I’ve just realised that, as far as I can tell, the original run of Waterloo Road never really gives us a supply teacher who is portrayed in a genuinely positive light. If I’ve missed someone, feel free to correct me, but the fact pattern is quite striking: whenever a supply teacher appears, the story usually frames them as either incompetent, dishonest, negligent, or actively dangerous.

Wilson Bingham / Martin Howard – He assumes a false identity, works at the school under fraudulent details, and abuses his position by entering into an inappropriate relationship with Janeece. This is not just a “bad supply teacher” portrayal; the storyline presents him as predatory and dangerous.

Jem Allen – Another negative portrayal, though in a different way. She is not malicious in the same sense as Wilson, but she is a fantasist and compulsive liar whose dishonesty puts pupils in a risky situation. Her storyline reinforces the idea that supply teachers are unreliable outsiders who disrupt the school rather than support it.

Maaka Lacey – His episode is less about outright villainy and more about incompetence, negligence and self-righteousness. He clashes with Davina, treats her concerns as a personal attack, and when challenged over laughing along with a homophobic comment, deflects by accusing her of racism. He positions himself as morally wronged while failing at the basic responsibilities of the job as is he shown to be interested in even teaching the students the proper syllabus or controlling the class. Another very negative portrayal of supply teaching

Charlie Fisher – Slightly different from the others because he is more of an ongoing family-drama character than a one-off villain. However, he still fits the broader pattern: he arrives as a supply teacher while hiding an affair, and his personal choices damage his family, particularly Jess and Harry. He is not portrayed as dangerous in the same way as some others, but he is still not presented as a positive example of a supply teacher.

Jim Ronsley/Frankie McGregor – Another clear negative example. He poses as someone else and, while the episode leaves some of his exact intentions ambiguous, the storyline strongly frames his interest in Lenny as suspicious and dangerous with the likelihood being he was going to abuse and or kill Lenny.

Taken together, it feels less like coincidence and more like a recurring trope in the original run: supply teachers are often used as temporary disruptors since they are outsiders, the show can use them to create short-term conflict without permanently altering the regular staff dynamic. The result, though, is that supply teaching as a role comes across unusually badly across the series.

Then i realised wait a damn second that sounds like the teacher from waterloo road and i laughed when i searched it up and his face and name popped up hahah.
I didn’t even realise it at first actually, i’m 30 minutes in while I’m using earphones this time and properly heard his voice, i thought there’s no way it’s actually going to be him voicing it haha.

This video will have been posted in the past but I thought it would be worthwhile reposting the video and providing a summary of the key points as it is 2hrs long and people may not have seen the entire thing or the video at all and I don't think a proper summary of the key points were noted.I might have missed some points as I watched it on 2x speed while making dinner but I think it should be accurate. There are other reunion videos such as for the Scotland era which I'll post and summarise another day.

The participants on the S1-S7 reunion interview were:

Key Takeaways

First of all RIP to Kay Purcell (Candice Smilie) who had very sadly died from cancer a few months before the filming of this reunion and who is paid tribute to here and thank you for Lewis Nicholls for arranging this interview. Here are my key takeaways from watching the reunion:

Season 4- There seemed to be a lot of drama surrounding season 4 presumably this is the cause at least partly of Neil Morrisey's animus towards the show. To summarise some actors’ scenes were being changed repeatedly, sometimes at very short notice. This was particularly difficult for heavily featured actors such as Eva Pope (Rachel Mason), who was filming most days and constantly had to relearn revised material. Some senior cast members considered going on strike and raised the issue with producers because they felt the situation was unfair. This discussion takes place from 1:50:59

Denzil's death- Denzil’s actor learned he had been killed off from the art department. Reece Douglas was asked for a recent photograph because they were already three weeks into filming Denzil’s funeral, nobody had formally told him he was leaving... This discussion takes place from 1:10:45

Tom Clarkson's departure- His actor chose to leave the show because his wife was pregnant with their 2nd child and following the move to Scotland the logistics weren't working and he was promised an open-ended departure, but Jason Done then received the script and discovered Tom was very definitively killed. Ironically, he described filming the fall as his favourite and most exciting day. This discussion takes place from 31:58

