Chalk (TV series)

Chalk
Opening title. A crane shot descends outside of Galfast High.
Written by	Steven Moffat
Directed by	Juliet May
Starring	David Bamber Nicola Walker
Theme music composer	Howard Goodall
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Kevin Lygo
Producer	Andre Ptaszynski
Editor	Richard Halladay
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	20 February (1997-02-20) – 22 October 1997 (1997-10-22)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Chalk is a British television sitcom set in a comprehensive school named Galfast High. Two series, both written by Steven Moffat, were broadcast on BBC1 in 1997. Like Moffat's earlier sitcom Joking Apart, Chalk was produced by Andre Ptaszynski for Pola Jones.

The series focuses upon deputy headteacher Eric Slatt (David Bamber), permanently stressed over the chaos he creates both by himself and some of his eccentric staff. His wife Janet (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and new English teacher Suzy Travis (Nicola Walker) attempt to help him solve the problems.

Because of the very good reaction of the studio audience, a second series was commissioned before the first had been broadcast. However, journalists were critical of the show, highlighting stylistic similarities to Fawlty Towers. Some members of the teaching profession and its unions objected to the negative representation of teachers and the comprehensive system. The second series did not receive a stable broadcast slot, with many episodes aired after 10pm. The first series was released on DVD in December 2008.^[1]