The eleventh series of the British television drama series ''Waterloo Road'' began airing on 3 January 2023 on BBC One and released as a boxset on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

on the same day. The series follows the lives of staff and pupils of the eponymous school in Greater Manchester. The series contains seven episodes.

Plot

The show follows the lives of the teachers and the pupils at the eponymous school of Waterloo Road, a Greater Manchester secondary school, tackling a wide range of social issues. The series deals with issues including

child abandonment Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring in an illegal way, with the intent of never resuming or reasserting guardianship. The phrase is typically used to describe the physical abandonment of a ...

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

knife crime Knife legislation is defined as the legislation, body of statutory law or case law promulgated or enacted by a government or other governing jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, or restricts the otherwise legal manufacture, importation, sale, ...

, bereavement, eviction,

eating disorders An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that negatively affect a person's physical or mental health. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed at a given time. Types of eating disorders include binge eating ...

marital breakdown Marital breakdown refers to the common process whereby the relationship between a married couple erodes, such that they cannot ordinarily restore their relationship. There are many stages to the process, and each individual goes through the stag ...

, refugee children, and the sexual objectification of girls. The series begins on the first day of the new academic term at William Beswick High School, which is beleaguered with student protests against the commemmoration of the school's fictional namesake, who was a slave trader. A student riot leads to parent Chlo Charles (

Katie Griffiths Katie Griffiths (born 6 April 1989) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Chlo Grainger on the BBC school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' (2006–2009, 2023). Career Griffiths joined Stage 84, the Yorkshire School of ...

) being hit by a car; she collapses later that evening and is pronounced dead.

Development

Recommissioning

The original show ran for ten series from 2006 to 2015. On 2 April 2014, the BBC announced that series 10 would be the show's last. The final episode was the show's 200th and aired on 9 March 2015, exactly nine years after the first episode. After a seven-year hiatus, on 23 September 2021, it was announced that ''Waterloo Road'' would return with a new series on BBC One. The recommission was part of the BBC's Across the UK initiative to reflect audiences across London, and selected after the old show attracted significant repeats on

iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

among younger age groups, after the entire series was made available on the platform in September 2019.

Production

The series' production returned to Greater Manchester, with the school set at the former

St Ambrose Barlow Roman Catholic High School St Ambrose Barlow RC High School is a secondary school located in Wardley, Greater Manchester, England. The school is named after St Ambrose Barlow, one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. The school serves a wide range of parishes inc ...

in Swinton. Filming commenced in February 2022, with production by

Wall to Wall Media Wall to Wall Media, part of Warner Bros. Television Studios UK (formerly Shed Media Group), is an independent television production company that produces event specials and drama, factual entertainment, science and history programmes for broad ...

and Rope Ladder Fiction, a new company founded by

Cameron Roach Cameron Roach is a British television producer. Credits include ''Footballers' Wives'', '' Bad Girls'', ''Casualty'', ''Life on Mars'' , Silk, Young James Herriot and ''Moses Jones ''Moses Jones'' is a British television crime drama series f ...

, who was executive producer for series 7 and 8. On 15 October 2022, the BBC revealed a new title card and revamped version of the theme on their social media channels.

Casting

On 24 January 2022, the BBC revealed that former cast members

Adam Thomas Adam Thomas (born 11 August 1988) is an English actor, known for his roles as Donte Charles in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' (2006–2009, 2022–present) and Adam Barton in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' (2009� ...

and

Angela Griffin Angela Mellissa Griffin (born 19 July 1976) is a British actress and television presenter who has been active on British television since the early 1990s. She is best known for portraying the roles of Fiona Middleton in the ITV soap opera ''Cor ...

would reprise their roles as Donte Charles, Chlo Charles and Kim Campbell respectively, with Campbell now as Waterloo Road's headteacher. On 21 February 2022, the actors selected to play the pupils were revealed. Most notably, Scarlett Thomas, daughter of former Waterloo Road actor Tina O’Brien and niece of Adam Thomas, was cast as his on-screen daughter Izzy Charles.

Transmission

On 25 November 2022, it was confirmed that ''Waterloo Road'' would return in January 2023 and would contain seven episodes. On 6 December 2022, the BBC confirmed that Waterloo Road would premiere on 3 January 2023, replacing ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'' in the Tuesday 8PM slot, after the show's cancellation in June 2021. It was confirmed that all episodes from the series would release on BBC iPlayer as a boxset on the same day.