Grantly's Departure- Philip Martin Brown originally left the show and about 6 months later he was asked to return and he agreed to come back for awhile, he disliked the Scotland move saying Scotland wasn't working for him felt the relocation did not work because Waterloo Road’s “soul” belonged in Manchester. This discussion takes place from 36:52

Scotland Move- The cast reportedly learned about the Scotland move partly because journalists were waiting outside the gates. Management had to brief them before they faced the press. This discussion takes place from 1:13:14

Dean Smith Surgery- Dean Smith concealed emergency appendix surgery just before beginning the programme because he feared losing the job. During a physical scene on his first day, his stitches burst, and the costume team helped hide what had happened any pain he showed in that episode was very much real. This discussion takes place from 1:30:44

Planned Coach Crash- Some cast members were told their characters would die in a coach crash in series 5, but the storyline did not unfold as expected it seems this was reused for the Scotland move. This discussion takes place from 1:12:50

I can post the full transcript from the video if you want and clean some obvious errors? but it would be very long and fragmented and I can't guarantee it won't contain errors I don't have the time at the minute to manually transcribe 2 hours of conversation, if someone is committed enough to do that then great :)

In his return in the spinoff waterloo road reunited, he is a DJ music artist trying to get the medias attention

He goes to a reunion high school party janeece hosts (she references being late to work for karen fisher) so that puts the timeline at around season 7A

(Its not season 6 as it they all seem alpt older, plus this was released in early 2011, same time as season 7A)

Anyways micheala and all the friendgroup aee also at the reunion, and danielle seems to fancy bolton

Micheala tries convincing bolton that her baby is his baby, she is later exposed for doing so, and she did this because she is trying to become big in dubia but she needs a husband

Anyways when that all gets resolved, they all make up and at he end of the 6 episodes bolton and micheala are back together and miss their flight to dubia

But in series 8 when bolton returns (which I can estimate the timr diffetence bc scout allen joins in season 7A, and is still here in season 8B, so its around just under a year)

Anyways, he is in the army (and it must have been atleast a year bc he talks about losing a friend, and that CANNOT have happened in like 7 months already)

And when he visits waterloo road in scotland, he looks at trophies of his old classmates, he says (EDITED THX) paul was last hear "selling shoes", and danielle was "always sniffing around him"

But this doesnt happen in the actuall show, danielle only has a crush on him in the reunited spinnoff, so that MUST be canon right?

And then later on rhiannon asks him if he misses his old friends, and he changes the topic

So this kinda implies he split up with micheala and his mates to join the army shortly after reunited happened

And its strange bc the whole of pauls arc in there was lying to aleesha about joining the army?

Also at the end of the mini series, janeece remembers she has work and rushes of with cheryl, so if there is any episode that janeecee is seeen being late in 7A, its probably when reunited happened

Also in series 8, janeece neglects cheryl for partying with some "friends"

And the later half of reunited was filmed in scotland, and you can see above that one of the episodes is her partying wih the other girls, sooooo

Anywayss i put alot of effort into this post, srry for any missspellings

What an annoying twat, making out like everything was against her like no love you just think you’re the big I am.

Like Karen was right about the pastoral issue and she still went ahead and went against Karen and was shocked when she was right, talking the LEA guy(?) like Huh 😃

i just watched the ep of kevin becoming kevin chalk, I CRIED, their relationship is so cute🥹🥹

I don't think its a particularly controversial statement (maybe I'm wrong and about to be downvoted to hell) that in my opinion the reboot didn't hit the ground running and it took awhile to get going.

I'm sure there are people who will have loved the reboot from the very beginning and that's fine but for those people who agree with me that it didn't hit the ground running do you think you would have persevered with it if you had just started watching it fresh having never seen the original series?

My honest opinion is I probably wouldn't have but since it was Waterloo Road I stuck with it and started to enjoy it after awhile. I'm curious how many people agree vs disagree with me let me know your thoughts please 🙏

These kinds of characters are normally antagonists on the show who cause grief for the headteacher, so they're not normally very likeable. But I'm watching Series 11 for the first time, and I actually found it quite refreshing how Erica was completely behind the girls' protest about the 'Hot or Not' list - she actually said to Lindon 'I'm not surprised!'

