The Music Teacher
Series One
Episode One
Music tutor Nigel Penny hates his job where he has to deal with his useless students who include a seven year old who is too small for her cello. This is also alongside dealing with the potential horror of having to perform in a concert which has been organised by landlord Belinda for which three hundred tickets have been sold. What's worse, his crippling stage fright is at the forefront of his mind.
Episode Two
Belinda is putting the rent price of the cupboard which makes up his music teaching room up, all the while Nigel struggles to get his students to pay. A fire alarm drill is also being run has him smashing up his pupils ghetto blaster when it gets stuck playing Baker Street, and him paying out compensation. Trying to up his lesson fees, his day of earning proves to be a bust.
Episode Three
A trombone lesson has Nigel teaching a child with arms too short while also stuggling along with a radiator stuck on. With the plumber turning up and attempting to fix the radiator, he has to cope with an asthmatic flute player and Belinda wanting to use his room as a temporary storage unit for booze. When a pupil fails to turn up, the plumber regales him with his dreams of being a musician before getting severely drunk.
Episode Four
Tasked by Belinda to produce a jingle for the arts centre, Nigel struggles to produce as he is bothered by two pupils who have taken to making their own musical instruments. Continuing to hope that the jingle will be his way out of the cupboard, he is approached with another way out - which turns out to be a singing dog whose owner believes is pitch perfect to her untrained ears.
Episode Five
Nigel is invited by attractive and talented pupil Martha to perform with her, though the thought of performing in front of people has him continuing to feel sick. Belinda has also forgotten to sent off his CRB check form, restricting his ability to teach children as the centre prepares to put on a performance. Things get worse when he is accused of being a danger to children and his chance with Martha disappears.
Episode Six
The finances at the arts centre have become stretched and the venue is threatened with closure leading Belinda to set about getting local support to ensure it stays open. Nigel meanwhile has to contend with a tone deaf priest, a highly-strung harpist, and a flatulent tuba player as well as an OFSTED inspection whose results are weighing heavily as Belinda demands Nigel sing a protest song live on television.
Series Two
Episode One
Nigel is in therapy in an attempt to get over his stage fright, when the opportunity comes up to perform alongside former pupil and now famous jazz pianist Damian Barrowman for a radio documentary. Meanwhile, he has to cope with talentless pupil Betty whose issue is a lack of practice after her dad has sold the piano, and a dog which has swallowed his harmonica.
Episode Two
Student Heather arrives and promptly breaks her third double bass attempting to get it into Nigel's room. Belinda meanwhile decides on making money scheme for the arts centre by having Nigel play soothing womb music to pregnant women. When a young pupil losses his tooth in a trombone, Nigel's attempts to remove it by blowing into the instrument ends up scaring a pregnant woman into labour.
Episode Three
Pupil Steve is progressing through the instruments in an attempt to find one he can play, as Nigel receives a visit two local parishioners who are preparing for a church concert. Nigel meanwhile is also recovering from being attacked by local youths and receives the surprise news from Belinda that as part of their community reconciliation, they will be attending the arts centre.
Episode Four
Nigel has signed up for a dating website at a steep £150 cost though struggles to make his phone calls which have been prearranged as students continue to come and go, while cleaner Varinka insists on interrupting them. Obese box office employee Dave is also completing five marathons back-to-back, with Belinda insisting that Nigel perform Chariots of Fire for him as he crosses the finish line.
Episode Five
Eric, a pupil from Nuneaton who pretends to be American arrives for his banjo lesson which proves to be excruciating, while Belinda hopes to have a date with Jonathan who performs in a tribute to Simon and Garfunkel. Her plot to have Nigel perform as Art Garfunkel and accept half the loss on the concert after failing to sell any tickets also goes down badly, particularly when Jonathan reveals it is a drag act.
Episode Six
A pushy parent is hoping to get her daughter to pass her musical exam in exchange for a generous donation. Belinda's niece turns up at the arts centre for work experience with Nigel, who begins to hear a piano being tuned next door which Belinda reveals is part of the centre refurbishment. He also discovers that he will face some musical competition with another teacher being taken on.
Series Three
Episode One
Nigel receives a phone call with the news a great aunt has died and left him ten thousand pounds as inheritence. A number of bad sessions has him persuaded to quit after seeing out the day. Belinda however has plans for him until he reveals that he is leaving while final pupil Sandra and her lesson prove to be a huge success, while the days mishaps end up incurring him his newfound wealth.
Episode Two
Pupil Yvonne is learning to play the piano, but has a phobia of the colour black and is unable to play the black keys while Belinda queries the new status of the arts centre becoming a registered wedding venue. The preparation for his first musical performance at a wedding proves difficult when the singer blames his piano for being out of pitch, while also getting into an altercation with the groom.
Episode Three
After a lesson which goes terribly, Nigel is tasked with coming up with a song for Letchington Athletic football team as they compete in the cup, Nigel has also taken to trying to sell five hundred pink Garfield music satchels of questionable quality. Belinda takes to giving them away instead for charity, and finds that his song is rejected by the team who instead decide to go it alone.
Episode Four
Pupil Harvey arrives keen to show off his new wah-wah pedal as the threat of cold weather in the night arrives. Belinda also arrives with news that they are bolstering security in the arts centre and insist they keep in touch by walkie-talkie. The situation threatens Nigel's usual sleeping arrangements resulting in him having to enquire about a homeless shelter as Belinda sets up motion sensors in the building.
Episode Five
The weather is foul which leaves Nigel with a leak from the skylight in his room, while he tries to organise online music lessons including from a Portuguese man who speaks no English. The arts centre is also busy as the council is housing flood victims in the building, while the flood into Nigel's room gets worse, as he also discovers the Portuguese man had ulterior motives for arranging his lesson.
Episode Six
Nigel's pupils have taken to leaving their instruments in his room as he also struggles with a hangover from the night before. Belinda soon arrives to clear the air over the night they spent together, though she does make a proposition of him becoming a father. Leaving him with a decision to make, Nigel has to consider whether he wants to become a dad as Belinda increases the pressure on him to make a decision.