Cast and characters

Staff

as Kim Campbell; Headteacher *

as Donte Charles; School caretaker * Kym Marsh as Nicky Walters; School canteen worker * Jo Coffey as Wendy Whitwell; PA to Headteacher Kim Campbell * Vincent Jerome as Lindon King; Deputy Head * James Baxter as Joe Casey; Deputy Head * Sonia Ibrahim as Jamilah Omar; School social worker *

Shauna Shim Shauna Shim (born 28 March 1979) is an American-born English actress. Early life Shim was born in Miami, Florida, United States to her African-American mother and Chinese father. She is of African-American and Chinese descent. When Shim was 10 ...

as Valerie Chambers; Music teacher * Neil Fitzmaurice as Neil Guthrie; History teacher *

Rachel Leskovac Rachel Leskovac (born 5 June 1976) is an English actress and singer. She is known for portraying the roles of Kelly Yorke in the BBC One medical drama series ''Holby City'' (2003–2004), Natasha Blakeman in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Stree ...

as Coral Walker; Head of English * Katherine Pearce as Amy Spratt; Early career teacher

Pupils

* Adam Abbou as Danny Lewis * Noah Valentine as Preston Walters * Alicia Forde as Kelly-Jo Rafferty * Adam Ali as Kai Sharif * Priyasasha Kumari as Samia Choudhry * Francesco Piacentini-Smith as Dean Weever * Alicia Forde as Kelly-Jo Rafferty * Liam Scholes as Noel McManus * Lucy Eleanor Begg as Caz Williams * Summer Violet Bird as Tonya Walters * Scarlett Thomas as Izzy Charles * Ava Flannery as Verity King * Thapelo Ray as Dwayne Jackson * Inathi Rozani as Zayne Jackson * Chiamaka (ChiChi) Ulebor as Shola Aku * Sahil Ismailkhil as Norullah Sayid

Others

Recurring

Lisa Faulkner Lisa Tamsin Faulkner (born 19 February 1972) is an actress, presenter and celebrity chef. Early life Faulkner was born in Merton, London, to David Faulkner and Julie (née Day). She lived in Esher and was educated at Tiffin Girls' School in ...

as Hannah King *

Sue Vincent Sue Vincent is a British actress and writer. Career Vincent spent three years training in acting and musical theatre from 1991 to 1994 before first appearing on stage in 1996. Her first television role was as Anne Bevitt in ''Casualty''. Sinc ...

as Erica Thorn * Teddy Thomas as Tommy Charles * Hollie-Jay Bowes as Debbie Rafferty

Guest

as Chlo Charles (Episode 1) *Ryan Clayton as Sergeant Mike Rutherford (Episode 1) *

Chelsee Healey Chelsea "Chelsee" Jade Healey (born 6 August 1988) is an English actress. She is known for playing Janeece Bryant in the BBC school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' (2006–2012), Honey Wright in the BBC medical drama series ''Casualty'' ...

as Janeece Bryant (Episode 2) * Marie Critchley as Barbara Rafferty (Episode 3) * Lee Lomas as Mac (Episode 3) * Jonathan Ojinnaka as Jamie Bedford (Episode 6) *

Alicya Eyo Alicya Eyo (born 16 December 1975) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Denny Blood in the ITV prison drama series '' Bad Girls'' and Ruby Haswell in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Early life Eyo was born on 16 December 1975 in ...

as Marie Lewis (Episode 6) * William Thompson as Pete (Episode 5)

Episodes

Reception

Writing in '' The Telegraph'', Poppie Platt rated the series three stars out of five. Platt said that the series featured "just too many characters" with themes that "aren't fully developed", and was "held back by woke dialogue" using too many "cloying buzzwords". In a two-star review for '' The Guardian'', Jack Seale wrote that the series' "attempts to crowbar heavy social issues into a soapy setting are jarring" and the soap opera-esque storylines, like that of Donte and Chlo Charles, felt more natural. However, he noted that this was not an issue for the revival in particular, stating that ''Waterloo Road'' was "always a show that felt more important for the boxes it ticked and the services it provided than for the quality of its drama". In '' The Times'', James Jackson gave the series three stars, calling it "an old-school revival that could do better."

References

{{Waterloo Road 2023 British television seasons Waterloo Road (TV series)