The end of Grange Hill

[The Doctor]

Awwwwwwwwwwwww.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7230566.stm

-Ralph

[legios]

I'll be honest and say I didn't even realise that this was still running.

Karl

[grahamthomson]

I haven't watched since I was about 13. Like Karl, I didn't realise it was still on.

[Hero]

At least Last of The Summer Wine is still going

I will miss Grange Hill although I did'nt really follow it for the last 6 years. It looks like Waterloo Road has now become the BBC's new school drama instead.

[andrewbcalculating]

It makes me laugh that the BBC said that Grange Hill doesn't reflect real school life, so why don't they make it so that it does reflect real school life instead of getting rid of it?

|<o>|

[Nigel]

When you consider that its most famous character, Tucker Jenkins, was an original cast member and its most famous storyline, Zammo's heroin addiction, was in the mid-eighties, it makes the series seem very old school (no pun intended). So perhaps it's no surprise.

Reading up on the history on grangehillfans.co.uk, it seems that the BBC have effectively killed Grange Hill themselves, making it exclusive to CBBC Channel last year and introducing a policy of not broadcasting programmes for 13-16 year olds in the afternoon time slot. So it can't have the storylines and issues it was intended to portray, such as drugs, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, knife crime, rape, sex and disability. (These have all been addressed over the years.)

andrewbcalculating said:

It makes me laugh that the BBC said that Grange Hill doesn't reflect real school life, so why don't they make it so that it does reflect real school life instead of getting rid of it?|

I don't think they could do that on CBBC; they'd struggle even before the watershed.


It is a shame, though. It's like Doctor Who: as everyone has their Doctor, so everyone has their Grange Hill pupils. I started watching it with Zammo and co, though I remember best the Ziggy and Gonch era, in particular Danny Kendal and Mr Bronson.

They should never have changed the theme tune, that's when it started going downhill, if you ask me.

[Hero]

The other thing is that kids being naughty or doing anything at school isn't a big deal anymore. Kids have more power than the teachers and practically get away with anything. Anything that stood out years ago does'nt matter now. Grange Hill's illness was brought on by unnessesary change.

Grange Hill over a long period of time has lacked memorable characters that anyone cared about; there has'nt been a Zammo, a Pogo, a Judy Jefferies or a Tucker Jenkins to remember. It did'nt seem that long ago Tucker's nephew Togger was introduced as a desparate attempt to attract attention.

I highly agree with what Nigel said about the theme tune. The first time I ever heard that new music it felt like a completely different programme. At least a remix the old tune would have been suitable and consistent but not a completely new track. A good example in why themes should stay consistant, like with Transformers having a version of the iconic theme with each series that comes out.

[Nigel]

Whoever heard of a PE teacher becoming head?

[Deleted]

Grange Hill was a programme I never really watched as a kid because I hated dramas of all kinds when I was a youngster. The theme tune was so iconic however that bizarrely it was even used as the theme tune for Give Us A Clue at one stage.

School life has changed dramatically over the years. As Hero says a disruptive pupil isn't a big deal anymore like it was 'in our day'. It does make me wonder though. What big-scale plot are they going to pull off in the final ever episode? In the nineties there was this much talked about Australian school drama called Highbreak High and, if I recall, the last episode featured the school falling to pieces - something that Phil Redmond will probably consider but I hope he doesn't put in motion.

[Nigel]

Although he's still credited as Executive Producer, he apparently doesn't have much to do with it any more. I doubt they'll destroy the school, though, as I learned today that it was burned down and rebuilt just a few years ago.

At least it outlasted Byker Grove. I never did much care for that.

[Andy Turnbull]

I can't say I ever bothered about Grange Hill, as it seemed so out of touch with any school I'd ever been to.

Andy

[legios]

Grange Hill is one of those things that I don't recall that I have ever actually watched. I have seen opening and closing titles for it I am sure, but I don't have any memory of sitting down and actually watching it even when I was a young'un.

