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Why
are there few pictures of the current cast on GH Online?
How many head teachers has Grange Hill had?
What about deputy heads?
...And caretakers?
How many rival schools does Grange Hill have?
Who was that black girl who made a fuss of Roland. Not Michelle Gayle?
Who is Grange Hill's longest serving character?
What about the pupils - who lasted longest?
Which Grange Hill pupils died?
One girl got pregnant - who?
Wasn't there also a lad who took heroin?
  How
many head teachers has Grange Hill had?
Although Grange Hill didn't hit our screens until 1978, the school
probably went comprehensive around 1974. The head teachers have
been Mr Starling (1974-78),
Mr Llewelyn (1979-80),
Mrs McClusky (1981-84 and 1986-91),
Mr Humphries (1985-86), Mrs
Keele (1992-94), Mr McNab
(1995-97), Mr Robson (1998-2003)
and Mrs Bassinger (2005-2007).
Mrs McClusky is the head most people remember, but Mr McNab was
never seen. The new (and last) headmistress for Series 31 is Miss
Gayle, previously deputy head.
What
about deputy heads?
Mr Keating was the first, between 1979 and 1984. After the merger
Mrs McClusky
was demoted to deputy head but got the top job back after Mr Humphries
was killed in a road accident. Mr Baxter was acting deputy
head in 1986, a job filled by Mr
Bronson from 1987 to 1989. Businessman-like Mr
Hargreaves took over in 1990; when he became acting head in
1992, Mr Robson
filled in as deputy. Following the appointment of Mr McNab in 1995,
Mr Robson became deputy head proper until 1998, when he finally became
headmaster. His deputy was Mrs Holmes; a second deputy, Mr
Deverill, was appointed in 2002. New deputy head for 2007
was Miss Gayle,
played by Cathy Tyson, who has now been promoted to the top job. Mr
McDonnell will be her deputy.
...And
caretakers?
Six to date - Mr Garfield (1978-80), Mr Thomson (1981-82),
Mr Griffiths (1985-1992), Dave Greenman (1993-1995),
Russell Joseph (1996-98) and incumbent Wally
Scott. Russell was Grange Hill's caretaker until 2003 but
stopped appearing on screen in 1998 - now Wally has stopped appearing!
His screen presence has been superceded by ex-pupil Taylor
Mitchell, assistant caretaker in Series 30 but who has now
left the show. The period from 1983-85 was caretaker-free!
How
many rival schools does Grange Hill have?
There have been several. Until 1984 the Hill's main rivals were Brookdale,
the former secondary modern, and posh boy's school Rodney Bennett.
They merged with Grange Hill in 1985. Grange Hill's current rivals,
St Joseph's, first emerged in 1986. There's also Leaburn and
Oakwood.
Who was that black girl who made a fuss
of Roland?
She was Janet St Clair, a sensible, caring girl in Roland's
class who was very persistent with Roland, despite his frequent
ungratefulness. Janet was played by Simone Nylander (right), not
Michelle Gayle who joined Grange Hill later as Fiona Wilson.
Who
is Grange Hill's longest serving character?
Not Mrs McClusky as you might expect. That honour goes to Mr
Robson (played by Stuart Organ) who joined Grange Hill in
1988. Mr Robson was last seen in 2003, but had worked his way up from
head of sport to headmaster.
What
about the pupils - who lasted longest?
Until 2001, no pupil had been in Grange Hill for more than seven
years (eight series). The first to complete seven years in 1991
were Calley Donnington
and Trevor Cleaver.
The longest-serving pupils of all time are Colin
Brown and Arnie
Arnold (Colin Ridgewell
and Aidan J. David), who appeared
in nine series from 1994 to 2001. Ray (Kelly George) also did nine
series, but only three as a pupil.
Which
Grange Hill pupils died?
A few, sadly. The first was Antoni Karamonopolis (1980 - fell
from top of precinct car park). Then Jeremy Irvine (1984 -
drowned in school pool), Danny
Kendall (1989 - unspecified brain illness), Judi
Jeffreys (1999 - fell from burning store room) and most recently
Baz Wainwright (2007
- hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). Headmaster Mr Humphries died
in a car crash in 1986 and Liam Brady, Justine's boyfriend
from St Joe's, succumbed in a road accident in 1992. A handful of
pupils attempted suicide, only to think again or be rescued. Arnie
almost threw himself from a block of flats in 2000 - fighting the
realisation that he was newly epileptic - and in 2005 Alex
Pickering dived into the school pool to escape torment about
his size. He was rescued by Baz and Spencer.
One
girl got pregnant - who?
Three, actually! The first and best-known was Chrissy Mainwaring,
Fred's sister and girlfriend of Ted Fisk. After a whirlwind
summer romance Chrissy found herself in the club in Year 10, and
gave birth to son Jay the following year. A further pregnancy happened
in 2000 when sixth former Evelyn Wright embarked on a torrid
affair with student teacher Simon Watson. Their baby girl was born
the following year, and the couple moved away. In 2007, perennially
lonely Emma Bolton
was swept off her feet by traveller Kyle Brown and when he
left for Spain, she was left pregnant with his baby. Emma visited
an abortion clinic but it's not clear if she went through with the
termination.
Wasn't there also a lad who took heroin?
Yes, he was Zammo
Maguire. He sank into drugs during Series 9 (1986) and the
following year we saw Zammo fight his demons and return to school.
Zammo's story had to overcome a hostile reception from the tabloid
press but remains the most fondly-remembered to this day. So successful
was the Zammo saga it was even praised in the Commons by MPs - usually
the first to complain about Grange Hill! It also inspired the release
of Grange Hill's "Just Say No" single in April 1986 which
raised £103, 313 for the Standing Conference on Drug Abuse
(SCODA). The cast met America's First Lady, Nancy Reagan, in
May that year. Mrs Reagan had been closely involved with the American
"Just Say No" campaign and had become aware of Grange
Hill's anti-drugs campaign.
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