Old School with the Hairy Bikers - Season 1

In the first episode, four of the unlikely pairs attempt to establish friendships despite the generational gulf between them. 13-year-old Jacub, who has ADHD and is struggling to cope with his dad's suicide, is paired with Clive, whose son died from an overdose. Their initial meetings go well but will the older man be able to help Jacub manage his behaviour? 13-year-old Tawne and retired nurse Judy have something in common: they are both victims of bullying. However, their first meeting is a disaster. 16-year-old Robbie's mum has multiple sclerosis, and he often misses school to help her, while his partner Rick has lived alone for years. Finally, 16-year-old Wez has a passion for boxing, but former electrician Dave doesn't rate it as a career.

After an initially promising start, rifts have started to open up in the partnerships and the project is in jeopardy: the teenage partners think the senior partners aren't listening to them, and they're not happy. With an oral English exam pending for the Year 11 students we meet Marlon, Charisma, Bethany and Chloe, who all want to practice their speaking and listening skills. Marlon's partner is 65 year-old Vic, who offers for the Senior Partners to help in a mock exam, but tensions soon run high when Vic's line of questions offends the students - and Chloe walks out.

Keen to tackle the growing ill-feeling, 13 year-old Kyrone has an idea for everyone to come together and air their concerns in a joint meeting. Impressed by his peace-making approach, Si and Dave are keen for Kyrone to chair the meeting himself to try resolve the issues. Meanwhile, 13 year-old Kimberly comes up with the idea of an Intergenerational Games, where old and young get active and enjoy themselves - with Kimberly excelling in the role of host and chief organiser.

The Hairy Bikers have only four weeks left at the Oxford Academy to prove that their social experiment pairing up teenagers with pensioners is working. Can they demonstrate that these blossoming friendships between junior and senior partners is transforming the health, minds and wellbeing of both groups?

We catch up with Jacub who has ADHD, is still getting detentions and risks being thrown out of the Old School project unless he improves his behaviour. His partner Clive is on a mission to find out how Jacub's gaming habit is affecting his learning at school.

Wez is also in a tricky spot - he's been withdrawn from his Maths GCSE exam for missing too many lessons, so his partner Dave steps in to see if he can help re-motivate him by joining Wez in class. Shy pupil Charisma has been helping senior partner Hanif learn English and giving him tips on how to send emails. Hanif reciprocates by helping Charisma with her driving lessons - and as a result Charisma's confidence is growing by the day.

The school organises a special event inviting potential sponsors, educational specialists and charities to hear from the junior and senior partners themselves about the project and their new friendships, hoping to generate funding to guarantee Old School has a future. Will the Bikers' experiment see the school raise enough cash to continue long after the cameras stop rolling?

And the results of the scientific testing are in: have the senior participants achieved improvements in mobility, strength and memory during the course of the project? And will there be improvements in the behaviour and confidence of the Oxford Academy pupils? Time will tell as the GCSE results are revealed.