More than 40 million households have watched Sex Education.
Much of its success comes down to how it has rewritten the rules of on-screen teenage sex. So what exactly makes it so groundbreaking? And how is TV changing to catch up with today’s teenagers? thetimes.co.uk/article/the-se…
Much of its success comes down to how it has rewritten the rules of on-screen teenage sex. So what exactly makes it so groundbreaking? And how is TV changing to catch up with today’s teenagers? thetimes.co.uk/article/the-se…
Nothing is too much for Sex Education, so long as it’s a teenage problem. A board with “sex story of the week” is set up in the writers’ room, the show’s creator, Laurie Nunn, explains.
Writers are encouraged to chuck in any idea they think is a genuine bedroom issue for teens.
Writers are encouraged to chuck in any idea they think is a genuine bedroom issue for teens.
Professional “sex educators” are consulted to make sure the show gets the message right. Wildly misunderstood problems are debunked. Porn is always in the background.
“It’s there in the subtext, as in ‘these are the things that porn is not teaching you well’,” says Nunn.
“It’s there in the subtext, as in ‘these are the things that porn is not teaching you well’,” says Nunn.
If that sounds a world away from how sex education is taught in school, that’s because it is. Nunn created the series, in part, to address this.
“My experience of sex education was basically: ‘Don’t get pregnant, don’t get an STI, here’s how you put a condom on.’”
“My experience of sex education was basically: ‘Don’t get pregnant, don’t get an STI, here’s how you put a condom on.’”
“There was a real feeling of, if you’re going to be stupid enough to have sex, these are the things you should avoid . . . It’s inevitable that 16 and 17-year-olds are going to be engaging in this, so I think, ‘Let’s give them the best tools to have positive experiences.’”
Of course, Skins, The Inbetweeners, Superbad, American Pie and the like have trodden the ground of teenage sex before.
The difference is that Moordale’s pupils are post-#MeToo teenagers who came of age on the internet.
The difference is that Moordale’s pupils are post-#MeToo teenagers who came of age on the internet.
Consent and female pleasure are things that are actually spoken about. Pansexuality and gender fluidity actually exist.
And Skins’s teenagers were cool — they didn’t have a lot of bad sex. Which is the bread and butter of Sex Education: its sex isn’t exactly sexy.
And Skins’s teenagers were cool — they didn’t have a lot of bad sex. Which is the bread and butter of Sex Education: its sex isn’t exactly sexy.
“I think it’s important for teenage shows to look at sex in a way that is honest and human,” Nunn says.
“Growing up I always looked to young adult content to see my own issues reflected, but I think those shows accentuated that I felt like an outsider.”
“Growing up I always looked to young adult content to see my own issues reflected, but I think those shows accentuated that I felt like an outsider.”
Of all its predecessors, it was Lena Dunham’s Girls that first turned the dial, introducing to the small screen depictions of sex and nudity that were honest, inclusive and frank.
Former Girls actress Jemima Kirke will be appearing in the new series of Sex Education as Moordale Secondary’s new head teacher.
“It’s an amazing show,” she tells @PINsykes. thetimes.co.uk/article/meet-s…
“It’s an amazing show,” she tells @PINsykes. thetimes.co.uk/article/meet-s…
Read the full interview with Sex Education’s creator, Laurie Nunn thetimes.co.uk/article/the-se…
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