simonc13

Sorry, my mistake, I meant to say the actress who played Emily James, not Linsday James! Apologies :P Yes, the feud is getting a bit tiresome now. Simon's character is so predictable.. he'll have some dodgy back story which will result in him being sacked. Sue won't be able to cope without him and she will leave. Yawn. They really need to get some decent teachers on board now, surely it can't be that hard to write in some interesting characters and make some informed casting decisions! They also need to stop with the daft, childish storylines and get back to the more gritty, darker themes. It's definitely doable, but whoever is in charge of this show always seems to make the wrong decisions! Oh well, wait and see what next week brings :)

Yes they did fall out in Series 3. Yeah haha, Nicola Walker was the psychotic character in the back of the car. Great actress. Coincidentally, the actress who played Lindsay James in Waterloo Road played one of Scott's daughters in Scott & Bailey! I think next week's episode is centred on Audrey. I like her as a character, but next week's episode is going to be a bit cringeworthy I'm thinking!

Oh you must watch Scott & Bailey - it's amazing! Suranne is brilliant, as are Lesley Sharp and Amelia Bullmore :) True, I guess Tom was more of a 'behind the scenes' kind of character as opposed to a Head. Wish he was still in in though :( Why on earth they thought it was a good idea two kill of both the original characters within episodes of each other is beyond me - there's no chance of a possible return for either of them now. If that doesn't demonstrate a culling of the Rochdale characters I don't know what does! I'm interested by the Connor/Maggie storyline, too. I wasn't a big fan of the Nox storyline, really, it dragged a bit but I admit Lula did come into her own there. Have you seen the trailer for next week's episode yet? Seems like it's reverting to being a kid's TV show again!

Sue Johnston was great in it, yes! I don't think Anne Reid was in it, are you thinking of Last Tango in Halifax? And yes - Suranne Jones would be great! She's the kind of actress who makes a show her own, in fact if I see a show is on with her starring in it I will watch it just for the fact that she is in it! I'm glad we've got Christine as head, too. I honestly think they could have offered Jason Done the role as Head, though, and it might have stopped him from leaving. Tom would have been a great Head and it would have provided continuation from the first Series when he was Jack's right hand man. Then maybe Steph could have come back, Grantly could have survived and it all would have been great! Oh well, maybe Jason just wanted out and that was that. Do you know if he chose to leave or if he was axed? Yes, I hope Shaznay gets a storyline. The pupils overall really are pretty dire - Rhiannon, Connor, Imogen, Lula, the twins, Archie etc. are all really bad characters (well, not so much Connor, but he's been a right grump this series!) The only decent pupils in my opinion are Dynasty, Kacey and Kevin, but I think Shaznay has potential.

Yes, I see what you mean about Ruby! I liked her in Northern Lights too, or was it called Lapland? The show with Sue Johnston? It was weird when she just disappeared to write a novel, I imagine Elizabeth left as there wasn't much further for her character to go. I knew Michael from Hope Springs too (off topic but I really liked that show and it shouldn't have been axed! Wasn't the actress who played Helen Hopewell in it as well?!) I never really liked him, the close-ups on his face were especially unnerving! I actually quite liked Karen, too, but I imagine Amanda Burton left the show because of the silly storylines she was given, they didn't really stretch her to her full potential as an actress. Power women are definitely the best as Heads though. Actresses such as Amanda Redman (Sandra from New Tricks) or Amelia Bullmore (Gill from Scott & Bailey) are examples who would be great! Sian was brilliant, but unfortunately she was given pretty rubbish story lines. Her husband in Series 7 (forgotten his name, PE teacher...) was such a bad match! She would have made a great Head, though. I always wonder when characters leave if it was the actor's choice or whether they were pushed / written out of it. Sian would have made more sense as a replacement for Michael, Christine felt like she had been forced into the role and only got it because of her relationship with Michael. Another Series 9 character who has potential is Shaznay - she's not been in it much yet (and she does seem a bit of a Michaela Part II) but I've actually really enjoyed her scenes so far! I wonder if she'll have a storyline or whether she'll just disappear like a lot of the pupils seem to do.

Wow, so Maureen's exit as a writer for the show coincided exactly with the show's demise! It seems pretty evident that the two things are connected then. I absolutely loved Ruby but I think that was because I like the actress Elizabeth Berrington. Plus I liked her and Steph's friendship and the arguments that Ruby had with Rachel were great because of their contrasting personalities, but overall I suppose she isn't looked back on as a WR legend. Her and Grantly's friendship was pretty good, too. I think you're right about saying the producers probably don't want Steph to come back - in fact, it seems like there has been a cull on nearly all the Rochdale characters apart from Maggie and Harley. I can't see Maggie being in it for much longer, as without Grantly I can't see her having an awful lot of story lines. Harley was really good in Grantly's final episode, but overall his character is quite dull and I can't see them doing much with him. It's mad that in just two series we've got a near-on complete new cast :o Another good idea would be for them to bring back Scout. She left to become a Teaching Assistant, didn't she? If so, there's a great window for her to return. I think the actress is in Coronation Street right now though so that probably won't happen! I know she was just a replacement for Sambuca (she came into it the episode after Sam died funnily enough!) but she was a really good character. I agree, I think the male leads aren't as strong as the female. Michael was dire, worst head by far (talk about dull!). I've seen the second half of Rachel's era, and I'm excited to see her first series as Head. Neil Pearson might be good, though, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I was going to stop watching the show but I think I'll stick with it to the bitter end as it is still fairly good now and again, and I do think Series 9 has had its good bits. I can definitely see it ending after Series 10, though. If it does end, I'd love to see a new school drama that emulates the original Waterloo Road!

