Catherine Tate interview - Big School - British Comedy Guide Catherine Tate interview × This interview is from Series 1. Catherine Tate plays Mr Church's love interest in Big School. She talks more about her character here... Can you tell us about the show and your character Catherine? The show is called Big School. It's about a secondary school, focusing mainly on the teachers, of which I'm one of them - a French teacher. She thinks she's going to come into this school and certainly her methods of teaching are going to blow everyone away. It's kind of just saying English words with a French accent hoping the kids are going to get interested. She's trying to get people to translate pop groups that they like for example, I think it was actually quite clever of her to get a picture of one of the guys from Black Eyed Peas and call him Will.je.suis, which is an absolutely literal translation of Will.i.am. And then another one is Plan "B" (in French accent) which still they don't understand. Your character proves to be very popular with both Mr Church and Mr Gunn. What is it like playing between those two quite different characters?

I don't think she's particularly interested in Mr Gunn but she sees a kind of sweetness to Mr Church that's appealing. They've got very different ways of wooing or "seducting" as Mr Gunn says - he's pretty old school, he's pretty 1970s. Whereas David's character is 19th century more, he's very respectful but he always gets in his own way. He very much means well but it can often trip him up. So he'll end up offending me more than anything, and so will Phil's character but in a different way. He's just plain wrong. What has it been like working with the kids and having them on set? It's great. We're really lucky to have been working with all the kids, because it's hard to make a show in a school if you've only got four kids knocking about. The school we actually filmed in, the kids gave up their school holidays to come and be extras in the show which was amazing. You'd struggle to people that amount of background if they hadn't given up their time to come and do it. They were in their own school so they were familiar with it which makes such a difference.

They made a huge addition which was great. Do you have a favourite episode you're particularly looking forward to watching? No. Like a mother who birthed all these episodes I have no favourite. There is a sense of comic isolation to the characters. Is there a sense that as it's such a universal subject? It is of the genre that most people have been to school... There's a gag throughout the whole show where I always call David's character by his first name and he always says "not in front of the children" because it is that thing. It is somehow strangely naughty, it's like a real secret if you find out what the teachers real names are, because they're never names to you - they're Miss This or Mr That. Hopefully there'll be elements of it that people remember. At one point David's running around the playing field in his pants though, so I hope people didn't have to see that from their chemistry teacher. There's a similarity between Miss Postern and Mr Church. They seem like they're quite engaged and there for the kids in a way that the rest of the teachers don't seem to be?

I think that Mr Church and Miss Postern are kindred spirits in that they do put the children first and they do take their teaching seriously. They do want to make a difference whereas you do get the feeling that Miss Barron needs to get home and watch Cash In The Attic soon, or something of greater importance than the children's education. So yes they are kindred spirits. They're quite suited to each other in some ways that you think well who else is going to have you. It's quite sweet. So there's a bit of a 'will they won't they?' throughout the series... The seed is planted at the beginning for Mr Church. He's quite taken with her and of course she's quite flattered that someone could go to such lengths. It's nice that throughout the series he makes quite grand gestures that of course all fall completely flat on their face. But everyone likes a grand gesture. For one of his grand gestures he decides to come to France right at the last second so has nothing, not even a change of pants, which isn't great seeing as she's sitting next to him on the way back home from France...

BBC One - Big School, Series 1 - Interview with Catherine Tate Interview with Catherine Tate Catherine Tate talks about Big School and Miss Postern. Can you tell us about the show and your character? The show is called Big School. It’s about a secondary school, focusing mainly on the teachers, of which I’m one of them – a French teacher . She thinks she’s going to come into this school and certainly her methods of teaching are going to blow everyone away. It’s kind of just saying English words with a French accent hoping the kids are going to get interested. She’s trying to get people to translate pop groups that they like for example, I think it was actually quite clever of her to get a picture of one of the guys from Black Eyed Peas and call him Will.je.suis, which is an absolutely literal translation of Will.i.am. And then another one is Plan “B” (in French accent) which still they don’t understand. Your character proves to be very popular with both Mr Church (David Walliams) and Mr Gunn (Philip Glenister). What is it like playing between those two quite different characters?

I don’t think she’s particularly interested in Mr Gunn but she sees a kind of sweetness to Mr Church that’s appealing. They’ve got very different ways of wooing or “seducting” as Mr Gunn says - he’s pretty old school, he’s pretty 1970s. Whereas David’s character is 19th century more, he’s very respectful but he always gets in his own way. He very much means well but it can often trip him up. So he’ll end up offending me more than anything, and so will Phil’s character but in a different way. He’s just plain wrong. What has it been like working with the kids and having them on set? It’s great. We’re really lucky to have been working with all the kids, because it’s hard to make a show in a school if you’ve only got four kids knocking about. The school we actually filmed in, the kids gave up their school holidays to come and be extras in the show which was amazing. You’d struggle to people that amount of background if they hadn’t given up their time to come and do it. They were in their own school so they were familiar with it which makes such a difference.

They made a huge addition which was great. Do you have a favourite episode you’re particularly looking forward to filming or watching? No. Like a mother who birthed all these episodes I have no favourite. There is a sense of comic isolation to the characters. Is there a sense that as it’s such a universal subject? It is of the genre that most people have been to school… There’s a gag throughout the whole show where I always call David’s character by his first name and he always says “not in front of the children” because it is that thing. It is somehow strangely naughty, it’s like a real secret if you find out what the teachers real names are, because they’re never names to you - they’re Miss This or Mr That. Hopefully there’ll be elements of it that people remember. At one point David’s running around the playing field in his pants though, so I hope people didn’t have to see that from their chemistry teacher. There’s a similarity between Miss Postern and Mr Church. They seem like they’re quite engaged and there for the kids in a way that the rest of the teachers don’t seem to be?

