Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby | |
---|---|
Genre | Satire Comedy |
Created by | Danny Mulheron Dave Armstrong Tom Scott |
Written by | Danny Mulheron Dave Armstrong Tom Scott |
Directed by | Danny Mulheron |
Starring | David McPhail |
Country of origin | New Zealand |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 14 |
Production | |
Running time | 25 minutes per episode |
Original release | |
Network | TVNZ 1 |
Release | 6 May 2005 8 May 2006 | –
Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby is a satirical New Zealand television series, created and written by Danny Mulheron (who also directs and co-produces), Dave Armstrong, and Tom Scott.[1] It stars David McPhail as the titular Mr Gormsby, whose politically incorrect attitudes and "old school" teaching style clash and contrast with the environment at the fictional Tepapawai High School. The show pokes fun at the New Zealand education system but also at modern New Zealand social attitudes more generally.
The story follows various events at a New Zealand low-decile high school in a low-income area having often poorly-qualified teaching staff and many students with difficult socio-economic backgrounds - mostly belonging to ethnic minorities, Māori and Pasifika.
Season One sees the appointment of Mortimer Gormsby to the relieving role of Class 5F. His conservative ways and attempts to discipline students immediately see the rest of the faculty try to have him removed. The previously troublesome 5F slowly take to their new teacher, and in turn he develops a respect for them. However at the end of Season One, Gormsby is fired. Outside of 5F, the rest of the school is plagued by mismanagement, poor test scores and the Education Review Office.
Season Two sees the reinstatement of Gormsby. Meanwhile, the Education Review Office decides that Tepapawai and McLeod's Girls School should merge. The question of which school should close is the main storyline of Season Two
The series ran for two seasons; the first was broadcast in 2005 on TV ONE in New Zealand and the ABC TV in Australia. The second series was shown in New Zealand in 2006 and in Australia, on ABC2, April 2008. DVDs of the series were sold in Australia through the ABC Shop. The series was nominated for Best Script and Best Comedy in the 2006 NZ Screen Awards.[2]
The program was filmed at two schools in the suburbs of Lower Hutt: the first season at Wainuiomata College[3] and the second at Petone College.
The first season's school's original location is now occupied by Wainuiomata Little Theatre.
Address 106 Moohan St, Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt 5014, New Zealand (
Google map location)
No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "The Appalling Mr Gormsby" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 6 May 2005 |
2 | 2 | "Comrade Gormsby" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 13 May 2005 |
3 | 3 | "Human Relationships" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 20 May 2005 |
4 | 4 | "Open Day" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 27 May 2005 |
5 | 5 | "The Retarded Boy" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 3 June 2005 |
6 | 6 | "Coon Tunes" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 10 June 2005 |
7 | 7 | "The ERO Parade" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 17 June 2005 |
No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | 1 | "Heads Will Roll" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 27 March 2006 |
9 | 2 | "Crime and Punishment" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 3 April 2006 |
10 | 3 | "The Slave Trade" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 10 April 2006 |
11 | 4 | "Dancing with the Staff" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 17 April 2006 |
12 | 5 | "Camp Te Papawai" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 24 April 2006 |
13 | 6 | "An Inspector Calls" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 1 May 2006 |
14 | 7 | "For Whom The Bell Tolls" | Danny Mulheron | Dave Armstrong, Danny Mulheron & Tom Scott | 8 May 2006 |
The series was received mostly positively by Australian critics, although some aspects of its politically incorrect nature raised some eyebrows.[4][5][6]
Ray Cassin (The Age) writes that the series is attacking hypocrisy on all fronts and tries to unmasks deceits and pretensions with a rather relentless and gleeful insistence.[5] Jim Schembri (Sydney Morning Herald) argues the show skating on thin ice due to its politically incorrect nature and sees it as another example of how far New Zealand is ahead of Australia when it comes to dealing with delicate matters through comedy.[7] Alan Mascarenhas (The Age) states while the series has low production values and patchy acting it does nevertheless possess a pythonesque quality. He recalls that he couldn't stop laughing even at scenes where he probably shouldn't have. According to him the show goes further than The Office ever dared balancing between fun and bigotry.[6]