''Britannia High'' is a British musical drama television series co-produced by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

and Globe Productions for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network. The series focused on the lives of a group of teenagers and their mentors at a fictional London theatre school. It aired on

and

TV3 Ireland Virgin Media One, also called Virgin One, is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Ireland (part of Liberty Global), operated through its subsidiary Virgin Media Television. The channel was known until 30 August 20 ...

, premiering on 26 October 2008. The show starred

Sapphire Elia Sapphire Chrystalla Elia (born 15 April 1987) is an English actress, model and singer best known for her roles in musical drama ''Britannia High'' and the soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Early and personal life Sapphire Chrystalla Elia was born on 15 ...

Georgina Hagen Georgina "Georgie" Kimberley Hagen (born 21 June 1991) is an English actress and singer. She is most known for her appearance as Lauren Waters, from ITV's ''Britannia High''. She also featured in ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'' as Rebecca Chalmer ...

Mitch Hewer Mitchell Scott Hewer (born 1 July 1989) is an English actor, best known for the role of Maxxie Oliver in the E4 teen drama '' Skins''. He has also starred in'' Britannia High'' as the all-round talent Danny Miller. Career In 2007, Hewer was ca ...

, Rana Roy,

Matthew James Thomas Matthew James Elwyn Thomas (born 3 March 1988), also occasionally credited as Matthew Thomas, is a British actor who has made appearances in television, film, and theater. He is known for his television roles including the BAFTA and Emmy Award-w ...

and

Marcquelle Ward Marcquelle Jermaine Ward (born 8 November 1983 as Baby Caton) is a British actor, dancer and rapper. He's known for the role of "BB" on the musical TV drama series ''Britannia High'' and for playing Rum Tum Tugger in the 2015 West End revival ...

, as well as

Adam Garcia Adam Gabriel Garcia (born 1 June 1973) is an Australian stage, television, and film actor who is best known for lead roles in musicals such as '' Saturday Night Fever'' and ''Kiss Me, Kate''. He is also a trained tap dancer and singer. Garcia ha ...

as the dance mentor, Lorraine Pilkington as the music mentor and

Mark Benton Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in ''Early Doors'', Howard in '' Northern Lights'' and Martin Pond in '' Barbara''. Benton has also starred in the BBC One school-based ...

as the school principal and acting mentor. In addition to the main cast, the series featured cameo performances from

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

Matt Willis Mathew James Willis (born 8 May 1983), also previously known as Mattie Jay, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, television personality and actor. He is known as co-founder, bassist and the co-vocalist of the pop rock band, Busted. Will ...

and

Gemma Bissix Gemma Bissix (born 6 June 1983) is an English actress. She has been acting since the age of 9. Her most prominent roles have been in soap operas, as Clare Bates in '' EastEnders'' (1993–1998, 2008) and Clare Devine in ''Hollyoaks'' (2006–200 ...

. Also,

Aston Merrygold Aston Iain Merrygold (born 13 February 1988) is an English singer, dancer, television personality and actor. He is known for being a member of the British boy band JLS, who were the runners-up to Alexandra Burke in the fifth series of ''The X ...

, lead singer of boy band

JLS JLS (an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing) are an English boyband, which consists of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill, originally formed by Williams. They initially signed to Tracklacers production company ...

, auditioned for the role before his success in the group - but only made it to the final 16. George Ure, who attended Mountview Academy, also auditioned before his success in the musical ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * ''Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' ser ...

'' where he played Boq.

Pixie Lott Victoria Louise Lott (born 12 January 1991), better known by her stage name Pixie Lott, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Turn It Up'', released in September 2009, reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold ove ...

also auditioned, as did

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

and Danielle Peazer. The show featured an original soundtrack which was created by a team of pop producers and writers in the UK, led by

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

member

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

Production

''Britannia High'' was based on an idea by ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' choreography judge

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, talent scout, television judge and presenter, theatre director, and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment. For many years, she was most noted as the c ...

and theatre impresario

David Ian David Ian (born David Ian LaneFebruary 1961 is a British theatre producer and former actor. Biography Ian started out as an actor and appeared in a number of UK theatre productions, including the musicals ''The Pirates of Penzance'', '' Josep ...