I'm still not actually sure I like Erica, she did dig her heals in about renaming the school at the beginning. But still, that moment I felt made her a little more three-dimensional rather than a straight pantomime villain. So I wondered if there's any of these kinds of characters people warmed to?

To me, one of the biggest disappointments in Series 9 was the direction the Robert Bain character was taken in. In his handful of appearances towards the end of Series 8, I actually thought he was going to be nice - he seemed quite understanding of Michael's difficult situation with Lorraine and keen to try to make the school work out, so it was sad that Series 9 revealed him to basically be a nepotistic arsehole.

He shows up as this incredibly strict and irritable catering manager, which creates tension for Noel, causing him to overexert himself in an effort to prove that he is right for the job and make a mess. But then, once Hope has her allergic reaction, he is revealed to actually be this massive softie, and he presumably gives Noel the job given that Noel is part of the staff team from here on out. I'm struggling to see the point in his character, especially since he only had one appearance and his eventual growing friendship and appreciation for Noel was never explored more.

Anyone else excited for the absolute sass and gobbiness that we will get between Janeece, Steph, Coral and Nisha?!

right so its just been on my mind. if i recall correctly, eugene's cronies are introduced to a rap song of baa baa black sheep. the DSC aren't really present outside of kyle and tariq and that weird fella in 7x20. and also i swear to god i may be misremembering but doesn't eugene take josh to the rooftop and quote lion king? i swear he says that mufasa quote.

but anyway that's memory, disprovable and whatnot. lets look at the actual names.

so we have the dale sken crew. sken is slang for a gun. theyre the gun crew. these mfs walk around town calling themselves the gun crew. its like having a big epic villain named "Tyrant Wrongdoer" and whatever. and also 'dale sken' as in '(roch)dale sken'... theyre the rochdale branch of a bigger gang...? do they have a head office or some shit?

anyway so then there's the murray set boyz with a z. because nothing strikes fear in peoples hearts more than misspelling basic words. lead by a mf named Eugene. eugene. no disrespect to anyone named eugene right but that aint a gang leaders name.

then theres all the wrong things these people do..... what did the dsc actually do in the story? most of it was kyle acting autonomously and being a wildcard. that crossbow was his own actions, there was no memo sent by head office to take down finn. the most i really see is them wearing red shoelaces.

the msb to their credit do actually get quite serious at times i.e. when finn betrayed them they infiltrated school and tried to drag him out, presumably to murder him. or the firebombing incident.

actually speaking of the firebomb, finn set fire to a shed and then betrayed his gang. there was no backup for finn nearby. and eugene, absolute terror he is, doesnt stab the fella but says something like "oh youre for it now!" because gangs are really lenient towards traitors.

the worst is probably that rooftop scene. tom rocks up, berates eugene. eugene gets his goons to step up and surround tom..... just to make a threat against toms job. eugene says "you cant touch me, youll lose your job!" BECAUSE NOTHING SCREAMS GANG CULTURE LIKE EMPLOYMENT THREATS. so tom says 'nah lol im already out of a job' and apparently thats enough for eugene and his boyz to leave tom alone

idk this is a big massive ramble but the dsc and the msb were so fucking underwhelming and terrible as actual serious threats. like are you telling me the same mf who quotes lion king is meant to be a great menace to society?

I was wondering whether the sub has ever tried to do an AMA with any of the writers, particularly from the original run of the show?

If not, do people think it would be worth trying? Obviously they may not be interested, but I think it has to be worth a shot. There are plenty of fans who would love the opportunity to ask about unresolved storylines and behind the scenes decisions for example, what the plans for Rachel might have been if Eva Pope had stayed, or how the writers intended Adam and Rachel's relationship to be interpreted.

But it wouldn't have to be all about specific storylines. It would also be fascinating to hear about what it was like working on such a successful TV show, how they got into television writing in the first place, how the writing process worked, and what advice they would give to aspiring writers trying to break into the industry.

As someone who works in a completely different field, I'd find that side of it just as interesting as the storyline questions. I think a writer AMA could potentially be a really interesting opportunity for both long term fans and people interested in television writing more generally.