Haha Liam, I'll do my best not to watch them too fast! That's interesting that Ann McManus does still write for the show, Calum. It must be strange for her - it says at the start of each show that she and Maureen created it, I wonder if Ann herself has recognised how far the show she made has dropped in terms of quality? I wouldn't be surprised if the decent episodes these days are written by Ann! When did Liz replace Maureen? I just think there's so many missed opportunities with the show these days, but that might be down to its relocation to Scotland. Grantly's furneral, for instance, was the perfect opportunity to bring back old favourites such as Steph and Ruby, and maybe some former pupils. Granted, they did bring back Tariq, but he was in just a handful of scenes so there really wasn't much point to that! I honestly think that if Denise Welch returned on a permanent basis then the show would be tons better. I'm not ashamed to admit that she was one of the best things about the show! She was so funny, but also had a real connection with the pupils that really came into its own especially with Maxine moving in with her (this is where I'm up to on Series 2 now). There's a chance she could return, but it's not likely now that the show has relocated. I'm intrigued by Neil Pearson taking over as the new head teacher, as well. He seems like a good actor. Hopefully Christine is demoted and sticks with the show, maybe goes back on the booze and has a relapse now that she's not head anymore? Her storyline in Series 8 was probably the best one. They also need to get rid of Sue and Simon! Awful characters. She is so one-dimensional it's crazy, she's like a parody of Lorna! Simon had potential, but so far he just seems creepy and try-hard.

Thanks Calum and thanks Liam! It's great to have somewhere to chat about this show :) I was wondering about Maureen Chadwick and Ann McManus, Calum - I see they wrote a lot of the Series 1 episodes together, but after that it seems that there were a lot of guest writers for each episode. I wonder if that's at the root of the show's problems? Does Ann McManus still write for the show then? It makes sense that different writers will take a different spin on characters and storylines, hence why now there seems such discrepancies between episodes. For instance, Rhiannon goes from being kind and friendly to suddenly being a bully? Christine, as good a character as she is, also varies considerably episode to episode! She seems to have calmed down a bit now, though, but there is a certain 'where do we go with her now?' question mark hanging over her character. I also forgot to say that I'm really liking Dynasty as a character, there's a lot of potential there for her to grow and develop. And I definitely agree with you about the strength of the Tom/Izzy/Lorna storyline - it's great. And Steph/Maxine and Kim/Andrew in Series 2. Contrast these storylines with the ones we have now and it's worlds apart! That's great Liam - I can't wait to start watching! I'm trying to go through the episodes slowly so I don't watch them all in one week (which I easily could!)

Yay! I'm glad I've found a decent forum to post about Waterloo Road :) I just needed to vent somewhere about how bad the last couple of series have been. I originally started watching in mid-2009 halfway through Rachel Mason's days as head and I instantly fell in love with it. The acting was great, interesting storylines, great characters (Rachel, Steph, Grantly, Tom, Ruby etc.) and I've stuck with it since. I'm also currently catching up on Series 1-3 and I'm halfway through watching Series 2. I'm just so sad that the show is now a parody of its former self. What on earth has happend? How did it go from being a brilliant, gripping drama that was must-watch TV to something little better than a children's TV show? It's crazy. I agree that it lost its heart when it moved to Scotland, but Series 6 and 7 weren't exactly great so I don't think it was just that. There just no real soul to the show now, it's become very formulaic, with shallow characters, badly thought out storylines, lack of continuation, suspension of disbelief. Watching Series 2 on DVD whilst also watching Series 9 on a Thursday has just made it so clear to me just how far the show has fallen. I'm not saying it's all bad, there have been good moments from this series - Heather Peace is brilliant, I like Laurie Brett's characters, Audrey is funny and I'm quite liking Angus Deayton. But, as a whole, it does need to be put out of its misery. To think that now all the Rochdale characters are gone apart from Maggie and Harley. They should never have done series with 30 episodes, it just watered down the quality completely. Series 1 worked great with just 10 episodes. With dramas it's all about quality, not quantity. I'm excited to watch Series 3 though as most people say it's the best of the lot! Each time I watch old episodes though it makes me sad that the show couldn't sustain that level of quality.