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Grange Hill

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For other uses, see Grange Hill (disambiguation).
Grange Hill
Image:GHTITLES78-87.jpg </small>
Genre Children's television series
Running time 25 minutes
Creator(s) Phil Redmond
Starring See cast below
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original channel BBC
Original run 1978–Present
No. of episodes 559 and 2 Christmas specials
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Grange Hill is a British children's television drama series which is shown on BBC One. The latest series was first shown on the CBBC Channel. It was created by Phil Redmond (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.

The show began in 1978 and is one of the longest running on British television. The drama is centred on a fictional comprehensive school (called Grange Hill), in north London (although when filming moved to Liverpool in 2003, it ceased to have any specific location), and follows the lives of the children as they progress through school. For its first 25 years it was produced in-house by the BBC, but the reason for the production move to Liverpool was that the show is now made independently for the corporation by Redmond's own Mersey Television production company.

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swimming pool (1978; as a result of which, following letters of complaint from teachers and parents, the episode was withdrawn from the repeat season), to rape (2001), heroin addiction, and attempted suicide (2005), prompting many complaints from viewers.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.

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)". A film based on the series will be released in 2007.

In 2005, Justin Lee Collins reunited some of the cast members from the 1980s in the documentary Bring Back Grange Hill.

Contents

[edit] Trivia

  • Former cast member Laura Sadler died after falling off a building in June 2003; four years prior her Grange Hill character was killed after slipping and falling out of the window of a burning storeroom in the school.
  • The theme used for the first 12 years of Grange Hill — "Chicken Man" by Alan Hawkshaw — was a library piece 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, who 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 to that used by Grange Hill.
  • The current theme, introduced in 1990, was specially written by Peter Moss.
  • 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.
  • There have been many headmasters of Grange Hill over the years: Mr Starling (1978), Mr Llewelyn (1979–1980), Mrs McClusky (1981–84 and 1986–91), Mr Humphries (1985), Mrs Keele (1992–1994), Mr McNab (1995–1997, never seen), Mr Robson (1998–2003) and Mrs Bassinger (2003–present).
  • The show is currently partly filmed in St Hilda's C of E High School in Liverpool.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Pupils

[edit] Staff

[edit] Spin-offs

[edit] 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] In addition, 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:

1. Grange Hill Stories, by Phil Redmond. First published by the BBC in 1979. Short stories.

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


[edit] External links

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