Grange Hill
Format	Television series
Created by	Phil Redmond
Starring	See cast below
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	581
Production
Camera setup	Multiple camera (1978-1998); Single camera (1999-2008)
Running time	25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC
Original airing	1978 - 2008
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television. It was created by Phil Redmond, who is also responsible for the Channel 4 dramas Brookside and Hollyoaks; other notable production team members down the years have included producer Colin Cant and script editor Anthony Minghella. Grange Hill can refer to: Grange Hill (TV series), a childrens television series in the United Kingdom Grange Hill, County Durham, a village in County Durham Grange Hill, Essex, suburb on the boundary of the Epping Forest district of Essex and the London Borough of Redbridge Grange Hill tube... Image File history File links GHTITLES78-87. ... Phil Redmond (born 1949 in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom) is a British television producer and scriptwriter. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The multiple-camera setup (aka, multiple-camera mode of production) is a method of shooting films and television programs. ... The single-camera setup (aka, single-camera mode of production) is a method of shooting films and television programs. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Drama (disambiguation). ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest United Kingdom, and indeed, the world. ... British television broadcasting has a range of different broadcasters, broadcasting multiple channels over a variety of distribution media. ... Phil Redmond (born 1949 in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom) is a British television producer and scriptwriter. ... This article is about the British television station. ... For other uses, see Brookside (disambiguation). ... Hollyoaks is a British television soap opera, first broadcast on 23 October 1995, on Channel 4. ... The primary role of a television producer is to coordinate and control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking. ... Colin Cant is a British television producer and director, best known for his work in the childrens department of BBC Television. ... Script Editor is a program included with Mac OS that allows AppleScripts to be written, debugged, and ran. ... Anthony Minghella (January 6, 1954–March 18, 2008[1]) was an Academy Award-winning English film director, playwright and screenwriter. ...

On 6 February 2008, it was announced that Grange Hill would be cancelled after 30 years.^{[1] [2][3][4]} is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... In television, cancellation refers to the termination of a program by the network, typically because of low viewership. ...

Plot

This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (December 2007)

The drama is centred on the fictional comprehensive school of Grange Hill in the (equally fictitious) borough of north London called "Northam" (although when filming moved to Liverpool in 2003, it ceased to have any specific location), and follows the lives of the students as they progress through school. The series was to have originally been called Grange Park. A comprehensive school is a secondary school that does not select children on the basis of academic attainment or aptitude. ... North London is that part of London which is north of the River Thames. ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ...

The show has been spoofed for its many nicknamed students and their teacher, "Mr. Liberal", on The Young Ones. The Young Ones may refer to: The Young Ones (TV series), a 1980s British sitcom about four students living together The Young Ones (film), a film starring Cliff Richard The Young Ones (song), sung by Cliff Richard This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same...

Series history

Grange Hill was originally conceived by ATV comedy writer Phil Redmond, who first approached various television companies with the idea in 1975, unsuccessfully. In 1976, he managed to sell the idea to the BBC, and the drama executive Anna Home gave the series a trial run of nine episodes, the first being broadcast on 8 February 1978.^[5][6] Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... ATV can refer to: All-terrain vehicle, the a personal recreational vehicle normally consisting of a motorcycle-like engine, four balloon tires and a fiberglass body; a four-wheeler. ... A comedy is a dramatic performance of a light and amusing character, usually with a happy conclusion to its plot. ... Phil Redmond (born 1949 in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom) is a British television producer and scriptwriter. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

The series caused controversy from the start, showing a more gritty, true-to-life portrayal of school life than the rather cosy school dramas that had gone before it. Even so, creator Phil Redmond has said that it wasn't until series 3 or 4 that he was really able to start pushing the boundaries and doing things that he wanted to. This led to Redmond being summoned to lunch by BBC bosses and forced to agree that unless he toned things down, there would be no further series.

Grange Hill's highest profile period was undoubtedly the mid-late 1980s. One of the most famous storylines during this time was that of Zammo McGuire and his addiction to heroin. This storyline ran over two series (1986-87) and focused on Zammo's descent into drugs and how it strained his relationship with girlfriend Jackie and friend Kevin. The show's other favourite characters during this period were Gonch and Hollo played by John Holmes and Bradley Sheppard. During his time at the school (1985-89) Gonch partook in many money making schemes, most unsuccessful. There was a comedic element to the duo's relationship that worked well with viewers. Script Editor Anthony Minghella, who worked on the series for several years during the 1980s, later won an Academy Award for Best Director for the film The English Patient in 1996. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Anthony Minghella (January 6, 1954–March 18, 2008[1]) was an Academy Award-winning English film director, playwright and screenwriter. ... The Academy Award for Directing is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the awards are voted on by other people within the industry. ... The English Patient is a 1996 film adaptation of the novel by Michael Ondaatje. ...

During the 1990s Grange Hill did not receive the same media attention it did just a few years previously, and some fans believe producers failed to adequately replace established characters who had left the show. Similarly, the show was accused by some commentators of pandering to political correctness in 1994 with the introduction of two characters with disabilities, Denny (Lisa Hammond), who suffered from dwarfism, and Rachel Burns, who had cerebral palsy (Francesca Martinez). Both characters were presented as "one of the gang" and hated any special treatment because of their circumstances. Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ... Francesca Martinez is an English stand-up comedian. ...

Beginning on 27 March 1993, to celebrate Grange Hill's 15th anniversary, the first fifteen series of Grange Hill were repeated during CBBC's Sunday, and later Saturday morning slots on BBC1 and BBC2. The repeats ended with Series 16 in 1999.

Interest in Grange Hill renewed in the late 1990s and the series celebrated its 20th anniversary with the introduction of sinister Scottish bully Sean Pearce (Iain Robertson), who carried a knife and slashed the face of a female classmate. Most ironically, cast member Laura Sadler, who was heavily involved in this storyline, died after falling out of a building in June 2003; four years earlier her Grange Hill character Judi Jeffreys was killed after slipping and falling out of the window of a burning storeroom in the school. Iain Robertson (born on 27 May 1981 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish actor. ... Laura Sadler in Holby City Laura Sadler (December 25, 1980 – June 19, 2003) was an English actress best known for her role as nurse Sandy Harper in the BBC ONE hospital drama series Holby City. ...

By 2001 the series was almost entirely issue-led and the decision to tackle the subject of rape upset some parents. But when Phil Redmond took over production of Grange Hill in 2003, his plan was to get the show back to its roots and the issues were toned down as Redmond skewed the show towards a younger audience.

In early 2006, it was announced a film of Grange Hill was to be released in late 2007 focusing on the lives of former pupils.^[7] Nothing else has been heard since.

Grange Hill returned on 14 April 2008 with its final series, including a return of the original theme music. Series 31 returned to BBC1 after the 2007 series was shown exclusively on the CBBC Channel. ^[8]

Production history

For its first 25 years Grange Hill was produced in-house by the BBC, but the show is now made independently for the corporation by Lime Pictures, the production house founded by Redmond (and formerly known as Mersey Television), hence the reason for the production move. For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Lime Pictures, formerly known as Mersey Television, is a British television production company, founded by renowned producer and writer Phil Redmond in the early 1980s. ...

Television Centre Years: 1978-85

Originally Grange Hill was filmed at real schools in London. The first of these would be Kingsbury High School, in the north of the capital, which doubled as Grange Hill in the first two series. This article is about a high school in London. ...

For the third series, in 1980, exterior filming moved to Willesden High School in Willesden Green, which was similar in looks to Kingsbury and was also situated in a residential area of the capital.

In 1981, Grange Hill moved to Holborn College (now Fulham Preparatory School) in Greyhound Road,Hammersmith. This school looked very different from the two that had been used previously, and it was also in a built-up area of London. Holborn College was the longest serving of the "real schools", remaining on screen until 1985.

Up to and including 1985, studio scenes were shot at BBC Television Centre in London.