It is just one of those shows that I was aware of existing but never really encountered as such. It was something that I knew other folk watched I guess.

Karl

[Deleted]

The first few series of Grange Hill has now been released on DVD and I think I might get it at some point because I've got a thing for watching old programmes at the moment that I couldn't be arsed to watch as a kid. Last night music channel Smash Hits showed a run down of classic music videos hosted by Zammo and Roland probably to cash in on the recent news of Grange Hill's demise.

[Hero]

As well as acquiring Series 1-4, I caught a couple of episodes of the new series on BBC iPlayer and it is a real sad sight to see.

New Grange Hill despite having the iconic 'Chicken Man' theme back is an incredibly watered down version of Byker Grove. The series is not even set in Grange Hill itself anymore but more or less 'The Grange' Learning Centre.

Even the scouse actors make less of an effort to try and sound like they are from London which sorta pisses all over the point of the Ziggy Greaves character from years ago.

I am glad this show is now being put to death after all the stupid changes made to it. Old school GH is so superior in comparison and I hope the upcoming special with Todd Carty in is actually going to be good.

As for the DVDs it is very unlikely there will be any release of season 5 onwards due to the hard-hitting Gripper Stebson storylines which might make a few sensitive PC'ists cry in a matter of seconds. Ah well...

===KEN

[charlesrocketboy]

I'm hoping they get to DVDs on the 90s series that I watched as a lad - many of the memories have faded (like most of the character names) but then there are sharply remembered bits looming out of the fog, such as the death of one of the schoolgirls in episode 4 who'd been a major character in just the preceding series. That I didn't see coming at the time and was really shocked.

Plus the villain of the preceding series was pretty scary at the time, especially considering his key villainous act was a knife attack on another character.

[Hero]

I think the girl you are reffering to is probably Judy Jefferies.

In a sad turn of events, the actress who played her died a few years after.

===KEN

[charlesrocketboy]

I remember hearing about that.

[Hero]

I think one of the main bullies (the scottish kid) in the JJ storyline ended up being in Plunkett and Maclane and one of the hobbits too.

That was sad too about the actress (whose name escapes me). She fell off a roof or something.

===KEN

[Hero]

Last episode aired this week. It could have ended a lot better.

Roboto from He-Man made a cameo.

At least the old dog was took behind the woodshed finally.

[The Doctor]

Roboto was in it??

That's fantastic!

-Ralph

[Hero]

A Roboto figure from the original MOTU toyline made an appearance.

There is also a little homage of the first ever episode at the end.

It is possible The BBC could ressurect Grange Hill a few years down the line.

[Nigel]

They mentioned on the radio it would be on that day, then I forgot to watch it.

Ken, I like the way you put Roboto's appearance ahead of

SPOILER: Click to show

Tucker Jenkin's

.

[grahamthomson]

I totally remember a scene where some boys were in the playground timing themselves to see how quickly they could transform Hot Rod from one mode to the other.

[Nigel]

Are you sure you're not confusing fiction and reality again? Was it actually you and your friends?

Hmm... Assuming Hot Rod appeared in the 1986 series, that may be series 9. Only 1-4 are on DVD so far.

[Nigel]

Last episode available on iPlayer:

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00dmhw/

[Deleted]

I don't actually remember watching a single GH episode in my life. It was one of those programmes I remembeer as a kid that was always on but never watched. I think it was probably because I'd not long come home from school and the last thing I wanted to watch was something about school.

[Hero]

Sept 22, 2008 13:55:04 GMT @grahamthomson said:

I totally remember a scene where some boys were in the playground timing themselves to see how quickly they could transform Hot Rod from one mode to the other.

It's true, just found the clip today.

Episode 4 of season 11. According to the year 7s tranforming Hot Rod, the record time is 8 seconds.

Beat that!

===HERO

[grahamthomson]

Ken, you have validated me! Thank you!

[Hero]

Tis a shame the beeb wont release anything beyond 4. The Gripper Stebson years were some of the best episodes of the 30 year run.