Bad Education, Mandy and Avoidance future confirmed by BBC

Bad Education cast photo
Bad Education returns to the BBC. (Image credit: BBC)

Bad Education, Mandy, and Avoidance have all been renewed at the BBC, with the exciting news confirmed by the broadcaster.

There have been some exciting additions to the BBC's comedy slate as well as some fan-favourites getting recommissioned, so there's plenty for fans to look forward to over the coming months.

Announcing the return of these beloved shows, BBC Director of Comedy Jon Petrie said: “It’s no exaggeration to say that British Comedy is hugely important to television and the national cultural landscape. It is a public service and needed now more than ever. 

"Not only do audiences consume comedy in huge numbers - there were over 500 million requests on BBC iPlayer last year – but it has also acted as a vital talent pipeline to some of the UK’s most successful creatives."

BBC Three hit Bad Education is back for season 5, with fan favourites such as Mathew Horne returning for the latest instalment. Jack Whitehall is not involved, though, having stepped down from the series after season 3.

The synopsis for Bad Education season 5 teases: "Stephen (Layton Williams) and Mitchell (Charlie Wernham) continue their unique approaches to teaching whilst headteacher and control freak Ms. Hoburn (Vicki Pepperdine) forever looms large.

"Meanwhile, Mr. Fraser (Mathew Horne) continues to hang around the school kitchen, and the new class K of glamorous gossip Usma (Asha Hassan), wannabe roadman Inchez (Anthony J Abraham), himbo Harrison (Bobby Johnson), clueless slacktivist Jinx (Laura Marcus), eccentric Warren (Ali Hadji-Heshmati) and energetic hustler, Blessing (Francesca Amewudah-Rivers), all return."

Romesh Ranganathan in Avoidance

Avoidance will return for season 2. (Image credit: BBC)

Meanwhile, Romesh Ranganathan's Avoidance is back for season 2 and they have teased "If series one was about a break-up and rebuilding a broken home, series two is about falling in love, messy reconciliation and a baby."

Speaking about the renewal, Romesh and co-creator Benjamin Green said: "We are absolutely delighted to bring back the dysfunctional Nadar family and get our incredible cast back together. We feel we should warn fans of the show that unfortunately Romesh will be wearing a lot of Lycra in series two. Sorry."

Finally, Diane Morgan’s iconic character Mandy returns for a third six-part season and will once again be written and directed by her too.

In response to season 3, Diane said: "Bigger hair! Longer cigarettes! Mintier pig! Expect all this and more in the third epic season of Mandy. Now in 3D (where available) – you’ll believe you’re actually inside Mandy’s small back bedroom! Get your free goggles in the Radio Times."

We don't have confirmed release dates for any of the above yet, so we will have to wait patiently for more information.

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress