Over the course of 10 seasons, Waterloo Road gave us some unforgettable storylines and kicked off the careers of a whole generation of acting talent, with the likes of Jenna Coleman and Phoebe Dynevor among the young cast.
Even when the plot took some bizarre twists and turns, the presence of British TV stalwarts like Angela Griffin, Jill Halfpenny and Neil Morrissey as the school’s teachers, older but not always wiser than the pupils they were in charge of, always helped underpin the BBC drama’s wilder moments.
Now the series is set to make a comeback, with an eleventh season set for release later this year. Though plot details are scarce, the BBC’s then-Director of Drama Piers Wenger promised that the show will still boast “thrills and spills, unmissable characters and high drama”, acting as “the perfect lens through which to explore post-Covid Britain, from the perspective of those who have arguably been affected most: young people in education.”
As well as the likes of Kym Marsh and Peep Show’s Neil Fitzmaurice joining the show as brand new characters, a handful of familiar faces will also be reprising their roles, with Griffin’s art teacher Kim Campbell now installed at the top of the school pecking order as Waterloo Road’s latest headteacher. We’ll have to wait and see whether she’s learned anything from her many, many predecessors.
With a date for the rebooted series yet to be confirmed, there’s plenty of time to catch up with some of the other iconic cast members to walk Waterloo Road’s corridors — and with some of the weird and wonderful plot lines they had to contend with.
Donte Charles – Adam Thomas
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The first in a long line of Waterloo Road bad boys, Donte had some of the show’s most dramatic storylines from episode 1, when he accidentally killed his best friend in a car crash while joyriding a limo. From then until the end of season 4, his time at the school was dominated by his on again, off again romance with Chlo Grainger; they go on to marry, break up with, have a child together and eventually reunite. Phew. Thomas, who spent the best part of a decade appearing in Emmerdale after he finished on Waterloo Road, is one of the original characters confirmed to appear in the revival.
Chlo Charles – Katie Griffiths
Chlo, who appeared in seasons 1 to 4 from 2006 to 2009, had her fair share of drama outside her up and down relationship with Donte too — her mum Izzie was killed on the school grounds while protecting headteacher Jack Rimmer, she cheated on her husband with her sister’s boyfriend and her plan to become a hairdresser went off piste when she ended up setting Grantly’s wig on fire. Chlo will be back for the new season of Waterloo Road, along with Donte.
Janeece Bryant – Chelsee Healey
Channel 4
Trouble-prone Janeece joined in season 1 back in 2006 and stuck around until season 4, like her friends Chlo and Donte. Her time at the school involved stealing a dinosaur tooth from a local museum, scamming money through a fake school raffle, and a brief dalliance with creationism. Despite that track record, she managed to get a job as the school secretary in season 6, which aired from 2010 to 2011. Heeley went on to appear in Hollyoaks and was partnered with Pasha Kovalev in the ninth series of Strictly Come Dancing, eventually reaching the final.
Grantly Budgen – Philip Martin Brown
The cantankerous and often sarcastic head of English was Waterloo Road’s longest-serving character, appearing in the first nine series of the show from 2006 to 2013. His grouchy exterior belied a softer side, which viewers saw after the death of his wife and during his subsequent romance with dinner lady Maggie, and his final storyline, in which he developed kidney failure and eventually died before a donor could be found, packed an emotional punch.
Kim Campbell – Angela Griffin
Art and PHSE teacher Kim is set to return for season 11 — and this time she’s had a major promotion, becoming headteacher. Her first stint at the school ran from season 1 to the end of season 2 (between 2006 and 2007), with Kim leaving Rochdale to travel to Rwanda with deputy head Andrew Treneman. She returned in season 4, with a baby daughter who was later revealed to have been taken from Rwanda illegally, and eventually left at the end of season 5 in late 2009, shortly after giving birth to executive headteacher Max Tyler’s baby. Since her Waterloo Road days, Griffin has gone on to appear in shows like Ordinary Lies, Harlots and Netflix’s White Lines.
Jack Rimmer – Jason Merrells
Jack led the school from season 1 until halfway through season 3, when he resigned and decided to move to Dubai (he returned for a brief cameo later in the season, with his last episode airing in 2008). In that time, he admitted to sleeping with a teenage student, nearly got murdered, tried it on with various female colleagues and set up a scam to lure gifted and talented pupils into attending the school. Exhausting.
