Speaking to InStyle, for example, Robinson said of his role: “The relationship is often used as a kind of social currency for the survivors. They’re given high-fives and told ‘you’re the man’ and all that. So, the [show is about the] push and pull of that, of wanting that to be true, but also dealing with some very complicated emotions internally.”

Though A Teacher is not about any particular real-life teacher/student relationship, it does take inspiration from a number of high-profile true stories. Asked by Entertainment Weekly what they learned from researching their roles, for example, Mara said: “All you have to do is Google-search it, and it’s sort of endless,” while Robinson added: “The Mary Kay Letourneau story is probably the most famous, but these happen all the time. I don’t know what the fascination is, it’s sort of dangerous and taboo and wrong.”

For those unaware of the Letourneau case, she hit the headlines after pleading guilty to second-degree rape of a child in 1997. Even though one of the terms of her initial plea deal was that she would never see victim Vili Fualaau again, the pair were caught together, and Letourneau went to jail for six years. However, the pair married after she was released in 2005, staying together for another 14 years. They also had two children together.

This case was also discussed in conjunction with the movie version of A Teacher, released in 2013. However, the movie’s director (and the showrunner of the series) said that the film is not about any particular story. She told Tuscon Weekly: “At its heart, this is a story about doing something you know you shouldn’t do and yet not being able to stop yourself. That could pertain to more than just a teacher/student affair and I certainly drew on my own experiences while we were making the film but I can safely say that none of us had ever had affairs with our teachers.”

Robinson, however, has said that he took some inspiration from someone who had been in a similar relationship to the one between Eric and Claire. He told Entertainment Weekly: “I talked to a psychologist who specializes in male sexual trauma and was actually part of a relationship similar to this one. So it was really interesting to hear him talk about it.”

A Teacher Episodes 1 to 3 are streaming now on Hulu; Episodes 4 to 10 will be released weekly on Tuesdays starting November 17.