| Throughout its run, Grange Hill has always sought to break the
boundaries of children's TV. And it succeeded on several occasions,
especially in the early days. Canteen tabletop protests, drug taking
and knifings all came under fire on "Points Of View".
The now-defunct Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) carpeted
Grange Hill frequently. Where indicated, click to read the BSC's
adjudication on a complaint made against the show. For more information
visit the Ofcom web site (details below). Here are those GH storylines
that brought out the Victor Meldrew in parents nationwide...
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Jessica Samuels (Sara Sugarman) headed
the Student Action Group, a mindless bunch of militants
calling for the abolition of school uniform and
other things. In a memorable episode, Jessica is
incensed that pupils receiving free meals have to
sit on designated tables.
So she jumps on the table demanding "We Want
The Head!" and everyone else joins in. Sure
enough, headmaster Mr Llewelyn is sent for.
Once Samuels puts her grievances to him, he abolishes
free meals tables with immediate effect.So incensed
were a few MPs by this episode it was debated in
the House of Commons. No doubt schools everywhere
put themselves on alert for copycats. Parents were
more concerned by Mr Llewelyn's on-the-spot accession
to the pupils' demands, saying this was a "weak"
stance which could undermine teachers' authority.
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Click
here to watch a clip of this protest (RealPlayer
required) |
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Having secured a climbdown on canteen
seating, SAG thought they had nothing to lose. After
Mr Llewelyn threw out proposals to abolish school
uniform, Jessica Samuels took drastic action - and
stormed Janet's office along with her cronies, plus
Trisha Yates and Cathy Hargreaves. They called the
press claiming a riot was taking place at the school,
but Mr Llewelyn talked his way out of trouble. Eventually
Bullet Baxter broke the door down; Samuels and cronies
were expelled. Trisha and Cathy managed to flee
the office but were later caught and suspended.
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The
office is torn apart! Watch here (RealPlayer
required) |
No doubt schools feared copycat sieges...
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| Pupils' champion Scruffy McGuffy
was suspended for his role in organising an underground
school magazine. The pupils were furious and demanded
his reinstatement. In the last show of Series 6
the whole school marched in support of Scruffy,
led by Claire, Suzanne and Christine. Their plan
was to storm the school hall, but Mrs McClusky was
wise to this and locked the entrances. But she didn't
reckon for Jonah who sneaked into the school and
unlocked the doors. The invasion went ahead. Then
it emerged that Scruffy was asked back prior to
the march, and pupils were furious they'd been hoodwinked
again.
The 1995 repeat of this episode sparked a copycat
protest in support of a teacher who was sacked
at one secondary school.
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Watch
an edited clip of the march. (RealPlayer required) |
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Jeremy Irvine had been winding his classmates
up ever since he moved to Grange Hill. But his final
prank ended in tragedy. While the school swimming
pool was left unattended, Jeremy threw Fay's bangle
in the water and dived in to retrieve it. Then Zammo
went after him to "whip his trunks off".
Zammo was horrified to find Jeremy lifeless at the
bottom of the pool, and raised the alarm. Mr Devereaux
pulled him out and Bullet tried resuscitating him,
but to no avail. Zammo looked on in horror.
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Jeremy's
final moments (RealPlayer required) |
Parents were upset by the graphic scenes of Jeremy's
lifeless body. No doubt teachers were up in arms
because they would never leave the pool unattended
in real life.
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| GH's resident bad girl, Imelda Davis,
is determined to get revenge on Ziggy Greaves for
pushing her in the school pond. She discovers fibreglass
in the boiler room of the old school building and,
after testing it on some unsuspecting first years,
stuffs the fibreglass down Ziggy's shirt. Ziggy's
back is so badly lacerated he has to take time off
to recover.
A copycat incident occurred at Bideford School,
Devon (the webmaster's old school!) One teacher
blasted the programme after the incident, which
injured at least one boy.
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Following the success of "Just Say No!",
Grange Hill aimed for chart success once again with
another single, Smash Head!. The new song tackled
the subject of violent staff attacking schoolchildren
- an issue which was being talked about in schools
throughout the country and which received some media
attention. The lyrics were written by Phil Redmond.
A video was made to accompany Smash Head! featuring
Gonch and Ziggy and tackling the problem humourously.