Eddie Lawson – Neil Morrissey
Maths teacher and deputy head Eddie joined the show at the start of season 3 in 2007, and stuck around until the end of season 4 in 2009. Why did he leave so soon? Romantic drama, naturally — after spending a whole season tiptoeing around his feelings for headteacher Rachel Mason, he started a relationship with her sister Melissa, who then became pregnant. After departing Waterloo Road, Morrissey has continued to have a string of memorable roles in shows like Line of Duty and The Night Manager.
Izzie Redpath – Jill Halfpenny
Drama teacher Izzie, the mother of Chlo Grainger and her sister Mika, appeared on the show from its first season until her dramatic death in the closing episode of season 2 in 2007, when she was stabbed by hardman Jed Seddon while protecting her boss, headteacher Jack. Before that, she’d embarked on a relationship with her colleague Tom Clarkson, who’d previously been married to her best friend. Halfpenny has continued to have a successful screen and stage career — you might have recently seen her as a spiky TV producer in the BBC adaptation of Everything I Know About Love.
Rachel Mason – Eva Pope
Waterloo Road’s third headteacher, Rachel joined part way through season 3 in 2007 and managed to stick out this poisoned chalice of a job until the end of season 5, with her final episode airing in 2010. Her reign encompassed a major fire and a disgruntled governor driving a digger through the school. Pope, meanwhile, has gone on to appear in shows like Silent Witness and CBBC’s Hetty Feather.
Max Tyler – Tom Chambers
Max joined the school in season 5 to serve as its executive headteacher following the merger with private school John Fosters, managing to bag a job after bad mouthing acting headteacher Rachel to the local authority. His hardline approach didn’t go down too well with staff or pupils, and he lasted for just 10 episodes, which aired in 2009. Since appearing on the show, Chambers has starred in Father Brown and Casualty, and is another Waterloo Road star to have taken part in Strictly, eventually winning the sixth series with Camilla Dallerup.
Tom Clarkson – Jason Done
One of Waterloo Road’s best-loved and longest-standing teachers, Tom started out in season 1 and continued on the show until season 8, with his final episode airing in 2013. As well as taking in the Grainger sisters after their mother’s death, he later learned he was the father of pupil Josh Stevenson, who joined Waterloo Road after the merger with John Fosters. His time on the show ended in dramatic fashion, when he fell from the school roof while trying to talk student Kyle Stack down.
Steph Haydock – Denise Welch
Steph, who was part of the show’s main cast from season 1 to season 5, wasn’t exactly a natural teacher, given she could barely control her classes and her exam results were always rubbish. Still, she was a popular member of staff, even if her love of gossip often got her in trouble. Her last hurrah came in season 6 when, over the course of two episodes which aired in 2010, she returned to help her old colleague Grantly while his wife was suffering from dementia. Welch went on to star in Benidorm and Hollyoaks, and remains a regular fixture on the Loose Women panel.
Maggie Budgen – Melanie Hill
Joining the school as a dinner lady for season 7 in 2011, Maggie eventually moved up the ranks as a food tech teacher and strikes up a romance with Grantly, who she married shortly after the school was relocated from Rochdale to Scotland (don’t ask…) She continued to appear in the show until it ended in 2015, keeping herself busy with her role as the leader of the school’s boarding house following her husband’s death in season 8. These days you can spot Hill on the cobbles as Coronation Street’s Cathy Matthews.
Bolton Smilie – Tachia Newall
Another Waterloo Road bad boy who was actually just a bit misunderstood, Bolton joined in season 3 in 2007 and left in season 5 after sticking around for sixth form. He quickly got a reputation as a class clown, but proved himself during the school fire, when he managed to save some pupils who were trapped in a corridor. Before bowing out of the show in 2010, he and love interest Sambuca Kelly were named prom king and queen. He later made a brief comeback in season 8, when he made an ill-advised visit to the school after absconding from the army.
Finn Sharkey – Jack McMullen
A troublemaker who joined Waterloo Road in the latter half of season 5 (with his first episode airing in 2010), Finn arrived with a bad reputation, having tried to set Chris Mead’s car on fire at his previous school. He struck up a friendship with Josh and later became embroiled in romantic dramas with a series of girls, including Sambuca, eventually finding love with fellow pupil Trudi Siddiqui. He left at the end of season 7 in 2012, travelling to Canada with Trudi. McMullen
Josh Stevenson – William Rush
Josh started at Waterloo Road in season 5 after it was merged with his previous school, and later learns that English teacher Tom Clarkson is his dad. He starts acting out after that revelation (under the influence of his friend Finn) but he and Tom eventually strike up a close bond, with his father supporting him when he comes out as gay in season 6. He continued to appear on the show until season 8, when he returned to the school to retake his exams.