I think that Mr Church and Miss Postern are kindred spirits in that they do put the children first and they do take their teaching seriously. They do want to make a difference whereas you do get the feeling that Ms Baron needs to get home and watch Cash in the Attic soon, or something of greater importance than the children’s education. So yes they are kindred spirits. They’re quite suited to each other in some ways that you think well who else is going to have you. It’s quite sweet. So there’s a bit of a ‘will they won’t they?’ throughout the series? The seed is planted at the beginning for Mr Church. He’s quite taken with her and of course she’s quite flattered that someone could go to such lengths. It’s nice that throughout the series he makes quite grand gestures that of course all fall completely flat on their face. But everyone likes a grand gesture.

For one of his grand gestures he decides to come to France right at the last second so has nothing, not even a change of pants, which isn’t great seeing as she’s sitting next to him on the way back home from France… Big School - David Walliams and Catherine Tate are in a class of their own - Mirror Online TV Big School - David Walliams and Catherine Tate are in a class of their own Term begins with Mr Church, the Deputy Head of Science, apologising for standing up French teacher Miss Postern at Bella Italia over the summer holidays Share Big School: It’s definitely an A+ for effort Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email If comedy was a school subject, you’d want it taught by David Walliams and Catherine Tate. His Little Britain and her self-titled shows are a masterclass, with hilarious characters and catchphrases – “Yeah, but no, but yeah”. So the pairing of Walliams and Tate in the sitcom Big School is a fool-proof way of producing something funny. Now back for a second series, the staff at Greybridge continue to make school cool again.

Term begins with Mr Church (Walliams), the Deputy Head of Science, apologising for standing up French teacher Miss Postern (Tate) at Bella Italia over the summer holidays. It turns out he was at the wrong branch of the restaurant chain. His clumsy woo-ing of Miss Postern will continue to be a subject for Mr Church that gets him an F for fail. “I think he has probably never had any success with the opposite sex,” says Walliams, who also co-writes the sitcom. Little Britain: Walliams and Lucas as Lou and Andy “I don’t think you actually really want them to get together as it would spoil the tension between them.” Miss Postern, meanwhile, seems to be keeping her options open. “Mr Church might be her last chance saloon,” says Catherine Tate. “At one point in the series she asks him if they have left it too late, with the subtext being should the two of them have a baby together.” But their awkward encounters look fairly normal among the other quirky teachers at Greybridge. Life On Mars star Philip Glenister plays a PE teacher now teaching geography who needs an education himself, loves innuendo and resembles Keith Lemon – he even says “oosh”.

“He is all mouth and terrible tracksuit trousers!” says Philip. “He is just a saddo really.” Daniel Rigby is the music teacher who thinks he’s about to leave his job now that his debut single Soar (with lyrics about leaving his “dead-end job”), is available on iTunes. Performance: Walliams and Tate in the last series of Big School (Photo: BBC) And ruling over this motley crew is headmistress Ms Baron (Frances de la Tour), who is the loosest cannon of all. “One word of friendly advice,” she announces in assembly on the first day of term. “Cross me, and I will destroy you.” In fact, the teachers make the pupils look perfectly behaved. The sitcom, which is filmed in a real school, has been an opportunity for Walliams to prove he can learn a new subject himself. He has relished writing and playing a more serious role. Laughs: Catherine Tate as Nan (Photo: BBC) “Little Britain was such a big hit, and it is tricky to know how to follow that,” he says about the hugely successful series he did with Matt Lucas , which they followed up with the less well received Come Fly With Me. “So the most sensible thing to do was something completely different.

“I wanted this series to reveal a bit more of myself as an actor, with perhaps not so many layers of glasses and prosthetics. "I also wanted to write a more grown-up story, and to be more empathetic with characters that people will hopefully really care about.” Our report on the behaviour of this comedy? It’s definitely an A+ for effort. Big School - BBC1, Friday 9.30pm We're testing a new site: This content is coming soon Like us on Facebook Most Read Most Recent Big School (TV Series 2013– ) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Deputy Head of Science, Mr Church has been at Greybridge School for 15 years. He is about to resign after a dramatic experiment. However, the arrival of the new French teacher changes everything. Stars: The staff are caught unawares by a visit from three school inspectors, led by the formidable Ms. Steele. Ms.

Baron, ingesting drugs confiscated from a pupil, is especially caught unawares, with the ... 8.0 Gunn's ineptitude as a geography teacher gets him replaced by blind but hip Dr Dalton, Meanwhile Keith gets Sarah a birthday present, a huge photograph of Blackpool tower which believed was of the ... 7.7 Whilst sleeping in Sarah's classroom because he is homeless Gareth accidentally sets fire to it and it is gutted, forcing her to share Keith's classroom, which does not go well. Gunn is prevailed ... 7.7 a list of 36 titles created 24 Mar 2013 a list of 30 titles created 05 Jul 2013 a list of 43 titles created 19 Oct 2013 a list of 39 titles created 02 Sep 2014 a list of 47 titles created 16 Sep 2014 Search for " Big School " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin.

The Little Britain team parodies the various types of characters associated with life in a major British airport. That includes flight and ground staff from regular - and low budget ... See full summary » Stars: Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Lindsay Duncan Matt Lucas and David Walliams, the creators of this character-comedy sketch show, delight in all that is mad, bad, quirky and generally bonkers about the people and places of Britain. Stars: Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Tom Baker Skits by Catherine Tate and her comedy troupe. Stars: Catherine Tate, Mathew Horne, Niky Wardley Little Britain USA (TV Series 2008) Comedy Little Britain travel to America. Stars: Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Tom Baker Bad Education (TV Series 2012) Comedy A comedy series about a teacher who is a bigger kid than the kids he teaches. Stars: Jack Binstead, Mathew Horne, Ethan Lawrence After three award-winning television series, Matt Lucas and David Walliams took Little Britain on the road. Their triumphant tour culminated with this amazing performance at the Blackpool ...

