancing.

Here we take a look at some of the famous faces from the hit show and where they are now.

Andrew Lincoln as Simon Casey

Andrew Lincoln played lovable rogue Simon in Teachers who was the main focus of the first series. He had a laidback approach to teaching but also eyed up his fellow teachers.

Lincoln is now a huge star in the US thanks to his role as Rick Grimes in the hit zombie series The Walking Dead. He was already a famous face to British viewers thanks to his roles as Egg in This Life and Keira Knightley’s obsessed friend in Love Actually in 2003.

Adrian Bower as Brian Steadman

The PE teacher who transitioned into teaching Geography, he was known by many as being a bit dim-witted. He was killed off-screen in a car crash including Kurt and Matt.

Teachers is Brian Steadman's most known role, but he also appeared in The Last Kingdon, Gimme Gimme Gimme and Mount Pleasant.

Navin Choudhry as Kurt McKenna

If you ever wanted to find his character, IT teacher Kurt, he was normally smoking behind the bike sheds or trying to have sex with a single parent. After three series, his character was killed off-screen in a car crash.

Since Teachers, his biggest role has been soap villain Nish Panesar in EastEnders, who has been plotting to take revenge on his estranged family.

Other than EastEnders, he has appeared in Doctor Foster, Waking The Dead, Doctor Who and a cargo pilot for the Resistance in The Last Jedi in 2017.

Nina Sonsanya as Jenny Paige

Nina played Head of Year Jenny and was fawned over by many of the male teachers. She left without explanation after series two.

Nina went on to have a brief role in Love Actually and later appeared in Last Tango in Halifax, W1A, His Dark Materials, and many more.

Raquel Cassidy as Susan Gately

Raquel Cassidy played Simon’s best friend Susan, the psychology teacher, and has appeared since in many comedies and dramas since including Doctor Who, Rev and The Worst Witch.

Her most famous role is the secretive Phyllis Baxter from Downton Abbey and she will be getting back into the ladies’ maid sensible uniform for the Downton sequel movie in 2025.

Shaun Evans - John Paul

Shaun turned up at Summerdown Comprehensive as the foreign languages teacher, and the only gay staff member, John Paul. He only appeared in series two and left without explanation.

Shaun Evans went on to star as the young Morse in Endeavour and Coxswain Elliot Glover in BBC mystery drama Vigil.

Ellen Thomas - Liz

Ellen joined the show playing Teachers’ funny school secretary, Liz and was known for her put-downs and wit. The 70-year-old actress appeared in Rev, Mount Pleasant, Casualty and Death in Paradise, but EastEnders fans will recognise her as Claudette.

Kara Tointon as Pauline

Kara Tointon's first big role was naughty Year 11 pupil Pauline in Teachers before she starred as Dawn Swann in EastEnders.

Kara went on to win the eighth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, starred as Maria in the live ITV version of The Sound of Music and Channel 5 drama The Teacher.

Mathew Horne as Ben Birkett

The man who became Gavlar from Gavin & Stacey featured as RE teacher Ben during the fourth series.

After Teachers, he appeared with Catherine Tate and in other series, before a meeting with James Corden - another star of the Channel 4 show - changed his life.

They went on to make hit comedy Gavin & Stacey together. The series is returning for a Christmas special after recently filming across various locations.

James Corden as Jeremy Stevens

James played a clever sixth former, called Jeremy, who wasn’t that much different in maturity than his teachers. By the time Teachers aired, he had already starred in Fat Friends, where he met his co-writer Ruth Jones.

The pair created Gavin & Stacey and the rest is comedy history. He went on to cement his place in showbiz by landing a plumb job succeeding Craig Ferguson as the host of The Late Late Show in America.

Corden has also featured in Gulliver's Travels, Peter Rabbit, Into the Woods, Cats and Cinderella, as well as numerous theatre shows.