School drama Waterloo Road returns on Tuesday 23 September. With the whole series launching on BBC iPlayer at 6am, the new series will have a new weekly transmission pattern, with a double bill of Waterloo Road on BBC One every Tuesday from 9pm with the second episode at 10.40pm.
Series 16 of Waterloo Road marks the arrival of Jon Richardson as the school’s new media studies teacher, Darius Donovan. With tons of charm, this new teacher knows how to put on a good show, and viewers can expect his arrival to stir things up at Waterloo Road.
Richardson's casting was announced earlier this year with the comic joking that he was giving up stand up to go into teaching. It has also recently been announced that he will be fronting a More4 series in which he renovates a rundown Yorkshire pub.
The series will also introduce students, newcomer Fintan Buckard (Phoenix Rise) and Savannah Kunyo (Coronation Street) as Ben and Hope Drake, with Christine Bottomley (Sherwood) appearing as Sam Drake. They're the grand-children and daughter of Dame Stella Drake (Lindsey Coulson), who made waves as the new headteacher of Waterloo Road in series 15.
Headteacher Stella is forced to navigate a fresh set of challenges, and this family dynamic will undoubtedly alter how she manages things, as well as relationships with students and fellow teachers. With another tragedy on the horizon, the choices of some of Waterloo Road’s own will have some life-changing consequences.
Christopher Jeffers (Riot Women) will also be joining Waterloo Road as Mitch Swift, the new SenCo lead (Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator), and Jason Merells will be reprising his role as Jack Rimmer, Waterloo Road’s first ever head, who is the new school counsellor.
Both will do whatever it takes to help the students of Waterloo Road who need the most support.
This series of Waterloo Road will also feature a full on-location episode, directed by Angela Griffin (Waterloo Road). The episode will see more familiar faces return as the Waterloo Road student-body heads to the local estate to participate in a community clean-up that doesn’t quite go to plan. Lloyd Eyre Morgan, Ruth Carney, Jesse Quinones, and Mike Lacey, also direct episodes in series 16.
Known to explore real-life topics affecting teens, families and school staff today, all with Waterloo Road’s trademark mix of sharp writing, warmth and wit, the new series will explore topics including the cost-of-living crisis, addiction, support systems, mental health, exam anxiety, allergies management and grief.
The returning parent and teacher cast include Adam Thomas (Donte Charles), Hollie-Jay Bowes (Debs Rafferty) James Baxter (Joe Casey), Jo Coffey (Wendy Whitwell), Kym Marsh (Nicky Walters), Neil Fitzmaurice (Neil Guthrie), Rachel Leskovac (Coral Walker), Ryan Clayton (Mike Rutherford) and Shauna Shim (Valerie Chambers).
The returning student cast include Aabay Noor Ali (Mollie "Mog" Richardson), Chiamaka (ChiChi) Ulebor (Shola Aku), Danny Murphy (Luca Smith), Hattie Dynevor (Libby Guthrie), Liam Scholes (Noel McManus), Maisey Robinson (Portia Weever), Miya Ocego (Lois Taylor-Brown), Sonya Nisa (Aleena Qureshi), Summer Violet Bird (Tonya Walters), Thapelo Ray (Dwayne Jackson), Tillie Amartey (Stacey "Stace" Neville), and Zak Sutcliffe ("Schuey" Weever).