See full summary » Director: Geoff Posner Billionaire Boy (TV Movie 2016) Drama The story of Len, who made a billion dollars from inventing a new toilet roll, and his 12-year-old son Joe who appears to have everything he could want but what he really needs is a friend. Director: Matt Lipsey TV Burp (TV Series 2001) Comedy Harry Hill stars in this surreal comedy show, revolving around the previous week's shows on British television. Stars: Harry Hill, Steve Benham, Brian Belo The Job Lot (TV Series 2013) Comedy The daily troubles of everyone who works at the job centre. Stars: Sarah Hadland, Russell Tovey, Angela Curran Do Not Disturb (TV Movie 2016) Comedy Anna and John book into the Stratford-on-Avon hotel where they spent their honeymoon ten years earlier - separately, following Anna's extra-marital fling but they had paid for the room ... See full summary » Director: Nigel Cole Catherine Tate's Nan (TV Series 2015) Comedy Catherine Tate stars as an aggressive nan Living in London in a small flat.

Watch as she deals with problems at anger management sessions, refuses to sell her house and more. Stars: Catherine Tate, Mathew Horne, Niky Wardley Catherine Tate's Nan (TV Movie 2014) Comedy Catherine returns with one of her most beloved characters in a full comedy series following the life and hilarious antics of a potty-mouthed granny. Director: Geoff Posner Edit Storyline The series follows Keith Church (David Walliams), a socially naive chemistry teacher at the fictional Greybridge Secondary School, near Watford, North London, who falls for new French teacher Sarah Postern (Catherine Tate), who believes herself to be an inspirational teacher, in tune with youth culture and a beautiful woman. However she is also getting attention from arrogant and rude sports teacher Trevor Gunn (Philip Glenister). Other staff members include Ms Baron (Frances de la Tour) as the alcoholic 'no nonsense' headteacher, Mr Martin (Daniel Rigby), a music teacher with ambitions to be a singer-songwriter, Mr Barber (Steve Speirs), a geography teacher who is having a nervous breakdown and is employed as a caretaker in the second series and Mr Hubble (James Greene), the elderly and confused head of science.

The pupils at the school are portrayed as being mainly interested in social networking, texting and partying and as being bored by the attempts of Mr Church and Miss Postern ... Interview: Catherine Tate – The National Student Catherine Tate is starring alongside David Walliams in new BBC comedy Big School... Can you tell us about the show and your character? The show is called Big School. It’s about a secondary school, focusing mainly on the teachers, of which I’m one of them – a French teacher. She thinks she’s going to come into this school and certainly her methods of teaching are going to blow everyone away. It’s kind of just saying English words with a French accent hoping the kids are going to get interested. She’s trying to get people to translate pop groups that they like for example, I think it was actually quite clever of her to get a picture of one of the guys from Black Eyed Peas and call him Will.je.suis, which is an absolutely literal translation of Will.i.am. And then another one is Plan “B” (in French accent) which still they don’t understand. Your character proves to be very popular with both Mr Church (David Walliams) and Mr Gunn (Philip Glenister).

What is it like playing between those two quite different characters? I don’t think she’s particularly interested in Mr Gunn but she sees a kind of sweetness to Mr Church that’s appealing. They’ve got very different ways of wooing or “seducting” as Mr Gunn says - he’s pretty old school, he’s pretty 1970s. Whereas David’s character is 19th century more, he’s very respectful but he always gets in his own way. He very much means well but it can often trip him up. So he’ll end up offending me more than anything, and so will Phil’s character but in a different way. He’s just plain wrong. What has it been like working with the kids and having them on set? It’s great. We’re really lucky to have been working with all the kids, because it’s hard to make a show in a school if you’ve only got four kids knocking about. The school we actually filmed in, the kids gave up their school holidays to come and be extras in the show which was amazing. You’d struggle to people that amount of background if they hadn’t given up their time to come and do it.

They were in their own school so they were familiar with it which makes such a difference. They made a huge addition which was great. Do you have a favourite episode you’re particularly looking forward to filming or watching? Article continues below... Catherine Tate Biography Catherine Tate Biography Catherine Tate Pictures Catherine Tate Biography Catherine Tate (born Catherine Ford; 12 May 1968) is an English comedian, actress and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and seven BAFTA Awards. Following the success of The Catherine Tate Show, Tate played Donna Noble in the 2006 Christmas special of Doctor Who and later reprised her role, becoming the Doctor's companion for the fourth series in 2008. In 2011, she began a recurring role as Nellie Bertram in the US version of The Office and was a series regular until the series ended. Early life and education Tate was born in Bloomsbury and brought up in the Brunswick Centre.

Her mother, Josephine, was a florist, and Tate has said that the character of Margaret in The Catherine Tate Show, who shrieks at the slightest of disturbances, is based largely on Josephine. Tate never knew her father as he left very early on in her life and, consequently, she was brought up in a female-dominated environment, being cared for by her mother, grandmother and her godparents. As a child, Tate suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder which centred on word association. For example, Tate was not able to leave a jumper on the floor or it might have brought misfortune to her mother whose name began with the letter "J" like jumper. She attended St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Macklin Street, Holborn and Notre Dame High School, Southwark, a south London convent secondary school for girls. By the time Tate was a teenager, she knew she wanted to follow a professional acting career and, following the abolition of the sixth form at her secondary school, was sent to a boys' Roman Catholic school, Salesian College in Battersea at the age of 16 for sixth form as it had the necessary facilities for drama. Tate left school without sitting her A-Levels.

She then tried for four years to get a place in the Central School of Speech and Drama (University of London), succeeding on her fourth attempt. She studied there for three years, and until the age of 26, lived in Holborn and Bloomsbury. Prior to getting a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Tate went to the Sylvia Young Theatre School, but left after a week; "Even at that age, I realised I wasn't Bonnie Langford. It was very competitive", she stated. Career Beginnings Tate began her television acting career with roles in serial dramas such as The Bill, and London's Burning. Tate started stand-up comedy in 1996, and has appeared in comedy series such as The Harry Hill Show, Barking and That Peter Kay Thing and a role in Men Behaving Badly. She played the part of Kate in the unaired pilot episode of sitcom Not Going Out alongside Lee Mack and Tim Vine. In 1998 she wrote and starred in Barking, a late night sketch show broadcast on Channel 4 and featuring a host of, back then, unknown stars such as David Walliams, Peter Kay and Mackenzie Crook.

Soon after, she became involved with Lee Mack's Perrier Comedy Award-nominated New Bits show at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2000. In 2001, she returned to the festival with her own sell-out one-woman show, which was followed by roles in Big Train, Attention Scum and TVGoHome. After being spotted at Edinburgh, she was given the role of Angela in the comedy, Wild West, with Dawn French , who commented "Catherine Tate is far too talented and she must be destroyed." Tate has also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and at the National Theatre. She acted the role of Smeraldina in a 2000 RSC production of A Servant to Two Masters, and another role in The Way of the World at the National Theatre. 2004"05 Tate was approached at a post-show party at the Edinburgh Festival by then-BBC controller of comedy Geoffrey Perkins, who encouraged Tate to develop her character ideas, especially to push the boundaries with teenager Lauren Cooper. Undertaking Perkins' advice, after a live show Tate found the audience walking out of the show repeating the character's catchphrase Am I bovvered?

Produced by Perkins at Tiger Aspect, Tate was given her own programme on BBC Two in 2004, which she co-wrote and starred in with Derren Litten, entitled The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three series. Two of the show's well-known characters are teenager Lauren Cooper and Joannie "Nan" Taylor, the cockney grandmother. Tate's inspiration for the cockney grandmother came from visits to old people's homes when she was at drama college. Tate won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Newcomer for her work on the first series of The Catherine Tate Show, and with the first series becoming a success, in March 2005, Tate made a guest appearance during the BBC's Comic Relief as the character of Lauren from The Catherine Tate Show, alongside boy-band McFly, which gained her further exposure. In November 2005, Tate appeared in another charity sketch as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon. The segment was a crossover between EastEnders and The Catherine Tate Show, featuring Eastenders characters Peggy Mitchell, Little Mo Mitchell and Stacey Slater, whilst Tate appeared as Lauren.

Also at that time, she was a guest star at the 77th Royal Variety Performance and appeared again in the guise of Lauren Cooper. During the sketch, Tate looked up at the Royal Box and asked The Queen, "Is one bovvered? Is one's face bovvered?". She also commented during the sketch that Prince Philip had fallen asleep: "she is bling, but the old fella next to her is asleep!" He then reportedly complained to the show's executive producer, saying he had been insulted. Tate later won a British Comedy Award for Best British Comedy Actress for her work in the second series of The Catherine Tate Show. At the end of 2005, she appeared in the BBC television adaptation of Bleak House. Tate returned to the stage for the first time since working with the RSC, to play a role in the 2005 West End revival of Some Girl(s), alongside Sara Powell, Lesley Manville , Saffron Burrows and Friends star David Schwimmer . In an interview, Tate commented that she could not look Schwimmer in the eye during her time with him, leading to speculation that the pair did not get on.

Tate immediately denied the rumours, explaining that she was joking about her attempts to act "cool" around Schwimmer, whom she described as "a very funny, personable man, and easy to get along with". 2006"07 The third series of The Catherine Tate Show aired in 2006, going on to win the National Television Award for most popular comedy as voted for by the public, and Tate's catchphrase "bovvered", used by her character Lauren Cooper, became so influential in popular culture that it was named Word of the Year and was even poised to enter the Oxford English Dictionary. Tate also played the role of Donna Noble in Doctor Who , a woman in a wedding dress who suddenly appears in the TARDIS at the end of the episode "Doomsday". The following episode, the Christmas special entitled "The Runaway Bride", saw Tate's character in a major role, where she was temporarily the Doctor's companion. On her appearance in the series, Tate commented "I'm honoured and delighted to be joining David Tennant aboard the TARDIS.

I was holding out for a summer season at Wigan rep but as a summer job, this'll do." Tate had roles in three films in 2006, these included, Starter for 10, Sixty Six, and Scenes of a Sexual Nature . She later appeared in the films Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution, in which she played the title character, and Love and Other Disasters. In the 2007 television adaptation of the novel, The Bad Mother's Handbook, she played the lead role and co-starred with Anne Reid. On 16 March 2007, Tate appeared for a second time on Comic Relief as some of her well-known characters from The Catherine Tate Show. She acted in sketches with David Tennant , Daniel Craig , Lenny Henry and the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, who used the show's famous catchphrase, "Am I bovvered?" Tate also appeared as Joannie "Nan" Taylor in an episode of Deal or No Deal, hosted by Noel Edmonds. Tate became a Patron of the performing arts group Theatretrain.

Late 2007"present Despite speculation that the third series of The Catherine Tate Show would be the last, Tate and the BBC have not ruled out further episodes. She later filmed a one-off special episode which aired on Christmas Day 2007. The episode was subject to criticism when 42 viewers complained about the amount of swearing, and accused Tate of bigotry over the depiction of a family from Northern Ireland as terrorists, whose Christmas presents included a balaclava and a pair of knuckle dusters, in reference to the Troubles. After the complaints were made, an Ofcom report later concluded that the show was not offensive and did not violate broadcasting regulations. An extract from the Ofcom report read "Overall this episode was typical of the Catherine Tate Show and would not have gone beyond the expectations of its usual audience. For those not familiar with the show, the information given at the start was adequate." She has also been nominated for four BAFTA Awards for her work on The Catherine Tate Show to date, including Best Comedy Performance.

