GB News, the West End and a billion-dollar fashion label: what the Grange Hill cast did next

Have you ever speared a sausage with a fork and comedically waved it in someone’s face while singing “wah-wah wah waaah”? Perhaps followed by a Cockney cry of “Flipping ’eck, Tucker” or “Leg it, Bullet Baxter’s coming”?

If the answer is no, congratulations for being a functioning member of society. But if the answer is yes, you’re undoubtedly one of the Grange Hill generation. You might also be interested to learn that it’s making a comeback – and on a much bigger screen to the one on which you watched the landmark school drama first time around.

The mildly terrifying news emerged today that creator Sir Phil Redmond, now 72, is planning a Grange Hill movie, starring some of the original cast as parents and even grandparents. He’s finished the script, casting begins soon and the finished film is expected in late 2022.

Redmond says it will tackle issues such as education policy, school closures, social media and how children handle grief in a post-Covid Britain. Sounds a hoot, doesn’t it? Thankfully, he promises plenty of humour and naughty pupil antics too.

Back in the Seventies when Redmond devised the soapy 5pm series set at a fictional London comprehensive, nobody predicted it would became Britain’s most famous school – and later, a fondly nostalgic cultural reference point for anyone aged 30 to 60.

In fact, Grange Hill initially got flak for its gritty, unflinching look at inner city youth at a time when after-school viewing was still dominated by what Redmond called “Enid Blyton, middle class” programming.

Questions were asked in the House of Commons and Redmond (who soon created the equally controversial Brookside) was summoned by BBC grandees to justify why he was filling the airwaves with lippy yobs wearing loose tie-knots. He was forced to agree there would be no further series unless he toned things down. He duly did. At least, for a few months until the fuss died down.

Grange Hill went on to run for 30 years, becoming part of the fabric of millions of UK childhoods. Its banger-on-a-fork comic strip title sequence and squelchy synth theme tune are enough to provide a Proustian rush back to teatimes of our youth. In a recent poll of the 50 greatest children’s TV shows of all time, it was voted number two, behind only Blue Peter.

On this pioneering show – a sort of junior EastEnders – adolescent viewers saw their lives reflected back at them: the scrapes, pranks, growing pains and fumbling romances behind the bike sheds. I vividly remember watching Claire and Stewpot snogging at Grange Hill’s end-of-term disco, while True by Spandau Ballet played on the soundtrack – then going to my own school’s disco that very evening and doing the same with a Claire lookalike called Susan.

Everyone had their own heroes, depending on how old they were. There were the loveable tearaways: Tucker Jenkins and his gang (who got their own sexed-up, leather-jacketed spin-off show, Tucker’s Luck); wheeler-dealers Gonch and Hollo; laddish Zammo McGuire; and Scouse scamp Ziggy Greaves. There were the gobby girls: Trisha “Pongo” Yates, Precious Matthews, Fay Lucas, Calley Donnington and Ronnie Birtles.

There were the misfits – obese Roland Browning (“I’m trying to help you, Row-land”) or sickly graffiti artist Danny Kendall – and the bullies who preyed on those misfits, punched their BCG scabs and stole their dinner money: such feared figures as Gripper Stebson, Mauler McCaul and Imelda Davis.

Finally, there were the long-suffering teachers: hippy-dippy liberal Scruffy McGuffy, bearded PE tyrant Bullet Baxter, headmistress Bridget “The Midget” McCluskey, down-with-the-kids Sooty Sutcliffe and bewigged disciplinarian Mr Bronson.

Grange Hill’s heyday was undoubtedly the late Eighties, when it became increasingly dark and edgy, tackling such issues as racism, rape, disability, knife-crime, death and drugs. Indeed, Zammo’s descent into heroin addiction proved a better anti-drugs advert than any government campaign.

“Just Say No” became a playground mantra, as well as the title of a hit spin-off single which reached the top five. The cast even took the accompanying campaign to the White House, where they met Nancy Reagan. The heroin storyline was the pet project of then-script editor, the late Anthony Minghella, who later became the Oscar-winning director of The English Patient.

Grange Hill had passed its peak by the Nineties but limped into the Noughties, when it relocated to Phil Redmond’s native Liverpool, where the set is now used for Hollyoaks High in his other youth soap. The BBC eventually admitted defeat and pulled the plug in 2008.

Tucker Jenkins (played by Todd Carty) returned for the final episode, persuading his nephew Togger to stay on at school for another year. “If it hadn’t been for this place, I’d have been written off,” said Tucker. “You can be anything you want to be. Every year is a fresh start. Grange Hill is for everyone.”

Now, 44 years since the bell first rang in February 1978, it's heading back to our screens. The original show provided early TV exposure for some future stars, while others sank into obscurity – or, in some sad cases, tragedy. Here’s a school reunion…

SUSAN TULLY

Was: Rebellious Suzanne Ross, who broke the rules, left school early and memorably dressed up as Boy George for the school disco.

Now: Tully moved across London to become one of the original EastEnders cast, playing Michelle Fowler – who married Lofty and had Dirty Den’s lovechild. She’s since moved behind the camera, becoming a respected TV director on the likes of Line Of Duty, Strike, Silent Witness, The A Word, Britannia, Too Close and Tin Star.

LEE MACDONALD

Was: Zammo McGuire, whose descent into heroin addiction strained his relationship with loyal girlfriend Jackie and inspired the famed “Just Say No” anti-drugs campaign.

Now: Macdonald appeared in The Bill and Birds Of A Feather, before becoming a champion amateur boxer. He now runs a locksmiths in Surrey but in 2019, now aged 50, he popped up in EastEnders as a bus driver called Terry who squabbled with Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) over some Spice girls tickets. As you do.

JAMES JEBBIA

Was: Teen tearaway Tommy Watson in the debut series.

Now: After giving up acting aged 19, half-American Jebbia moved back to New York, worked in skate shops and founded streetwear label Supreme in 1994. It went stratospheric, opening 13 stores worldwide, collaborating with Louis Vuitton, Nike and Chanel, and becoming beloved by A-listers like Justin Bieber and Rihanna. Jebbia now heads a billion-dollar fashion empire.

TODD CARTY

Was: Urchin anti-hero Peter “Tucker” Jenkins, who was so key to Grange Hill's early success that he was given his own grown-up spin-off, Tucker's Luck.

Now: Carty went on to play Mark Fowler in EastEnders – on-screen brother of fellow Grange Hill alumnus Susan Tully – and villainous PC Gabriel Kent in The Bill. He memorably took part in celebrity skate-athon Dancing On Ice and was so useless, he accidentally skated right off the rink. The incident became so infamous, Carty was invited back for the 2018 “All-Stars” series.

TERRY SUE-PATT

Was: Football-mad Benny Green, a sidekick of Tucker Jenkins, who was first through the school gates when Grange Hill began and couldn’t afford a school uniform because his dad was unemployed.

Now: Sue-Patt became a street artist, then survived a car crash in which his older brother Michael was killed. He reportedly sank into depression and was found dead in his London flat aged 50, after his body laid undiscovered for several weeks.

LUCINDA DUCKETT

Was: Goody two-shoes Ann Wilson, who was voted onto the school council and stood up to bullies in the early series.

Now: A career in journalism led to Duckett becoming PR chief – sorry, “Director of Corporate Affairs and Editorial Advocacy” – at start-up channel GB News. “I tend to keep fairly quiet about Grange Hill,” she has admitted. “Acting generally helped give me self-confidence but otherwise it hasn’t made a difference, especially as I rarely talk about it.”

JOHN ALFORD

Was: Happy-go-lucky Robbie Wright: little brother to Zammo’s girlfriend Jackie, best buddy of Ziggy Greaves and something of a playground Romeo.

Now: Alford went onto star in fire-fighter drama London’s Burning and enjoy a pop career before being caught in a drug-dealing sting by The News Of The World’s “Fake Sheikh”, undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood. He served a six-week prison sentence.

MICHELLE GAYLE

Was: Fiona Wilson, who memorably formed rap duo named Fresh ’n’ Fly – Grange Hill’s answer to Salt ’n’ Pepa – with classmate Ronnie Birtles.

Now: Gayle went onto play Hattie Tavernier in EastEnders, before a successful music career as a Brit-nominated RnB singer. She married footballer Mark Bright, divorced him a decade later and wrote teen novel Pride & Premiership – a WAG-themed update of Jane Austen’s classic. She’s currently starring as Hermione Granger in the West End production of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child.

SEAN MAGUIRE

Was: Troubled teen Terence “Tegs” Ratcliffe.

Now: After stints on The Bill and EastEnders, plus the obligatory short-lived pop career, Maguire went to try his luck in Hollywood and forged a thriving career on US TV. He appeared in the likes of CSI: NY, The 100 and Criminal Minds, starred in three network sitcoms, and played Robin Hood in ABC fantasy drama Once Upon A Time.

JONATHAN LAMBETH

Was: Troubled loner Danny Kendall, who became a graffiti artist and had endless run-ins with tyrannical teacher Mr Bronson. He was eventually found dead in the back of Bronson’s stolen car, having died of a neurological disorder.

Now: Lambeth trained as a journalist, specialising in IT. He later founded his own PR firm and held senior posts at communications giants AOL and EE. He even worked a stint as tech correspondent at some obscure publication called The Telegraph.