Layton Williams says Bad Education reunion was "bittersweet"
Williams's character Stephen is set to take the lead alongside Charlie Wernham's Mitchell in next year's new season of the school comedy.
Jack Whitehall's school comedy series Bad Education is back, celebrating its 10th anniversary with a reunion special seven years after the characters were last seen on screen in The Bad Education Movie.
However, the special won't just be a one-off - next year will see a brand new fourth season of the show airing, with Whitehall's character Alfie Wickers leaving and former students Stephen and Mitchell, played by Layton Williams and Charlie Wernham respectively, stepping into the lead roles as new teachers at Abbey Grove.
Williams recently spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com about reuniting with his old castmates for the new special, calling it a "bittersweet" occasion.
Williams also said that it was the first time the cast has all been together since the film premiere, although they have kept up individually in "different spaces".
He explained: "My friend Nikki who plays Chantelle, she’s gone on to have children now, people are mothers - I think there's three of the core cast that are now parents, it's just really wild. Me and Kae, who plays Jing, went to Nikki's wedding a few years after wrap - we have stayed in touch and stayed close.
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"I see the other actors about killing it and I'm just their biggest cheerleader to be honest, because we went through so much. We’re like siblings, so to see them all doing well – Weruche [Opia, who played Cleo], killing it, posters all over Hollywood. It's really good to see."
Asked how it was reuniting with Whitehall for the special, Williams continued: "It was amazing because we'd actually been on set for a whole six, seven weeks before they came. We'd filmed our season and then the last week everybody came back for the reunion, so we got to end with the family together, the old and new. It was really special.
"The first time that Jack came back actually I got to relax a little bit, because I've been doing bam, bam, bam, busy, busy, busy, scenes, scenes, scenes. And then Jack came back and was running the show again, and it was just really nice to step back and see all of these years later he's still just as funny, just as hysterical, and kind of share that moment with him.
"It was bittersweet because I knew that maybe, I don't know whether the old cast and the new cast will ever be together again."
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The reunion episode will also see the return of characters such as Joe, played by Ethan Lawrence, Rem Dogg played by Jack Binstead and Mr Fraser played by Mathew Horne - although he is no longer the head teacher and will now be in a new role at the school, which Williams called "hilarious".
Bad Education: Reunion airs on Thursday 15th December at 9pm on BBC Three. Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide for more to watch.
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