Tate returned to Doctor Who in 2008 to reprise the role of Donna Noble as the Doctor's companion throughout the fourth series, which was shown on BBC One starting on 5 April for a 13-week run. Producer Russell T Davies said, "We are delighted that one of Britain's greatest talents has agreed to join us for the fourth series." Tate added, "I am delighted to be returning to Doctor Who. I had a blast last Christmas and look forward to travelling again through time and space with that nice man from Gallifrey." At the TV Quick Awards 2008, Tate was voted best actress for her role in Doctor Who. She returned as Donna Noble in the two-part Doctor Who Christmas special "The End of Time" which was broadcast over Christmas 2009. In 2008, she starred as Michelle, a 38-year-old promiscuous maths teacher, in David Eldridge's Under The Blue Sky at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, alongside Francesca Annis and Nigel Lindsay. Tate injured her ankle in rehearsal on 15 July. She tackled previews with the aid of a crutch.

On 11 April 2009, 26 December 2009 and 30 January 2010, Tate with David Tennant guest hosted Jonathan Ross' BBC Radio 2 show. In 2009 she created a one off special spin off to her long running TV sketch show. Although this time the show only starred 'Nan'. In the show, Nan played Scrooge, and was visited by 3 ghosts, one of whom was played by David Tennant. The show was a one off Christmas special. In 2010, Tate took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March. Tate took part in a series of short comedy films called 'Little Crackers'. Tate appeared as Queen Isabelle of Lilliput in the 2010 film adaptation of Gulliver's Travels. On 18 March 2011, the video for Take That's new single "Happy Now" was debuted on Comic Relief.

The video shows comedians Catherine Tate, Alan Carr, James Corden, John Bishop and David Walliams audition to become Take That's ultimate tribute band, Fake That. Filming took place at Ealing Studios on 17 February 2011. Tate appeared alongside former co-star David Tennant in the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing at London's Wyndham's Theatre from 16 May to September 2011. For her performance " as Beatrice " Catherine won the BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play. In the seventh season finale of The Office , which aired on 19 May 2011, Tate guest starred as Nellie Bertram, a potential replacement for the departing Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell ). On Saturday 17 December 2011, Tate presented the second episode of Channel 4's Laughing at the... series " entitled "Catherine Tate: Laughing at the Noughties" " in which she met Alan Carr, David Walliams, Noel Fielding, Rob Brydon and (her Doctor Who co-star) David Tennant to discuss the comedy highlights of the 2000s.

In January 2012, Tate returned to The Office for its eighth season. She reprised her role as Nellie, who was hired as a "misguided special projects manager". She returned as Nellie for the ninth and final season. She starred alongside David Walliams and Philip Glenister in BBC One's situation comedy Big School in 2013. Personal life Tate's former partner is stage manager Twig Clark. They have a daughter, Erin (born at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in January 2003), delivered following an emergency caesarean section. The family had a home in Richmond-upon-Thames, London. The family had both a cat and a dog, the latter of which was given to her by Jonathan Ross. Tate and Clark split before summer 2011. Tate is the patron for the Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust, supporting the charity since August 2006. In 2011 she took part in the charity's 2011 Charity Calendar Tate suffered from post-natal depression, from which she only recovered after the filming of the second series of The Catherine Tate Show. She also suffers from occasional panic attacks.

Regarding her personal outlook, Tate has said "I'm an incredibly negative person, so any form of success is only ever going to be a relief to me and set my default position back to neutral." Awards and nominations All for her work on The Catherine Tate Show unless otherwise stated: Awards 2004: British Comedy Award " Best Comedy Newcomer 2006: RTS Television Award " Best Comedy Performance 2006: British Comedy Award " Best TV Comedy Actress 2007: National Television Awards " Most Popular Comedy Programme 2008: TV Quick Award " Best Actress in a Drama Series (for Doctor Who) 2009: Constellation Awards "Best Female Performance in a Science Fiction Television Episode Nominations 2004: British Comedy Award " Best TV Comedy Actress 2005: British Comedy Award " Best TV Comedy Actress 2005: British Comedy Award " People's Choice Award (polled most votes but award not received) 2005: International Emmy " Best Performance by an Actress 2005: BAFTA TV Award " Best New Writer 2005: BAFTA TV Award " Comedy Programme or Series Award 200

6: BAFTA TV Award " Best Comedy Performance 2007: BAFTA TV Award " Best Comedy Programme 2008: Nickelodeon's UK Kids Choice Awards 2008 " Funniest Person 2008: Nickelodeon's UK Kids Choice Awards 2008 " Best TV Actress (for Doctor Who) 2008: National Television Award " Outstanding Drama Performance (for Doctor Who) 2011: BAFTA TV Award " Catherine Tate's Little Cracker Filmography Catherine Tate - iSnare Free Encyclopedia Catherine Tate Children 1 Catherine Tate (born Catherine Ford; 12 May 1968) is an English comedian, actress, and writer.

She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and seven BAFTA Awards . Following the success of The Catherine Tate Show, Tate played Donna Noble in the 2006 Christmas special of Doctor Who and later reprised her role, becoming the Tenth Doctor 's companion for the fourth series in 2008. [1] In 2011, she began a recurring role as Nellie Bertram in the U.S. version of The Office and was a regular until the series ended. [2] Contents 7 External links Early life Tate was born Catherine Ford on 12 May 1968 [3] in Bloomsbury , where she was raised in the Brunswick Centre . Her mother, Josephine, was a florist. [4] Tate has said that the character of Margaret in The Catherine Tate Show, who shrieks at the slightest of disturbances, is based largely on her mother. [3] Tate never knew her father as he left very early on in her life [3] and, consequently, she was brought up in a female-dominated environment, being cared for by her mother, grandmother, and godparents.

