Grange Hill creator explains why original title had to be changed
BBC school drama had a different name ahead of its debut in 1978
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Phil Redmond, the creator of British drama series such as Hollyoaks and Brookside, has revealed why the long-running BBC show Grange Hill had to change its name.
The children’s programme, which originally ran from 1978 to 2008, followed the lives of the children attending Grange Hill, a comprehensive school in the North London borough of Northam.
At the time of its final episode, it was one of the channel’s longest-running programmes, having aired every year for 30 years and spanned 31 series.
Now, Redmond has explained that the programme originally had a different name, but was switched before the first episode aired to avoid complaints from any real-life schools with the same name.
“It was called Grange Park because that’s an area I worked in St Helens,” he recently told The Sunday Telegraph, as reported by Metro.co.uk.
“I can’t remember if there were too many schools called Grange Park, or whether there were too few, but the legal department said, ‘we’ll have everybody complaining, so we need to change it’.”
Grange Hill was often commended for its commitment to bringing difficult subject matter to the screen, while presenting it in a way that was age-appropriate for its viewers.
Topics covered on the show included racism, drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, mental health and sexual assault.
On Sunday (14 August), BBC Radio 4 aired a special show, reuniting former cast members Todd Carty, Susan Tully and Lee MacDonald to discuss their memories from filming.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments