Grange Hill creator wants to bring show back

\'Grange Hill\' creator Phil Redmond wants to revive the show with the original cast.

The 70-year-old screenwriter believes the programme - famous for its gritty storylines of drug abuse, homelessness, sexual assault and cancer - would make a cultural impact and wants to reunite the cast as parents or grandparents who return to save the school.

Speaking to Radio Times magazine about potential plot ideas for a revival, Phil said: "Yes, it could have fallen into Ofsted special measures and be threatened with closure. But a few of the old characters, who are now parents, or even grandparents, come together to save it as a \'community school\'.

"Zammo could lead the campaign, remembering how his friends at school brought him back from the brink."

The 1978 BBC show was one of the longest-running shows on TV when it wrapped in 2008 and kick-started the careers of several soap stars, Todd Carty and Letitia Dean (EastEnders), Danny Miller (Emmerdale), John Pickard (Hollyoaks) and Brian Capron (Coronation Street).

Now, Phil wants to get the gang back together again for an updated series that could tackle knife crime, gang violence and homophobia.

He added: "All of them, plus Extinction Rebellion and the cult of Greta Thunberg. But underscoring them would be the root causes like self-worth, bullying, loneliness and isolation. Now, though, they\'d be illustrated through the pressures of social media."

Former \'Grange Hill\' star Lee MacDonald - who played Zammo McGuire - wont let his children watch his character\'s dark drug addiction episodes.

The 51-year-old actor played the student in the hit children\'s drama series between 1982 and 1987, and he refuses to let his stepdaughter Katie and son Harry see the "heavy" episodes, despite the programme being viewed by families.

He said at the time: "I\'ve got a stepdaughter, Katie, and a son Harry, who are both 11.

"They\'ve watched the first few episodes and they absolutely loved them - they were eight or nine at the time.

"But I stopped them from watching the drugs storyline, and they still haven\'t watched it to this day, just because I thought it was a bit heavy.

"But [when it originally aired] any age could\'ve watched it, and it was quite hard hitting. I remember there was a bit in the toilet, where I was spaced out."