The first academic study dedicated to Please Sir!, a program that provides valuable insights into British society, television culture, education, and youth culture during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The situation comedy Please Sir! was televised from 1968 to 1972. This book explores its background, comedic style, cast of characters, its depictions of contemporary issues, and the impact of crises faced by its production company. It argues that Please Sir! reveals much about the social, cultural, and televisual era in which it was produced.

Gillian A.M. Mitchell is a senior lecturer in modern history at the University of St Andrews. She specializes in the history of postwar popular music and popular culture in Britain and North America.

List of figures
Acknowledgements

Introduction

1 ITV from 1955 to 1968 and the founding of London Weekend Television
2 Situation comedy in the 1960s and the commissioning of Please Sir!
3 The comedic style of Please Sir!
4 Please Sir! and the Secondary Modern
5 Please Sir! and the Sixties: gender and generation
6 Please Sir! and multiculturalism
7 Continuity and crisis: The end of Please Sir!
8 Educational realism, ‘greatness’ and the legacy of Please Sir!

Conclusion

Bibliography
Index