Waterloo Road

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I honestly feel like the death story slowed down the series a lot. I really don’t care and I doubt the newer generation who hasn’t watched the original cares much either. It takes time away from establishing the new characters which makes some of the later choices/storylines feel a bit weird/sudden

I think they should have saved it for later on in the series
 
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Some of the acting is woeful. Scarlett is average but Tina is average too. I think that Teddy is quite good though. Definitely some nepotism and doing friends a favour even though Lisa Faulkner can’t need the money!
 
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Got 15 minutes into the first episode of the revival before turning it off and watching episode 1 of the original series lmao. This protesting stuff doesn’t feel realistic at all. I feel like the original series (in the first couple of years atleast) did a much better job of rooting the show in reality. Obviously it was always a tv show so it was a bit larger than life, but the characters felt very real. If you ever went to a rough school you could recognise them all very easily.

There’s a way to write about relevant social issues in a realistic non cringey way and imo episode 1 of this revival has failed to do that. I can’t make a full judgment call without watching more of it of course. But comparing it to the very first episode of the show, it’s like night and day. They did a better job in the first 90 seconds of setting the scene, exploring a realistic comprehensive in a deprived area, and just flat out entertaining me than the new one did in its first 15 minutes. Not to sound too old and grumpy but I feel like no one in British tv can write good drama scripts anymore that aren’t crime or police shows.
 
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That scene in episode 2 where they paraded the new uniform made me uncomfortably cringe
 
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It’s genuinely sad because in the later episodes it starts feeling a lot better imo, but a lot of people will have dropped it because of the obvious way they explored the whole racism thing and just… it’s a bit boring
 
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It’s genuinely sad because in the later episodes it starts feeling a lot better imo, but a lot of people will have dropped it because of the obvious way they explored the whole racism thing and just… it’s a bit boring
I agree. I don’t think it beats the original but it does get better
 
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It’s genuinely sad because in the later episodes it starts feeling a lot better imo, but a lot of people will have dropped it because of the obvious way they explored the whole racism thing and just… it’s a bit boring
It definitely picks up - first two eps are a bit cringe. I understand the need to expand why the school is called waterloo road now with it being a different one and the name issue is obviously to make it socially relevant. The uniform scene was genuinely bad but I think Donte's grief, Preston and Kelly Jo's stories were really decent. Dean reminded me of Seddon a bit but way more likable because Seddon was an absolute c*nt and I hated how they tried to make him likable in the third series because he was so so horrid. It's never gonna be old WR because it was also of the time as is this but it's alright and at least they aren't in Scotland 😭
 
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I’m so sick of all of these performative actions and protests by the students… and now a whole speech

I’m also not a big fan of how Coral’s story line played out
 
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I’m so sick of all of these performative actions and protests by the students… and now a whole speech

I’m also not a big fan of how Coral’s story line played out
I liked the way they did it. It was showing the kids learned from the chaos of the first episode’s protect and didn’t respond with anger.
 
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After watching all of the new series (I won’t spoil it, I caught up with them all on iPlayer) I decided to rewatch the earlier episodes
I didn’t realise how much of an ar$3h0l3 Grantly was in series 1!
I began watching Waterloo road around series 8, and I remember loving grantly and being really sad when he died .. I don’t remember him being that nasty in the later series he was in?!
Grantly was awful in series one to 3, after that he seemed to mellow and I loved him!
 
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I can’t remember how many seasons Grantly was married to his first wife but didn’t she have dementia? Maybe that’s why he was awful? Then he mellowed out when he got together with Maggie I think her name was??
I have no idea of the timeline but was just thinking maybe that was when he changed
 
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I can’t remember how many seasons Grantly was married to his first wife but didn’t she have dementia? Maybe that’s why he was awful? Then he mellowed out when he got together with Maggie I think her name was??
I have no idea of the timeline but was just thinking maybe that was when he changed
Spot on Gillybean42!

Grantly's first wife, Fleur, was diagnosed with dementia which he tried to keep quiet from the school, but juggling caused a number of stressful situations which resulted in his character becoming moody and grumpy.

After Fleur died he got cosy with Maggie who ran the school house, she stood by him when his kidney failed and I think may have offered her own for transplant. She later became the new Mrs Budgen.
 
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Yeah the Fleur story line was really sad, when she was turning up at the school and everything, poor Grantly😢 loved him and Maggie
 
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Grantly was softened to the viewer when we saw his home life as a carer. And his troubles with gambling etc. Steph was always a rock for him. And then when Maggie came along and helped him, he was softened further.
 
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Grantly’s solution to any issue in the early episodes: a boozy lunch 😏🥃



Also amused me when Max had Grantly dispose of the alcohol which Paul and Bolton had snuck into school, knowing full well where it’d end up... 😵
 
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