Grange Hill film is now slated to open in the UK, says creator Phil Redmond
Written byTimes Magazine
Grange Hill founder Sir Phil Redmond has announced that his long-running school drama series will return to television as a film that reflects the realities of the modern classroom. The series has been running for 30 years and is scheduled to hit the big screen in 2023.
Sir Phil told Breakfast that casting and production would begin later this year. He said some old characters might return, but the film would focus on a "realistic view of today's education."
Commenting on his plans for the film, he said, "You just go out there as honest as you can and try to reflect society for what it is, try to be as simple as possible in fiction, and do proper research. "I've always worked with a great young team to make that vision a reality.
"So we're just going to see how England is now, not what the politicians want. We will see realistically what education is today and what it means for the children who live it.
Grange Hill appeared on television from 1978 to 2008, discussing taboo topics on children's television programming at the time, such as drug addiction, teen pregnancy, menstruation, and student-teacher relationships.
"Indeed, the controversy was that we were showing real children with a real worker accent," adds Sir Phil. "That's not a particular issue; we're changing the idea that children's TV should just consist of Secret Garden and Enid Blyton."
Sir Phil Redmond is the creator of Grange Hill, Brookside, and Hollyoaks
Last month Sir Phil asked for a more severe soap opera story when he was knighted. After accepting his honor, the Merseyside-born screenwriter criticized modern programming for being "practical, undeniably," saying that soap operas were needed to "solve real social problems".
Open auditions for the Grange Hill reboot began shortly after the announcement, and one of the show's former stars Lee MacDonald, who played Zamo on the show, told the BBC he would be happy to do so.
His popular character has made headlines for his fight against heroin addiction. "The transformation from happy hero Zamo to stealing [his friend] Roland, who licks drugs off the floor in one of the scenes at the end, is horrific," he said.
"We also got to sing Just Say No at the White House," he added, referring to the show's anti-drug single, which US First Lady Nancy Reagan invited to perform in 1986.
Back in 2006, the Liverpool Echo reported that Sir Phil had a Grange Hill film in the pipeline, telling newspapers at the time that he had been considering the idea for two years and had written the script in hopes that the film would be released.
In the TV series, Sir Phil's 2022 version was written with Celine Jones, who plays the English teacher, Mr. Green. Jones joked that Grange Hill was like "a bat signal that he [Sir Phil] from Wayne Manor couldn't ignore anymore." Not sure if it's going to the big screen or live stream yet, but they're expecting the former.
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