Big School – TV review

We've all been burned too many times to take these things on trust any more. Still, the cast list of Big School (BBC1) couldn't fail to draw the eye, stuffed like a prize summer pudding as it was with juicy comedy names. Catherine Tate. David Walliams (a co-writer of the series). Joanna Scanlan (Terri Coverley in The Thick of It). Frances de la Tour. Frances de la bloody Tour!

All that promise means there's further to fall, right? Yes, usually. But this time it was great. Not perfect. But great.

The setting and the setup – teachers in an urban comprehensive who are lazier and less mature than the kids – is far from original. But Walliams, playing the head of chemistry, Mr Church, who is on the point of resigning until he has a coup de foudre when the new French teacher, Miss Postern (Tate), walks in, has here tapped into his warmer, more vulnerable, altogether funnier side. It's the one that makes him a wonderful children's author, rather than his colder Little Britain side. This performance, and his writing, gives the show good jokes and heart – which unless you are sure you are the next Seinfeld, generally works out best for all concerned.

And Tate's a genius. Her opening scene with Frances de la Tour's headmistress will keep me happy all week. "I love everything French!" she exclaims. "Not just the language. The history, the romance, the bread." I can't reproduce it here with just the paltry resources of the printed word, but it's the way she breathes the greatest passion into "bread" that sets you honking. And that's before De la Tour fixes her with a stare that's seen a thousand teachers come and go, and replies without expression on her face but an infinity of loathing in her voice: "Dirty people. Dirty country."

Look, you had to be there. But make sure you are next week. The second episode was trailed at the end of this one and trust me, you're going to want to see Mr Church dancing out of the dinner hall while raging at Miss Postern: "French is the poor man's Spanish!" Gold star.