, who were both executive producers for the show. It was developed by producer

Gareth Philips Gareth Philips is a television producer. Career Radio and television presenter Philips began his career working on Radio Clatterbridge between 1995 and 1997. He moved on to work at other radio stations including MFM 97.1, before becoming a te ...

for ITV Productions in Manchester. Alongside Philips, the production team consisted of series producer and lead director Brian Grant, executive producers Kieran Roberts and Mark Wells, and Anna Land for Globe Productions. It was written by Jonathan Harvey,

Damon Rochefort Damon Alexis-Rochefort né Damon Rochefort (born 1965 in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh scriptwriter, songwriter and producer. Career He has had success in music in the 1990s with his group Nomad, with the international hit " (I Wanna Give You) Devo ...

, Julie Jones, Kirstie Falkous, and John Regier. In addition to Arlene Phillips managing the choreography, Gary Barlow was heavily involved in providing the score of ''Britannia High''.

Guy Chambers Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams. Education Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, h ...

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern British ...

, Andy Hill,

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2019, the group have sold 14 million albums and 11.4 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he ...

James Bourne James Elliot Bourne (born 13 September 1983) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is known as the co-founder of pop punk bands Busted and Son of Dork, and he also created his own electronic project: Future Boy. From 2013 to 2015 ...

and

Eliot Kennedy Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as Billie Piper, The Spice Girls, Mary J. Blige, Donny Osmond, Bryan Adams, Lulu (singer), Lulu, S Club 7, Five ( ...

also contributed to the musical component of the show. ''Britannia High'' was commissioned by

from its in-house production division. After low ratings, ITV did not commission a second series.

Episode list

''Britannia High'' began broadcasting in a primetime Sunday night slot starting on 26 October 2008. The first episode was made available on

ITV Player ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) is a British online video-on-demand service operated by ITV plc, ITV. The service offers predominantly features content from ITV1, as well as ITV Digital Channels, ITV Digital channels and some licensed content. The serv ...

as a "sneak peek" on 17 October.

Release

Weekly ratings

:Episode 2 was delayed by 15 minutes due to overrunning

ITV Sport ITV Sport is a sport producer for ITV. It was formed following the merger between Granada Sport and Central Sport.Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...

Interactive elements

''Britannia High'' featured a wide range of online content, including on itv.com, ITV Mobile, ITV Interactive and the social networking site,

Bebo Bebo ( ) was an American Social networking service, social networking website that originally operated from 2005 until its bankruptcy in 2013 and relaunched in February 2021. The site relaunched several times after its bankruptcy with a number ...

. The ''Britannia High'' website was the virtual home of the performing arts school, and featured interactive elements such as blogs, photographs, e-newsletters and music from Universal Artists. Additionally, two characters, BB and Jez, hosted a podcast featuring songs from the series and also world songs. ITV's red button service, ITV Interactive, featured preview and catch-up videos, character profiles, photo galleries and dance tutorials.

Soundtrack

The '' Britannia High Soundtrack'' was released on 24 November 2008. It included 18 songs from the show.

Track listing

#Cast - "Start Of Something" #Danny - "Missing Person" #Lauren - "Best Of Me" #Lauren and Claudine - "Watch This Space" #Claudine and Danny - "Growing Pains" #Lauren and Jezz - "What Good Is Love" #Lauren - "So High" #Jez - "Wake Up" #Lola and Stefan - "Body To Body" #BB - "The Things That We Don't Say" #Jez - "

Proud Proud may refer to: Music * ''Proud'' (Heather Small album), the debut album by Heather Small ** "Proud" (Heather Small song), a song by Heather Small that was the official song for the London 2012 Olympic bid * ''Proud'' (compilation album), ...

" #BB and Jez - "Fight Song" #Claudine - "Do It All Over Again" #Lola, Lauren and Claudine - "Picking Up The Pieces" #BB - "Confessions" #Cast - "Without You" #Jez - "Weight Of The World" #Danny and Lauren - "Changing Man" The CD also features a weblink which allows the owner to download a "Britannia High Megamix" (ft. "Start Of Something", "Wake Up", "Missing Person", "Best of Me" and "Watch This Space"), "Start of Something" video, "Start of Something" (behind the scenes) and a remix of "Watch This Space".

Additional broadcast

CITV

The hour-long episodes of ''Britannia High'' were reconfigured into two-part 30-minute episodes, and broadcast on ITV's children's strand

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

from 20 April 2009. In accordance with CITV's target audience, words such as "bitch" and "sex" have been edited out of dialogue and songs.

On Demand

All nine 45-minute episodes were made available to

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...

's customers through ITV Player, which is carried on Virgin's On Demand service.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2000s British drama television series 2000s British music television series 2008 British television series debuts 2008 British television series endings 2000s British television miniseries ITV television dramas Television series about teenagers Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Granada Television English-language television shows