[4] As a child, Tate suffered from OCD and was obsessed with word association. For example, she was not able to leave a jumper on the floor because it might have brought misfortune to her mother, whose name began with the letter "J" like "jumper". [3] Tate attended St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School in Holborn , and Notre Dame High School , a convent secondary school for girls in Southwark . [3] By the time she was a teenager, she knew she wanted a professional acting career; following the abolition of the sixth form at her secondary school, she was sent to a boys' Roman Catholic school, Salesian College in Battersea , at the age of 16 as it had the necessary facilities for drama. [4] She left school without sitting her A levels . [5] She then tried for four years to get a place in the Central School of Speech and Drama , succeeding on her fourth attempt. [5] She studied there for three years. [4] [5] Prior to getting a place there, Tate went to the Sylvia Young Theatre School , but left after a week, later stating, "Even at that age, I realised I wasn't Bonnie Langford .

It was very competitive." [6] She was also a member of the National Youth Theatre . Career Tate in 2006 Beginnings Tate began her television acting career with roles in serial dramas such as The Bill [5] and London's Burning . [4] Tate started stand-up comedy in 1996, [7] and has appeared in comedy series such as The Harry Hill Show , Barking , and That Peter Kay Thing . [8] She played the part of Kate in the unaired pilot episode of sitcom Not Going Out . [9] In 1998, she wrote and starred in Barking , a late night sketch show broadcast on Channel 4 and featuring a host of, back then, unknown stars such as David Walliams , Peter Kay and Mackenzie Crook . Soon after, she became involved with Lee Mack 's Perrier Comedy Award -nominated New Bits show at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2000. [8] In 2001, she returned to the festival with her own sell-out one-woman show, [7] which was followed by roles in Big Train , [6] Attention Scum and TVGoHome .

[8] After being spotted at Edinburgh, she was given the role of Angela in the comedy, Wild West , with Dawn French , [8] who commented "Catherine Tate is far too talented and she must be destroyed." [6] Tate has also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company , [6] and at the National Theatre . [5] She acted the role of Smeraldina in a 2000 RSC production of A Servant to Two Masters , and another role in The Way of the World at the National Theatre. [10] 2004–08 Tate was approached at a post-show party at the Edinburgh Festival by then-BBC controller of comedy Geoffrey Perkins , who encouraged Tate to develop her character ideas, especially to push the boundaries with teenager Lauren Cooper . Undertaking Perkins' advice, after a live show Tate found the audience walking out of the show repeating the character's catchphrase Am I bovvered? [11] Produced by Perkins at Tiger Aspect , Tate was given her own programme on BBC Two in 2004, which she co-wrote and starred in with Derren Litten , entitled The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three series.

[8] Two of the show's well-known characters are teenager Lauren Cooper and Joannie "Nan" Taylor , the cockney grandmother. [6] Tate's inspiration for the cockney grandmother came from visits to old people's homes when she was at drama college. [6] Tate won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Newcomer for her work on the first series of The Catherine Tate Show, [12] and with the first series becoming a success, in March 2005, Tate made a guest appearance during the BBC 's Comic Relief as the character of Lauren from The Catherine Tate Show, alongside boy-band McFly , which gained her further exposure. [7] In November 2005, Tate appeared in another charity sketch as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon. The segment was a crossover between EastEnders and The Catherine Tate Show, featuring Eastenders characters Peggy Mitchell , Little Mo Mitchell and Stacey Slater , whilst Tate appeared as Lauren. [13] Also at that time, she was a guest star at the 77th Royal Variety Performance and appeared again in the guise of Lauren Cooper.

During the sketch, Tate looked up at the Royal Box and asked The Queen , "Is one bovvered? Is one's face bovvered?". [14] During the sketch, co-star Niky Wardley (in character as Liese) remarked: "That old man sitting next to her has fallen asleep." Prince Philip then reportedly complained to the show's executive producer, saying he had been insulted. [3] Tate later won a British Comedy Award for Best British Comedy Actress for her work in the second series of The Catherine Tate Show. [15] At the end of 2005, she appeared in the BBC television adaptation of Bleak House . [16] Tate returned to the stage for the first time since working with the RSC , In an interview, Tate commented that she could not look Schwimmer in the eye during her time with him, leading to speculation that the pair did not get on. [5] Tate immediately denied the rumours, explaining that she was joking about her attempts to act "cool" around Schwimmer, whom she described as "a very funny, personable man, and easy to get along with".

[19] The third series of The Catherine Tate Show aired in 2006, going on to win the National Television Award for most popular comedy as voted for by the public, [20] and Tate's catchphrase "bovvered", used by her character Lauren Cooper, became so influential in popular culture that it was named Word of the Year and was even poised to enter the Oxford English Dictionary . [21] Tate also played the role of Donna Noble in Doctor Who , a woman in a wedding dress who suddenly appears in the TARDIS at the end of the episode " Doomsday ". [22] The following episode, the Christmas special entitled " The Runaway Bride ", saw Tate's character in a major role, where she was temporarily the Doctor's companion. [22] On her appearance in the series, Tate commented "I'm honoured and delighted to be joining David Tennant aboard the TARDIS.

I was holding out for a summer season at Wigan rep but as a summer job, this'll do." [23] Tate had roles in three films in 2006, these included, Starter for 10 , Sixty Six , [17] and Scenes of a Sexual Nature . [3] She later appeared in the films Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution , in which she played the title character, [17] and Love and Other Disasters . [24] In the 2007 television adaptation of the novel, The Bad Mother's Handbook , she played the lead role and co-starred with Anne Reid . [25] On 16 March 2007, Tate appeared for a second time on Comic Relief as some of her well-known characters from The Catherine Tate Show. She acted in sketches with David Tennant , Daniel Craig , Lenny Henry and the then Prime Minister Tony Blair , who used the show's famous catchphrase, "Am I bovvered?" [26] Tate also appeared as Joannie "Nan" Taylor in an episode of Deal or No Deal , hosted by Noel Edmonds . [27] Tate became a Patron of the performing arts group Theatretrain .