Ruby Fry – Elizabeth Berrington
Food tech teacher Ruby joined the school in season 5 and, in one of the series’ most impressive career glow-ups, left at the end of the following season in 2011 to focus on her work as an author. Berrington’s career has gone from strength to strength too: she has recently appeared in HBO drama The Nevers and in BBC One’s police thriller The Responder, as well as appearing as Princess Anne alongside Kristen Stewart’s Princess Diana in the film Spencer.
Lindsay James – Jenna Coleman
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Coleman’s stint on Waterloo Road was short and, inevitably, highly dramatic: her character, who appeared in the first half of season 5 in 2009, was eventually found guilty of murdering her father, after it was revealed that her mother had covered up for her and tried to take the blame. The actress is now best known for her roles as Doctor Who companion Clara and the young queen Victoria in the ITV period drama, and will soon appear in Netflix’s adaptation of The Sandman.
Jonah Kirby – Lucien Laviscount
Jonah only stuck around for the show’s sixth season, which aired from 2010 to 2011, but he definitely made an impression thanks to a dubious storyline which involved him falling in love with his Spanish teacher then deciding to elope with her to Gretna Green in Scotland. Laviscount went on to appear in shows like Trollied and Skins, before carving out an acting career on the other side of the Atlantic, with roles in Scream Queens and Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. His biggest gig to date came in the most recent season of Netflix’s Emily in Paris.
Jodie ‘Scout’ Allen – Katie McGlynn
Coronation Street star McGlynn got her breakout role as Waterloo Road’s Scout, who comes from a troubled background and tries to provide for her younger brother by any means possible. She joined the show in season 7 in 2011, and Scout was one of the pupils to move up to Scotland with the school in season 8. Her final episode aired in 2013, when it was revealed that Scout was off to teacher training college.
Andrew Treneman – Jamie Glover
Appearing in the show until season 2, the deputy head managed to rile up his colleagues by trying to introduce policies he’d used while working in expensive private schools. He eventually decided to take a teaching job in Rwanda, inviting Kim along too, and left in 2007. Glover, meanwhile, went on to play Harry Potter in the West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Sambuca Kelly – Holly Kenny
Named after her mum’s favourite drink, Sambuca joined the show for season 4 in 2009. Although she often got dragged into conflict by her friends, she was a much-loved pupil, and the storyline surrounding her death from brain cancer in season 7 was an emotional one. After leaving the show in 2011, Kenny has appeared in shows including Shameless, Channel 4 period piece The Mill and in Kay Mellor drama In The Club.
Chris Mead – William Ash
Science teacher Chris was a former lawyer with a penchant for flash cars and clothes, until he packed it in for a career in education. He joined Waterloo Road for season 5 in 2009 and soon became a favourite among pupils and staff. Throughout his stint at the school, though, he ended up getting dragged into his pupils’ personal dramas and failing to maintain boundaries, so decided to resign halfway through season 7, with his last episode airing in 2011.
Siobhan Mailey – Phoebe Dynevor
Before Bridgerton catapulted her to superstardom, Dynevor got her breakout role in Waterloo Road’s fifth season, playing Siobhan, a student who joined after the merger with John Fosters. She stuck around for 20 episodes between 2009 and 2010.
Michael Byrne – Alec Newman
Michael was brought into the school at the start of season 7 (which aired in 2011) in an attempt to turn its reputation around. He was the architect of Waterloo Road’s dramatic move to Scotland, but didn’t stay around for long after that, leaving at the end of season 8 after a row about the school’s PRU. After quitting the show in 2013, Newman has appeared in dramas like Shetland, Showtrial and the most recent series of ITV’s Unforgotten.
Guy Braxton – Regé-Jean Page
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty
Dynevor’s Bridgerton co-star also had an early gig on Waterloo Road, though their time on the show was five years apart. The future Duke of Hastings appeared in the 10th and final series as newly qualified teacher Guy, who ended up releasing that one of his new pupils was in fact his estranged sister. His episodes aired in 2015.
Denzil Kelly – Reece Douglas
The younger brother of Sambuca, Denzil had a troubled time of it at Waterloo Road, joining at the start of season 4 in 2009 and tragically dying in a car accident in the final episode of season 7, which aired in 2012 and saw the school make its move from Rochdale to Scotland. Since his time on the show, Douglas has appeared in ITV’s The Bay and is set to appear alongside Adrian Dunbar in the upcoming police thriller Ridley.
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