The third season of Channel 5's anthology series The Teacher was primarily filmed in Spain, with additional shooting in Hertfordshire. The series, which returns on Monday, March 30 at 9pm, stars Victoria Hamilton as Helen Simpson, the Head of Drama at an independent private school.
Director Dominic Leclerc, who has helmed all three seasons, explained the choice of setting: 'This series is set within an independent private school, where ideas of privilege and principle come into play. It’s set in Sheffield and the Peak District, an area that I know very well, and that idea of being on the cusp of a northern city, but in beautiful landscape, gave the series its own flavour.'
Despite the fictional setting in Sheffield and the Peak District, most of the filming took place in Vitoria, Spain. Actor Steve Edge, who plays Terry Simpson, noted: 'We filmed in Vitoria, which is a very Spanish place with very few tourists... Vitoria doesn’t look very much like Sheffield!' The exterior of the school was shot at a hotel in Hertfordshire.
Rochenda Sandall, who portrays Tessa Stewart, described the experience: 'We were out there for two months, on the northern side of Spain, so all of the Basque Country was available to us... Most of my scenes are in the school, which was actually an old church that was recommissioned and converted into an art college.'
The series follows an intergenerational story, with Hamilton's character being older than previous leads. Leclerc added: 'She’s the Head of Drama, so I wanted to find a visual language that tapped into ideas of performance and interpretation.'