[28] Despite speculation that the third series of The Catherine Tate Show would be the last, Tate and the BBC have not ruled out further episodes. [17] She later filmed a one-off special episode which aired on Christmas Day 2007. [29] The episode was subject to criticism when 42 viewers complained about the amount of swearing , and accused Tate of bigotry over the depiction of a family from Northern Ireland as terrorists, whose Christmas presents included a balaclava and a pair of knuckle dusters , in reference to the Troubles . [30] After the complaints were made, an Ofcom report later concluded that the show was not offensive and did not violate broadcasting regulations. [31] [32] An extract from the Ofcom report read "Overall this episode was typical of the Catherine Tate Show and would not have gone beyond the expectations of its usual audience. For those not familiar with the show, the information given at the start was adequate." [33] She has also been nominated for four BAFTA Awards for her work on The Catherine Tate Show to date, including Best Comedy Performance.

[34] Tate returned to Doctor Who in 2008 to reprise the role of Donna Noble as the Doctor's companion throughout the fourth series , which was shown on BBC One starting on 5 April for a 13-week run. [35] Producer Russell T Davies said, "We are delighted that one of Britain's greatest talents has agreed to join us for the fourth series." Tate added, "I am delighted to be returning to Doctor Who. I had a blast last Christmas and look forward to travelling again through time and space with that nice man from Gallifrey ." [1] At the TV Quick Awards 2008, Tate was voted best actress for her role in Doctor Who. [36] She returned as Donna Noble in the two-part Doctor Who Christmas special " The End of Time " which was broadcast over Christmas 2009. [37] [38] In 2008 Tate starred as Michelle, a promiscuous mathematics teacher, in David Eldridge 's Under The Blue Sky at the Duke of York's Theatre , London, alongside Francesca Annis and Nigel Lindsay . Tate injured her ankle in rehearsal on 15 July.

She performed preview shows with the aid of a crutch. On 11 April 2009, 26 December 2009 and 30 January 2010, Tate and David Tennant guest hosted Jonathan Ross ' BBC Radio 2 show. In 2009 she created a one off special spin off to her long running TV sketch show. Although this time the show only starred 'Nan'. In the show, Nan played Scrooge, and was visited by 3 ghosts, one of whom was played by David Tennant. The show was a one off Christmas special. 2010–present In 2010, Tate took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala , a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital , filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March. Tate took part in a series of short comedy films called 'Little Crackers'. [39] Tate appeared as Queen Isabelle of Lilliput in the 2010 film adaptation of Gulliver's Travels .

On 18 March 2011, the video for Take That 's new single " Happy Now " was debuted on Comic Relief . The video shows comedians Catherine Tate, Alan Carr , James Corden , John Bishop and David Walliams audition to become Take That's ultimate tribute band, Fake That. Filming took place at Ealing Studios on 17 February 2011. [40] ' Tate appeared alongside former co-star David Tennant in the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing at London's Wyndham's Theatre from 16 May to September 2011. [41] For her performance – as Beatrice – Catherine won the BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play. [42] In the seventh-season finale of The Office , which aired on 19 May 2011, Tate guest starred as Nellie Bertram , a potential replacement for the departing Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell ). [43] [44] On Saturday 17 December 2011, Tate presented the second episode of Channel 4 's Laughing at the...

series – entitled "Catherine Tate: Laughing at the Noughties" – in which she met Alan Carr , David Walliams , Noel Fielding , Rob Brydon and (her Doctor Who co-star) David Tennant to discuss the comedy highlights of the 2000s. [45] In January 2012, Tate returned to The Office for its eighth season . She reprised her role as Nellie, who was hired as a "misguided special projects manager". She returned as Nellie for the ninth and final season . [46] She starred alongside David Walliams and Philip Glenister in BBC One 's situation comedy Big School in 2013. [47] In November 2014 she was a guest on BBC One 's The Graham Norton Show in which she revealed that her first stage appearance had been performing an impression of Gary Glitter in her school nativity play. [48] For Comic Relief 2015, Tate appeared as a nun in a sketch alongside with David Walliams as Lou Todd and Stephen Hawking in the Andy Pipkin role.

[49] Two further episodes of Catherine Tate's Nan aired in December 2015 on BBC One . In January 2016, Tate played the role of Sapphire in the one-off comedy show Billionaire Boy , written by David Walliams . She appeared in Bruce's Hall of Fame with Alexander Armstrong the following day. In 2016, Tate appeared in the new musical comedy Miss Atomic Bomb at the St. James Theatre . [50] The show ran from 7 March to 9 April. [51] It received poor reviews, including a one star review from The Stage . [52] In late 2016, Tate began touring British theatres in The Catherine Tate Show Live, guest-starring Mathew Horne and Niky Wardley . Tate's characters Nan, Nurse Bernie, Geordie Georgie, Sam and Paul and Lauren all featured in the show, linked by videos starring Nick Grimshaw and other celebrities interacting with the characters. [53] Personal life Tate's former partner is stage manager Twig Clark.

They have a daughter named Erin, [54] who was born at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in January 2003 and was delivered following an emergency C-section . [3] The family had a home in Richmond, London . They had a cat and a dog, the latter of which was given to her by Jonathan Ross . Tate and Clark split some time before summer 2011.[ citation needed ] Tate is the patron for the Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust , supporting the charity since August 2006. In 2011 she took part in the charity's 2011 Charity Calendar [55] Tate also speaks fluent French. [56] Tate suffered from post-natal depression , [4] from which she only recovered after the filming of the second series of The Catherine Tate Show . [3] She also suffers from occasional panic attacks .

