Waterloo Road series 3


The third series of Waterloo Road, a British television school drama series created by Ann McManus and Maureen Chadwick and produced by BBC Scotland and Shed Productions, commenced airing in the United Kingdom on 11 October 2007 and concluded after 20 episodes on 13 March 2008.
Waterloo Road's third series aired in the United Kingdom on Thursdays at 8:00 pm GMT on BBC One, a terrestrial television network, where it received an average of five million viewers per episode.

Plot

The show follows the lives of the teachers and the pupils at the eponymous school of Waterloo Road, a failing inner-city comprehensive, tackling a wide range of issues often seen as taboo such as death, running away from home, prostitution, child grooming, HIV/AIDS, child abuse, homosexuality, Asperger syndrome, deportation, activism, blackmail, plagiarism and assault.

Premise

This series opened with headteacher Jack Rimmer recording an emotional message for the entire school to hear, following the death of his colleague Izzie Redpath. Jack was witness to Izzie's stabbing at the end of Series 2, but it was previously unknown if she had died or not.
Jack's second-in-command Andrew Treneman was replaced by Eddie Lawson, having accepted a teaching post in Rwanda alongside Kim Campbell at the end of Series 2. Jack struggles to fulfil his role as headteacher this series, and later resigns when the school's board of governors find the school's budget has been misused. He is succeeded by Rachel Mason, an ex-prostitute who used to be named Amanda Fenshaw.
One of the major plots this series is the marriage between two pupils, Chlo Grainger and Donte Charles. Being so young, everybody has their doubts. These doubts are confirmed when Donte finds Chlo sleeping with her sister Mika's boyfriend, Brett Aspinall. When Mika tells her she never wants to see her again, Chlo runs away to Manchester, but this only causes more trouble for her and the Graingers, who are already struggling following the death of their mother. Chlo does return to Waterloo Road, but she and Donte's relationship may never be the same. While Mika does rekindle her relationship with Brett, and the pair begin to publicly fight for environmental rights.
Another central character this series is Davina Shackleton, who is accused of having a sexual relationship with pupil, Brett, and who was then forced to date his father. Other storylines included the deportation of a pupil, a plagiarism scam in the school that catches the examination board's attention and English teacher Jasmine Koreshi being accused by new pupil Michaela White of assault.
The Series 3 finale saw a fire spread throughout the school. During the fire, Davina was rushed to hospital and headmistress Rachel and contractor, Stuart Hordley were both trapped under the rubble. Pupil Chlo was trapped in the toilets, but was saved by English teacher Tom Clarkson and former lover, Donte.

Cast and characters

Staff

Pupils

Others

Recurring

  • Silas Carson as Stuart Hordley; Investor and Rachel's blackmailer
  • Chris Finch as Colin Scott; Matt's fiancé
  • Robert Angell as Nigel Hinchcliffe; Chair of Governors
  • Joel Goonan as Dominic Hammond; Pupil
  • Naveed Choudhry as Shahid Kapoor; Pupil
  • Maria Lennon as Ria Cheetham; School governor
  • Lorraine Cheshire as Fleur Budgen; Grantly's wife
  • James Rawlings as Wilson Bingham; Supply teacher
  • Fiona Wade as Sameen Azizi; Pupil
  • Sean Wilson as Darren Briggs, Sr.; Darren's father
  • Lee Worswick as Darren Briggs, Jr.; Pupil

Guest

  • Tara Berwin as Sally Froggart; Pupil
  • Antony Edridge as Claude Legard; Investor
  • Sally Ann Matthews as Alison Lawson; Eddie's ex-wife
  • Steve Money as Clarence Charles; Donte's father
  • James Varley as Ben McNulty; Pupil

Production

Waterloo Road was recommissioned by Shed Productions alongside BBC Scotland for a third series consisting of 20 sixty-minute episodes. The series was set in Rochdale, England, with filming based in the same location and starting in 2007. Regularly, music was taken from the London based band Athlete and from their album Beyond the Neighbourhood. Due to copyright issues, some music is unavailable on the DVD release in all regions.

Casting

At the end of series two, a few cast members who had previously received main billing had departed. The third series featured several new cast members, alongside several more departures. Jason Merrells starred in the first six episodes of the third series, before leaving the show. To replace him on-screen in the role of Head of Waterloo Road, Eva Pope was cast as Rachel Mason, Waterloo Road's newest Head teacher with a past. Andrew Treneman, having played Deputy Head in the first two series, was replaced by Neil Morrissey who was cast in the role of Eddie Lawson. Other new members of staff this series included NQT teacher Jasmine Koreshi and the newly appointed openly gay Head of Music and Drama Matt Wilding. Pupils introduced in the third series included popular girls Aleesha Dillon and Danielle Harker, Karla Bentham, who has Asperger syndrome, the troubled Paul Langley, Bolton Smilie and loud and proud pupil Michaela White.

Episodes


DVD release

Three different box sets of the third series were released. The first ten episodes were released on 2 March 2009, episodes 11–20 were released on 11 May 2009. All twenty episodes were later released together as a complete six-disc set on 24 May 2009. The set included special features titled: Autumn Term Scrap Book, Pupil Reports, Teacher Evaluation and a Spring Term Scrap Book. All box sets for the third series were released with a "12" British Board of Film Classification certificate.