Country of origin United Kingdom Original network BBC One | No. of episodes 12 | |
Original release 18 January (2007-01-18) – 26 April 2007 (2007-04-26) | ||
The second 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 18 January 2007 and concluded after 12 episodes on 26 April 2007.
Contents
Waterloo Road's second series aired in the United Kingdom on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm GMT on BBC One, a terrestrial television network, where it received an average of 4.80 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 bullying, alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, losing a baby, an affair between a teacher and a pupil, online abuse, knife crime and drugs.
Premise
Following the events of the series one finale, it is revealed that English teacher Lorna Dickey (Camilla Power) survived what was portrayed as a suicide attempt. Her former husband Tom Clarkson (Jason Done) and previous best friend Izzie Redpath (Jill Halfpenny) are now expecting a child together, making life in the staff room very difficult for everybody and even more so when tragedy strikes for both Tom and Izzie and Lorna, who is diagnosed with MS.
The second series included the arrival of prospective school governor Roger Aspinall (Nick Sidi), who promised to invest in the future of the school in return for a seat on the governing body, having got the final decision back from the LEA at the end of series one that the school would remain open. Roger's son Brett (Tom Payne) enrols at the school and is later involved in one of the major plots this series when he starts an affair with the new, glamourous School Secretary Davina Shackleton (Christine Tremarco).
Other major plots were the drug-dealing antics of two pupils which later ends in the violent stabbing of one of the school's teachers, the alcoholism of trainee teacher Russell Millen, the bullying of Mika Grainger (Lauren Drummond) and the return of former pupil Maxine Barlow (Ellie Paskell).
The series ended with the school's board of governors preparing to make a decision on who should take up the position of becoming Waterloo Road's Head on a permanent basis.
Production
Waterloo Road was recommissioned by Shed Productions alongside BBC Scotland for a run of 12 sixty-minute episodes. The series was again set in Rochdale, England, with filming based in the same location and starting in 2006. Regularly, music was taken from the Cornish band Thirteen Senses. Due to copyright issues, some music is unavailable on the DVD release in all regions.
Casting
The second series featured a number of new characters, including new pupil Brett Aspinall (Tom Payne) and his father, the school's prospective governor and investor, Roger Aspinall (Nick Sidi), alongside Davina Shackleton (Christine Tremarco), the new school secretary. The series also introduced Zeriozha Burtt-Skeete as pupil Celine Dixon, Holly Matthews as the scheming pupil Leigh-Ann Galloway, Holly Grainger as Stacey Appleyard, a pupil with a dangerous schoolgirl crush and Ellie Paskell as Maxine Barlow, a pupil who is in trouble and who has returned to Waterloo Road.
DVD release
The second series of Waterloo Road was released on DVD in the UK on 10 March 2008, published by 2entertain. The set includes all twelve episodes on a four-disc set. The set includes special features, Miss Haydock Reveals All, and Mika's Video Diary. It was released with a "12" British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) certificate (meaning it is unsuitable for viewing by those under the age of 12 years).