Elstree Years: 1985-2002

Popular rumour suggests Grange Hill was forced to move between real schools so often because fans disrupted filming. In 1985, this problem was resolved when the BBC purchased the former ATV studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The studios would become known as BBC Elstree Centre and from Series 8, some exterior filming was switched to the closed Elstree set. A 1960s office block, Neptune House, would double as Grange Hill's "lower school".

The change was explained on screen with an elaborate storyline whereby Grange Hill merged with rival schools Brookdale and Rodney Bennett to form a new school, Grange Hill. In Series 8 the merger had taken place and Grange Hill operated as a split-site school; the former Rodney Bennett building (Neptune House) being the Lower School and the original Grange Hill building (still Holborn College) the upper school.

In Series 9, the Upper School building was condemned after a fire, allowing production of Grange Hill to fully move to Elstree including studio work. Grange Hill was, at this time, made as an outside broadcast in the same way as its stablemate, EastEnders. Outside broadcasting is the production of television programmes (typically to cover sports events) from a mobile television studio. ... Albert Square in the 1980s. ...

A new school entrance set was unveiled in 1990 and remained in use until 2002, with cosmetic modifications along the way.^[9] However, as the 1990s progressed more use was made of real schools including the Nicholas Hawksmoor School and Bushey Meads School, and St Audrey's School in Hatfield. Bushey Meads School (also commonly known as BMS by staff and students) is a secondary school in Bushey, Hertfordshire, UK. The current Head Teacher is Mr Kieth Douglas (BA(hons) MA), who started as a new member of staff in the school in December 2005. ...

Liverpool Years: 2003-2008

Early in 2002 it was announced that Grange Hill creator Phil Redmond had signed a deal for his production company Mersey TV to produce the next three series of the programme. Production moved to Mersey TV's studios in Childwall, Liverpool, from Series 26 onwards and for the first time in many years, the appearance of Grange Hill School itself would change radically. On screen, an explosion ripped through the school at the end of Series 25 and during Series 26, tarpaulins covered most of the new "school" to mask the "fire damage".

Real schools in the locality were also used including Croxteth Comprehensive, Holly Lodge Girls' School and St Hilda's C of E High School in Liverpool.^[10] In 2005, the former Brookside Parade set at Mersey TV was redeveloped to benefit Grange Hill and the new "Creative Learning Centre" has been an integral part of the show since. With the cancellation of Grange Hill, the CLC exterior set has now been turned in to skateboard park set for Grange Hill's stablemate show Hollyoaks. Croxteth is a suburb of Liverpool, on Merseyside and a Liverpool City Council Ward. ... Hilda of Whitby is a Christian Saint. ... Hollyoaks is a British television soap opera, first broadcast on 23 October 1995, on Channel 4. ...

Issues covered

The programme has covered many controversial storylines ranging from students throwing benches into the swimming pool (1978; as a result of which, following letters of complaint from teachers and parents, the episode was withdrawn from the repeat season), rape (2001), heroin addiction, Asperger's Syndrome (2001), and attempted suicide (2005), prompting many complaints from viewers. Grange Hill broke new ground by the inclusion of a gay teacher, Mr Brisley, who was in the cast from 1992 to 1999. Heroin or diamorphine (INN) (colloquially referred to as junk, babania, horse, golden brown, smack, black tar, big H, lady H, dope, skag, juice, diesel, etc. ... Asperger described his patients as little professors. Aspergers syndrome (AS, or the more common shorthand Aspergers), is characterized as one of the five pervasive developmental disorders, and is commonly referred to as a form of high functioning autism. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ...

In 2005, the character Holly Parsons was wrongly heralded as Grange Hill's first deaf character. While it is true that the actress who plays her, Rebecca-Anne Withey, is the series' first deaf cast member, Grange Hill first featured a deaf character, Eric Wallace, in 1985.

During the final series in 2008, Grange Hill has cut back on the harder hitting issues and concentrate more on the early years of secondary school.^[11] The final series, though concentrating mainly on lighter aspects of school life, will still deal with some social issues; one new character is dyslexic while another has to cope with caring for a disabled parent. Dyslexia is a syndrome in which a persons reading and/or writing ability is significantly lower than that which would be predicted by his or her general level of intelligence. ...