[3] Regarding her personal outlook, Tate has said, "I'm an incredibly negative person, so any form of success is only ever going to be a relief to me and set my default position back to neutral." [4] Awards and nominations All for her work on The Catherine Tate Show unless otherwise stated: Awards BBC - Big School - interview with Catherine Tate - Media Centre New comedy for BBC One starring David Walliams, Catherine Tate and Philip Glenister Interview with Catherine Tate Category: BBC One ; Entertainment Can you tell us about the show and your character? The show is called Big School. It’s about a secondary school, focusing mainly on the teachers, of which I’m one of them – a French teacher. She thinks she’s going to come into this school and certainly her methods of teaching are going to blow everyone away. It’s kind of just saying English words with a French accent hoping the kids are going to get interested. She’s trying to get people to translate pop groups that they like for example, I think it was actually quite clever of her to get a picture of one of the guys from Black Eyed Peas and call him Will.je.suis, which is an absolutely literal translation of Will.i.am.

And then another one is Plan “B” (in French accent) which still they don’t understand. Your character proves to be very popular with both Mr Church (David Walliams) and Mr Gunn (Philip Glenister). What is it like playing between those two quite different characters? I don’t think she’s particularly interested in Mr Gunn but she sees a kind of sweetness to Mr Church that’s appealing. They’ve got very different ways of wooing or “seducting” as Mr Gunn says - he’s pretty old school, he’s pretty 1970s. Whereas David’s character is 19th century more, he’s very respectful but he always gets in his own way. He very much means well but it can often trip him up. So he’ll end up offending me more than anything, and so will Phil’s character but in a different way. He’s just plain wrong. What has it been like working with the kids and having them on set? It’s great. We’re really lucky to have been working with all the kids, because it’s hard to make a show in a school if you’ve only got four kids knocking about.

The school we actually filmed in, the kids gave up their school holidays to come and be extras in the show which was amazing. You’d struggle to people that amount of background if they hadn’t given up their time to come and do it. They were in their own school so they were familiar with it which makes such a difference. They made a huge addition which was great. Do you have a favourite episode you’re particularly looking forward to filming or watching? No. Like a mother who birthed all these episodes I have no favourite. There is a sense of comic isolation to the characters. Is there a sense that as it’s such a universal subject? It is of the genre that most people have been to school… There’s a gag throughout the whole show where I always call David’s character by his first name and he always says “not in front of the children” because it is that thing. It is somehow strangely naughty, it’s like a real secret if you find out what the teachers real names are, because they’re never names to you - they’re Miss This or Mr That. Hopefully there’ll be elements of it that people remember.

At one point David’s running around the playing field in his pants though, so I hope people didn’t have to see that from their chemistry teacher. There’s a similarity between Miss Postern and Mr Church. They seem like they’re quite engaged and there for the kids in a way that the rest of the teachers don’t seem to be? I think that Mr Church and Miss Postern are kindred spirits in that they do put the children first and they do take their teaching seriously. They do want to make a difference whereas you do get the feeling that Miss Barron needs to get home and watch Cash In The Attic soon, or something of greater importance than the children’s education. So yes they are kindred spirits. They’re quite suited to each other in some ways that you think well who else is going to have you. It’s quite sweet. So there’s a bit of a ‘will they won’t they?’ throughout the series? The seed is planted at the beginning for Mr Church. He’s quite taken with her and of course she’s quite flattered that someone could go to such lengths. It’s nice that throughout the series he makes quite grand gestures that of course all fall completely flat on their face. But everyone likes a grand gesture.

For one of his grand gestures he decides to come to France right at the last second so has nothing, not even a change of pants, which isn’t great seeing as she’s sitting next to him on the way back home from France… "Big School" Episode #1.1 (TV Episode 2013) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Tired of facing apathetic teenagers daily, meek chemistry teacher Keith Church decides to resign from Greybridge Secondary School but changes his mind when comely Sarah Postern arrives to ... See full summary » Director: a list of 10000 titles created 07 Nov 2012 a list of 284 titles created 10 Dec 2012 Search for " Episode #1.1 " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Title: Episode #1.1 (16 Aug 2013) 6.8/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Add Image Add an image Do you have any images for this title? Edit Storyline Tired of facing apathetic teenagers daily, meek chemistry teacher Keith Church decides to resign from Greybridge Secondary School but changes his mind when comely Sarah Postern arrives to replace the recently deceased French teacher. However games teacher Trevor Gunn is equally smitten, as is gay drama mistress Janine Klebb, whilst lab assistant Pat has the hots for Keith. Keith offers Sarah a lift home but when the car stalls he and Trevor almost come to blows. Meanwhile music teacher Mr Martin wants to replace Mozart on the syllabus with the Kaiser Chiefs, Welsh geography teacher Mr Barber finds himself the subject of toilet graffiti and the abrasive head Ms. Baron augments her drinks cabinet with alcohol confiscated from the pupils. Written by don @ minifie-1 16 August 2013 (UK) See more » Company Credits (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews This was actually quite an amusing comedy but quite gentle. The teachers all seem to be over 40 apart from one. And they are quite out of touch with the pupils they teach.

The pupils are presented as streetwise and ignorant of their studies but maybe this hints at their disconnection with each other. I do wonder how a 15 year old girl is called Beyonce the real Beyonce hasn't been around long enough.. yet. With David Walliams, Catherine Tate, Frances de la Tour and Philip Glenister the show is not short of recognisable actors and there were some funny moments. Look forward to seeing how this series grows. 1 of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Question: What subject does Catherine Tate’s character teach in ‘Big School’?
Answer: FRENCH