While children connected with its brash stomping
around, predictably, the adults hated it. But Smash
Head! got people talking... |
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Ahead of the storyline in which Lucy Mitchell's
mum died of an AIDS-related illness, Year 10 had
an AIDS awareness workshop and learnt how to put
on condoms using courgettes. Predictably, the girls
took the exercise seriously but Dennis and the lads
treated it as one big joke!
One parent complained to "Points Of View"
- the clip was shown in "From Grange Hill To
Albert Square" in 1998. |
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 For
most of the 1990s, Grange Hill behaved itself. But
in 1996 the show incurred the full wrath of the
Broadcasting Complaints Commission when it included
a storyline about guns.
Kevin Jenkins was desperate to be accepted and Wayne's
gang introduced him to ball bearing guns. Wayne
dared him to shoot a duckling but the gang was disturbed.
At school the weapon was found on Kevin - in his
attempts to conceal it he shot Sarah-Jane in the
arm.
The story led to uproar. The BCC panned the BBC
for showing such a provocative storyline and two
months after transmission, the Dunblane massacre
shocked Britain. When Series 19 was repeated in
the autumn, the guns storyline was erased completely.
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Watch Kevin's secret
revealed (RealPlayer required) |
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Series 23 got off to a dramatic start when Spencer's
racist dad coshed a black man in the street, leaving
him seriously injured. Unknown to Mr Hargreaves,
Spencer looked on in horror.
One viewer complained to the BSC that the attack
was presented as socially acceptable. Once again
the complaint was rejected, the Commission felt
the attack was neither condoned or glamourised given
the isolation Spencer felt as a result. Read more
here. |
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Grange Hill was the hardest-hitting it had ever
been in 2001. The sixth form were having trouble
with hardcore racist thugs, Kelly was the subject
of gossip because of her friendship with a lesbian
girl and Tom raped girlfriend Leah without realising
what he'd done.
Before the storyline involving Kelly was broadcast,
National Viewers and Listeners' Association
head John Beyer said: "They should not touch upon
lesbianism in a children's programme. This is not
a suitable subject for a children's soap opera and
I think it may well go beyond many parents' expectations
of such a series. I think this is a bit of a cynical
ploy to introduce yet another controversial storyline
aimed at keeping the programme in the headlines
and the ratings up."Meanwhile, mother-of-two Catherine
Firth complained to the Radio Times (31 March-6
April 2001), saying she was "appalled Grange
Hill was raising the topics of lesbianism and rape"
during a programme scheduled for 5pm. She added
these were issues with which her 8-and 9-year-olds
should not have to be concerned.
Nigel Pickard, the BBC's Controller of Children's
Programmes, defended the show in his reply, saying
the issues had been handled in a responsible manner
and from the child's point of view. The Broadcasting
Standards Commission also received complaints from
viewers but these were not upheld.
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Other plots not as shocking
but still near the knuckle...
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1980 - ANTONI KARAMONOPOLIS DIES
Tucker and the lads defy a ban on visiting the local precinct.
Antoni falls to his death after climbing on to the car park
roof.
Video clip |
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1981 - MR HICKS HITS STEWPOT
Evil swimming teacher Mr Hicks (a proto-Mr Deverill) knocked
Stewpot around in his class. When Baxter caught him, he whacked
Hicks who got the sack.
Video
Clip |
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1987 - SCHOOL RADIO PROTEST
Pupils hijack the school radio station and barricade themselves
in the sixth form common room in protest at closed pupil profiles
Video clip |
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1989 - DANNY KENDALL
DIES
Gonch, Ziggy and Robbie find the school rebel lifeless in Bronson's
car. |
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1992 - CHRISSY'S PREGNANCY
All soaps have done it recently, but Chrissy Mainwaring's underage
pregnancy was the first storyline of its type.
Video
clip |
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1996 - VIOLENT FILM
Series 19 opened with pupils watching a horror film showing
a school bus taken hostage at gunpoint. Precursor to the Kevin
storyline; the sequence was specially shot. |
All images from the
Webmaster's video library
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And there's more - if you can stand it! Further judgements
on Grange Hill from OFCOM - which can be found on their web
site. Click on the icon left. |
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Sinister
Sean Pearce joined Grange Hill, and used violence
to get what he wanted. His best pal Alec fancied
Judi, but she was dating Wayne. Also, Wayne saw
through Sean's evil and stood up to him.
