THE bright lights are beckoning for two Bridport teenagers who landed key parts in the hit TV show Teachers.

Jason Boyd, 15, a student at Sir John Colfox School and Ziggy Gray, 14, who attends Beaminster Comprehensive, are both pupils of the Stagecoach School of Drama at Dorchester.

Jason was invited to play a small part in a couple of episodes of Teachers early on.

But the producers liked him so much they wrote his character into the script as a regular. And in the new fourth series, now under way, he will be seen in all eight episodes.

Jason's big break hasn't come without some pain, though. In the show he plays Adam Grint, an overweight pupil with a vitamin deficiency whose hair is falling out.

"He has had to have his head shaved and a special body suit made to make him appear fatter," said proud mum Sarah.

She said neither she nor his dad Richard had pushed him into acting.

"He takes it in his stride and just enjoys it," she said. "His biggest passion is playing his bass guitar."

Also taking part in Teachers is Bridport girl Ziggy Gray, who is following in the footsteps of her actress mum Paula - a regular in the BBC TV show Casualty, where she plays a nurse.

Ziggy got the taste for acting when she started at the Bernard Gale School of Dance in Bridport at the age of three. She has a terrific voice and has sung at many venues, including the Royal Albert Hall.

But for Teachers Ziggy plays a chorister whose singing is sadly offkey.

"She was a bit disappointed when they told her she had to sing badly," said her mum. "She had to sound all flat and horrible."

Meanwhile Mrs Gray had to brush up her American accent for her latest part - as a TV reporter in the new Batman movie currently being filmed in London and the USA and starring Christian Bale.

Her previous roles have included a lengthy stint in EastEnders as a doctor's receptionist and parts in the films King Arthur and Victoria and Albert.

"I suppose Ziggy gets it from me," said Mrs Gray who lives with husband Ray at Bradpole.

Sam Fraser, who runs the Dorchester Stagecoach school, said of Jason and Ziggy: "They are very mature and talented children who appreciate the opportunities and are very good at working with adults and understand how to operate within the professional environment. "Teachers, which is screened on Channel Four, is billed as 'a comedy drama following the chaotic lives of a group of perpetually juvenile teachers, whose specialist subjects include beerdrinking, kebabeating and ineptness with members of the opposite sex - a darkly humorous look at life for teachers in a city comprehensive'.