Waterloo Road (broadcast on BBC One, every Tuesday, at 9 pm) persists an illustrious lineage of British television drama, representing the tumultuous realm of school and teenage years as virtually inescapable. This unwavering tradition begins from the early 80’s with Grange Hill, a show notorious for its plot invariably involving somebody’s head forced down a toilet or a student’s expulsion for inhaling glue.
Following this television milestone, shows like Skins and Ackley Bridge continued the narrative depicting teenagehood as a powerful rite of passage filled with a flurry of pressures. Presently, Waterloo Road, focussed on a “failing comprehensive” school located in Greater Manchester, provides a modern take on the challenges of premature maturation – both from the teaching and learning perspective.
The newest season of the well-established show, which began in 2006 and has had multiple iterations since, is headlined by the addition of comedian Jason Manford. He portrays Steve Savage, the ambitious new ‘head teacher’ of Waterloo Road, which has been promoted to an “academy” (a term, strangely, quite distinct from a comprehensive).
Known for his dynamic and sharp-witted comedic style, Manford transfers this aptitude into his debut soap role. He, however, doesn’t feature prominently in the initial episode, as the plot focusses more on his predecessor Joe Casey (played by James Baxter) grappling with the strains of the job.
Review of Waterloo Road: A unblinking gaze into the parallel nightmares of teenage life and school adversities.
Predictably, the students also grapple with ample pressures. An anonymous troll bullies one girl through texts, bringing the threat to a personal, unexpected closeness. Other students engage in a battle in the school yard, a fight initiated purely to showcase the failing grasp of distressed and struggling Joe.
Soon, he’s bound for significant changes due to his unsuccessful decision of converting the staff room into a vast storage space, causing teachers to consider industrial action. Stepping into the commotion is Manford’s Savage, assuming the role of principal and consoling the desolate Joe by retaining him as deputy – resembling a helpless Will Riker to his Jean-Luc Picard. Simultaneously, artist, vocalist, and broadcaster Kym Marsh serves as the school chef Nicky Walters, bearing a complex history with Savage.
British dramas often evoke mixed responses from viewers in Ireland. There’s undoubtedly a substantial cultural overlap, but these programs sporadically fall flat amongst this audience. Furthermore, the British and Irish educational systems are notably contrasting in several aspects.
Yet, the trials of growing up are universal, and Waterloo Road skilfully represents adolescent struggles that steers away from exaggeration. Unlike the disappointing Euphoria – with its cast of sophisticated 30-somethings pretending as school students – the pupils in this series are distinctively adolescent contributing a realistic feel to a drama that’s near the top-league, though not quite capturing the highest viewer ratings.