Julie Walters walks into a failing school and refuses to let it die. Chaos ensues.
Drama based on real-life events. Marie Stubbs, a diminutive Glaswegian headmistress who is coming up to retirement age, takes on one last challenge: to improve the fortunes of St George's School in north west London which was facing closure after the notorious murder of its previous headmaster, Philip Lawrence, in 1995 as he was breaking up a fight between his pupils and those from a rival school.
Acting
Julie Walters dominates every frame with sheer force of will.
Writing
Balances real tragedy with stubborn hope without being saccharine.
Director
Adrian Shergold
Julie Walters
Marie Stubbs
Reece Dinsdale
Sean Devlin
Tony Slattery
Stuart Stiles
Michelle Fairley
Sonia Venning
Inday Ba
Trudy Gower
Anton Lesser
Graham Ranger
Hannah Yelland
Tracey O'Leary
Adrian Rawlins
Tony Mackersie
Katherine Parkinson
Vicky Foley
Bernard Holley
Bill Stubbs
Mercedes Grower
Alex Greer
Alan McKenna
Simon Linder
Kate Lonergan
Maxine Horley
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Philip Lawrence murder in 1995 shocked Britain and sparked debates about school violence and knife crime that continue today.
Marie Stubbs was 58 and three years from retirement when she took the job; she stayed just 18 months but the school improved dramatically.
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