australian television information archive

Sit Down, Shut Up

Produced by Red Heart Productions

Series created by: Brendan Reed & Tim McLoughlan
Executive Producer: Peter Herbert
Producers: Doug McLeod, Marc Gracie
Written by: Brendan Reed, Tim McLoughlan
Director: Marc Gracie

Aired: February 16 - June 28, 2001 (13 x 30 mins)

A series following the lives of eight teachers at Carpen Heights Secondary College as they face up to the modern school system with the required mixture of skill, devotion and occasionally voodoo. Inconvenienced by the students, and irritated by each other, the staff consistently place their own personal agendas and problems ahead of the educational needs of the students. They are, in fact, the faces of the modern educational system. Indeed, in keeping with contemporary educational policy, the students in Sit Down, Shut Up never speak and are rarely seen. They are a faceless mass, innocent victims, pawns in a bloody game of power. The focus of the series is the staffroom. It is here, behind the frosted glass, that we see the real personalities of the teachers. Out come the petty insecurities and prejudices, the complaints, the jealousies, the desires and the unrequited love.