Waterloo Road is a British television drama series set in a comprehensive school of the same name, first broadcast on BBC One on 9 March 2006, and concluding its original run on 9 March 2015.
In September 2021, the show was recommissioned, with production returning to the Greater Manchester area.
Contents
Premise
Waterloo Road is set in a failing comprehensive school, and later academy of the same name and focuses on the professional and personal lives of the students and staff.
Ann McManus, the show's cocreator, devised the series in response to the BBC requesting a drama pertinent to "ordinary people in Britain today". She used the programme to explore many topical issues that occur within Britain, applying them to an educational setting.
Production
Development
The first series of Waterloo Road contained eight episodes and was first broadcast from 9 March to 27 April 2006 on BBC One. The show was renewed for a second series that was twelve episodes long, airing from 18 January to 26 April 2007. Series 3 to 6 each contained twenty episodes. The third series aired between 11 October 2007 and 13 March 2008, and the fourth series between 7 January and 20 May 2009. Series 5 was the first to be recorded in HD, and began airing on Wednesday 28 October 2009 (the previous Sunday for BBC One Scotland). The final episode aired on 15 July 2010.
The show was filmed and set in the English town of Rochdale from the first series until the end of seventh series, and the Scottish town of Greenock from the beginning of eighth series until the end of its original run, the tenth series. The first episode was broadcast on BBC One on 9 March 2006, and the final episode of the original run was broadcast on BBC Three on 9 March 2015.
Production was meant to move locations in 2009, with storylines in the fourth and fifth series designed to coincide with that move. However, these plans did not go ahead, so the show remained in its original location until series 7. The filming of the fifth and sixth series was back-to-back, from 2009 to 2010. The sixth series ran from 1 September 2010 to 6 April 2011. The seventh series began airing on 4 May 2011 and ended on 25 April 2012. The series lasted for 30 episodes.
In August 2011, it was announced that production would relocate to Greenock, Scotland. This was part of the BBC's efforts to increase network programming from Scotland, with filming to begin from April 2012. As part of the production move, 50 episodes were commissioned, which later formed the eighth and ninth series. For most of the eighth series, the school was a non-fee charging independent school, as opposed to a comprehensive school as it was for the first seven series. The eighth series, again 30 episodes long, started on 23 August 2012 and concluded on 4 July 2013. Starting on 5 September the same year, the ninth series ran until 12 March 2014. The Rochdale site was demolished in 2013 and is now a housing estate.
On 2 April 2014, the BBC announced that series 10 would be the show's last. The final scenes were recorded on 22 August 2014, and the series premiered on 15 October. On 11 December, it was announced that the last ten episodes of the show would be aired first on BBC Three, with a repeat on BBC One later in the evening, losing the peak slot on BBC One which the show held since its launch in 2006. The final episode was the show's 200th and aired on 9 March 2015, exactly nine years after the first episode. In the story, the school remains open following a lengthy battle against a school merger. In September 2019, the entire series was made available on BBC iPlayer.
Cast
The show utilises an ensemble cast led by the school's staff members. The longest-running cast members were Philip Martin Brown (Grantly Budgen, series 1–9), Jason Done (Tom Clarkson, series 1–8) and Chelsee Healey (Janeece Bryant, series 1–4 and 6–8, 11).
The original teaching characters consisted of Headteacher Jack Rimmer (Jason Merrells); Deputy Headteacher Andrew Treneman (Jamie Glover); Art teacher and Head of Pastoral Care Kim Campbell (Angela Griffin); Head of English Grantly Budgen (Philip Martin Brown); English teachers Lorna Dickey (Camilla Power) and Tom Clarkson (Jason Done); Head of French Steph Haydock (Denise Welch); and Head of Drama Izzie Redpath (Jill Halfpenny). The student characters included Donte Charles (Adam Thomas), Chlo Grainger (Katie Griffiths), Janeece Bryant (Chelsee Healey), Yasmin Deardon (Rhea Bailey), Mika Grainger (Lauren Drummond) and Lewis Seddon (Craig Fitzpatrick).
Series 2 introduced pupil Brett Aspinall (Tom Payne), his father and sponsor governor Roger Aspinall (Nick Sidi) and school secretary Davina Shackleton (Christine Tremarco). Other new pupils included Leigh-Ann Galloway (Holly Matthews).
Series 3 introduced new deputy head Eddie Lawson (Neil Morrissey) and, in the seventh episode, new Headteacher Rachel Mason (Eva Pope). Other staff arrivals include NQT English teacher Jasmine Koreshi (Shabana Bakhsh) and Head of Music and Drama Matt Wilding (Chris Geere). Pupils introduced in the third series include Aleesha Dillon (Lauren Thomas), Danielle Harker (Lucy Dixon), Karla Bentham (Jessica Baglow), Paul Langley (Thomas Milner), Bolton Smilie (Tachia Newall) and Michaela White (Zaraah Abrahams).
Series 4 introduced the Kelly family, consisting of mother Rose Kelly (Elaine Symons) and her five children: Marley (Luke Bailey), Earl (Reece Noi), Sambuca (Holly Kenny), Denzil (Reece Douglas), and baby Prince. The series features new Head of PE Rob Cleaver (Elyes Gabel), who is sacked when it transpires he is giving Bolton pills to help him win an important match. Rachel's sister Melissa Ryan (Katy Carmichael) and nephew Philip (Dean Smith) are also introduced.
Series 5 introduced Executive Head Max Tyler (Tom Chambers), Deputy Headteacher Christopher Mead (William Ash), Head of Food Technology Ruby Fry (Elizabeth Berrington), newly-qualified English teacher Helen Hopewell (Vinette Robinson) and Head of Modern Languages Jo Lipsett (Sarah-Jane Potts). New students included Emily James (Shannon Flynn) and her sister Lindsay James (Jenna-Louise Coleman), Siobhan Mailey (Phoebe Dynevor), Ros McCain (Sophie McShera), Luke Pendle (Richie Jeeves), Amy Porter (Ayesha Gwilt), Josh Stevenson (William Rush) and Finn Sharkey (Jack McMullen).
Spin-offs
Waterloo Road Reunited
A short online spin-off series, Waterloo Road Reunited, was commissioned in November 2010 and ran for six episodes in 2011. It focuses on the lives of six school leavers who previously appeared in the main show.
Transmissions and ratings
The final episode of series 3 attracted 6 million viewers. The final episode of series 4 and 5 each attracted 4.5 million viewers.
The finale of series 10 aired on 9 March 2015, nine years after the first episode aired on 9 March 2006.
DVD releases
Series one and two were released by 2entertain, while series three to eight were released by Acorn DVD. Series eleven onwards were released by Dazzler Media.
Online
All episodes of the original series were made available on BBC iPlayer on 19 September 2019. The popularity of the original show on iPlayer among younger audiences contributed to the show's recommissioning in 2021.
As part of the show's return in 2023, BBC commissioned a podcast series alongside the return of the programme. The podcast was hosted by cast members Adam Thomas (Donte Charles) and Priyasasha Kumari (Samia Choudhury), and released exclusively on BBC Sounds.
Since the revival of the series, each series has been released as a boxset on BBC iPlayer prior to transmission on BBC One.