Cancellation

On 6 February 2008, the BBC announced Grange Hill was to be axed after exactly 30 years. The announcement was made by CBBC controller Anne Gilchrist just two days before the show's official 30th birthday. Just a few weeks earlier Phil Redmond told The Observer he believed the programme had been "robbed of its original purpose" and should be scrapped.^[12] is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... Current CBBC Logo CBBC - short for Childrens BBC - is the brand-name for the BBCs childrens television programmes aimed at children aged between 6 and 12 years old. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

The final series is being shown on BBC1 on Mondays at 4:35pm, with a Saturday repeat at 4pm on the CBBC Channel. There is now just one episode a week, and just nine episodes of Series 31 have been shown so far (as of June 23, 2008), due to bank holidays displacing the show.

Spin offs

The show spawned a successful spin-off called Tucker's Luck (1983–1985), and launched the acting career of Todd Carty. Also, the 1986 cast released Grange Hill: The Album, with two singles: "Just Say No" (tying in with a character's heroin addiction) and "You Know the Teacher (Smash Head)". The album was re-released on CD on 12 November 2007, as part of the BBC's 30th Anniversary celebrations. Tuckers Luck is a British television series made by the BBC between 1983 and 1985. ... Todd Carty (born 31 August 1963) is an Irish actor. ... Mrs. ... is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

In 2005, Justin Lee Collins reunited some of the cast members from the 1980s in the documentary Bring Back Grange Hill (so named despite the fact that Grange Hill was still being produced). Justin Lee Collins (born 28 July 1974) is an English comedian, television, radio presenter and amateur darts player from Bristol, often known as JLC. His distinctive West Country accent and cave man image are amongst his trademarks. ...

Theme music

The theme used for the first 12 years, which returned for the final series of Grange Hill was "Chicken Man" by Alan Hawkshaw, a track from the Themes International music library composed one hour before it was recorded during a session in Munich, Germany. Grange Hill was the first programme to use it as a theme followed by the popular quiz show Give Us a Clue, whose makers wanted it despite it already being played on Grange Hill. The version used by Give Us A Clue was a special arrangement that was significantly different from that used by Grange Hill. Alan Hawkshaw is a composer and performer, particularly of themes for movies and television programmes. ... For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ... Give Us A Clue is a televised version of charades hosted at different times by Michael Aspel and Michael Parkinson, with two teams: one captained by Lionel Blair and the other by Una Stubbs. ...

The theme was remixed in 1988 and updated along with the opening titles and lasted until 1990, when a brand new theme was specially written for the series by Peter Moss. Moss had previously written some special hip-hop music for a storyline in Series 11 of Grange Hill. His theme tune lasted until 2007, although as the years progressed less and less of it was heard as the opening titles got increasingly shorter. Peter Moss is a British composer who is known for the current theme tune of Grange Hill which was composed in 1990. ...

Head teachers

There have been many head teachers of Grange Hill over the years; the full list is as follows: A head teacher, headmaster or headmistress (all often referred to simply as the head) is the most senior teacher in a school in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. ...

Mr Llewelyn did not appear on screen during the 1980 series. Similarly, Mr McNab was never seen at all during the mid-1990s; the most senior authority figure being Mr Robson who at this point was deputy head. Mrs McClusky, perhaps Grange Hill's best known head teacher, was demoted to deputy head temporarily in 1985 having unsuccessfully had to reapply for her post following the merger of Grange Hill with Brookdale and Rodney Bennett. When the new head, Mr Humphries, was killed in a road accident the following year, Mrs McClusky was again acting head and her permanent headship was later confirmed. Sean Arnold (born 30 April 1941 in Wickwar, Gloucestershire) is an English actor. ... Gwyneth Powell (born 15 November 1946) is a British actress best known for playing Bridget McCluskey in the TV series Grange Hill. ... Dennis Edwards (born February 3, 1943 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American soul and R&B singer, most noted for being one of Motown act The Temptations lead singers. ... British actor, best known as Mr Robson in the childrens TV drama Grange Hill. ... Jacqueline Boatswain (also known as Jacqui Boatswain) is a British actress, based in London. ... Cathy Tyson (born June 12, 1965 in Liverpool) is an English actress. ...

