2023 Showcase: Nero's Class

The Audio Verse Awards Nominee Showcase Podcast

Hi, this is Bobby Aherne. I’m the writer and producer of ‘Nero’s Class’. ‘Nero’s Class’ is almost like a satire of the “inspiring teacher” genre of old movies like ‘Conrack’ and ‘Ciao Professore!’ and movies like that… ‘Up the Down Staircase’. While also being a children’s adventure series in the vein of ‘Gravity Falls’, ‘Around the Twist’, and ‘The Three Investigators’, ‘Over the Garden Wall, ‘Eerie, Indiana’… things like that. Then things on, y’know, Cartoon Swim and Adult… Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. The first series came out last autumn. There were six episodes, and the episode you’re about to hear is episode three, which is entitled ‘History 101’. In the first couple of episodes, Professor Nero… he’s like a fuddy-duddy Mainlander, and he arrives over to Mrunglody, which is a weird mythical island. And there’s three… there’s only three children on the island and they’re 12, 9 and 6. And he has to teach them, even though they’ve never been to school before and they don’t know anything about Mainlander ways and stuff like that. And rather than them having to adjust to HIS world, he finds himself having to adjust to THEIR world. So in the first couple of episodes, it turns out that the treehouse that he’s teaching them in has magical powers like the gift of flight, and can take them on these magical school tours across the world. And he gets very frustrated, because all he wants to do is teach his curriculum and teach his class. Yet they end up going on all these different adventures, which obviously the kids love. This is the third episode and, as well as Hugh Cooney (who plays Professor Nero) and our three amazing child actors (Penny O’Dwyer, Elsie Akinduko and Rian Sheridan), this episode also features a cameo from John Hodgman… which is very exciting. Please enjoy and thank you for listening!

Transcript can be found at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BlT4jSBS2PtD72PlwHVUAmAM59RvD66t/view?usp=sharing

https://www.rte.ie/kids/2022/1003/1326877-neros-class-rtejr-radio/

Socials: https://instagram.com/nerosclass