The final headmistress of Grange Hill was Miss Gayle, introduced as deputy head in the 2007 series although she will not appear in Series 31.

Cast

See also:

List of current Grange Hill characters

List of past Grange Hill characters

List of Grange Hill cast members

List of actors who have appeared in the BBC childrens drama series Grange Hill. ...

Books

During the 1980s, when Grange Hill merchandising was at its height and the series arguably at its most popular, a number of annuals and novels were published.

Eight annuals were published from 1981 to 1988. [1]

Comic strip adventures appeared in the short-lived BEEB magazine, which portrayed new stories, and the longer running Fast Forward, magazine which loosely followed the early 90's series. Additional comic strips occurred in School Fun and in the Radio Times. Grange Hill had its own dedicated magazine, but this only lasted two issues, although there was a holiday special too. Look up Beeb in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The word Beeb usually refers to one of the following, as a nickname: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (sometimes called the Beeb, or Auntie Beeb) attributed to Kenny Everett The BBC Micro home computer from 1982, built for the BBC by Acorn... Fast Forward was a weekly childrens magazine launched in September 1989 by the BBC to compete with Look-in. ... School Fun was a British comic book that ran from the issues dated 15 October 1983 to 26 May 1984, when it merged with Buster. ... Current Radio Times logo Radio Times is the BBCs weekly television and radio programme listings magazine. ...

There were 14 short story books and novels, some of which were written or co-written by series creator Phil Redmond, but which also involved authors such as Robert Leeson and Jan Needle. Below is a full list of Grange Hill short story books and novels: Phil Redmond (born 1949 in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom) is a British television producer and scriptwriter. ... Jan Needle (Full name James Albert Needle) is an English author born in 1943. ...

1. Grange Hill Stories, by Phil Redmond. First published by the BBC in 1979. Short stories. For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...

2. Grange Hill Rules O.K.?, by Robert Leeson. Published by Fontana Lions in 1980. The first Grange Hill novel.

3. Grange Hill Goes Wild, by Robert Leeson. Published by Fontana Lions in 1980. Novel

4. Grange Hill for Sale by Robert Leeson. Published by Fontana Lions in 1981. Novel

5. Tucker and Co., by Phil Redmond. Published by Fontana Lions in 1982. Novel

6. Grange Hill Home and Away by Robert Leeson. Published by Fontana Lions in 1982. Novel

7. Great Days at Grange Hill, by Jan Needle. Published by Fontana Lions in 1984. Short stories that form a sort of prequel to Grange Hill Stories.

8. Grange Hill After Hours, by Phil Redmond. Published by Magnet in 1986. Novel

9. Grange Hill Graffiti, by Phil Redmond. Published by Magnet in 1986. Novel

10. Grange Hill On the Run, by Phil Redmond. Published by Magnet in 1986. Novel

11. Grange Hill Heroes, by Phil Redmond and David Angus. Published by Magnet in 1987. Novel

12. Grange Hill Rebels, by Phil Redmond and David Angus. Published by Magnet in 1987. Novel

13. Grange Hill Partners, by Phil Redmond and David Angus. Published by Magnet in 1988. Novel

14. Ziggy's Working Holiday, by Phil Redmond and Margaret Simpson. Published by Magnet in 1988. Novel

DVD release

Two DVD box sets covering the first four series were released on 12 November 2007. There are no subtitles, episodes are in full screen and both box sets come with a booklet detailing each episode. is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

References

BBC News website in June 2007. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... TV Heaven is a program that airs on WLCB- tv on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Grange Hill Online
• Phil Redmond's Grange Hill site
• The Grange Hill Blackboard (Grange Hill Discussion Forums)
• Grange Hill at the BBC Programme Catalogue
• Grange Hill at the Internet Movie Database
• British Film Institute Screen Online
• The Museum of Broadcast Communications