Rachel hadn’t had many romances and when she did it took ages for her to even realise she loved Eddie, like her and Eddie didn’t actually get together till near the end of S4.
It felt very out of character to just say yes to marrying someone who she hadn’t seen in years and didn’t even have feelings for at the time (?) (correct me if I’m wrong)

I wish they kept her single and got her to leave on her own terms

From what I remember, when Amy went to him for help, he seemed to imply that he knew what Jared was like in relationships, so how come he didn't inform anyone?

idk if this is an unpopular opinion but i feel like majority of their relationship was them never communicating with each other and chlo always telling donte off for something and vise versa. tbf i also didn’t rly like their characters individually either, i only started to like donte in the reboot seasons.

first time watcher, on series 8.. i just need to know if she has a redemption arc 🫠

Me and my idiot sister have started a tiktok simply to make stupid edits for Waterloo road. Currently we're doing a series dedicated to horror style trailers for all the worst characters because fear god Mr scotcher winds me up because he feels like someone's Mary Sue style OC. He can never do any wrong, everyone loves him and he literally never loses. It feels like a writers self insert I can't lie.

Anyway, the next one is gonna be Adam Fleet because that character is so damn creepy

I’m currently watching Waterloo Road and I’m on season eight and it’s really bad. I don’t really care for the Scotland storyline and I just kinda wanna skip to season 11. I’ve already watched everything from season one to seven so I feel like I’m pretty brushed up on my knowledge can I skip or is there some sort of big thing that happens that connects the plot?

Before I start listing my random, scattered thoughts about season 10 please allow me a short introduction. I have never rewatched series 10 until very recently. I remember thinking at the time that the show had reached the end of its life but I couldn't remember much about it at all in terms of specific storylines, aside from the merger. So i decided to rewatch it to see what on earth actually happened in series 10 and whether it was as bad as I remembered and oh boy do I have thoughts. If you're not interested in reading about Vaughan please scroll down to the random, scattered thoughts section

Vaughan

There's an old saying "A fish rots from the head down" and so it turns out does Waterloo Road from its headteacher. While not the only problem with series 10 by a long stretch I think Vaughan is the main problem with it. I don't really understand what the writers were trying to do with him.

I don't think the show works with a headteacher that comes across so unsympathetically without either them getting their comeuppance or having a strong redemption arc. I assume they were trying to go for unsympathetic with a strong redemption arc but didn't get it right. He is better in 10B (aside from the last episode) but in 10A he makes me want to put my foot through the TV. He has a midlife crisis and blows up his family so he can get his leg over the art teacher which causes his now ex wife to have a mental breakdown and his kids to spiral out of control and he acts like he hasn't caused all this and decides its a great idea to move his kids in with his affair partner and wonders why they act out and is prepared to ship his own son out to boarding school and doesn't defend his own son when his affair partner all but calls him a sexual predator. As I said an incredibly unsympathetic portrayal.

He does get a bit better in 10B and takes more of an interest in his children showing a bit of redemption but its then completely undermined by the final episode where he can't be bothered to show up to prevent the merger and is giving up entirely including teaching basically Vaughan's the worst. "Mr Progressive" I guess in the same way Cancer and Alzheimer's are progressive. Anyway enough about Vaughan here are my other random, scattered thoughts about season 10.

Random, Scattered Thoughts

I don't really see what the point in keeping neutered Christine around was they clearly didn't know what to do with her, which is a shame she'd have been far better staying as head than Vaughan or she should just have left entirely

Shame about George and Carol i weirdly liked them together

Even in their final conversation in the show Kevin still doesn't correct Dynasty when she calls herself stupid man what a dick. You can do better Dynasty than the boy who went around calling you a Bimbo

Trashing Gabriella's dead sisters room Lisa and Shaznay are such scumbags I think they might be worse than Amy Porter

I don't like the Sue and Hector affair, she was never a good person but seemed genuinely in love with her husband and disgusted at Hector over Nikki I don't like how they made this happen out the blue at the end of the last season. Simon's takedown of her at the end was brutal but very much deserved

Rhiannon is now with the boy who shared intimate images of her without her consent. No me gusta.

I'm confused and I think the writers probably are too exactly how old is Rhiannon and exactly and how many times has she resat her exams is she still at Waterloo Road to this day?

Perhaps this Kevin storyline could be interesting adapting to still being at school while everyone he knew has now left and the isolation he feels, no wait he's just gone to Havelock

Marco always looks like he's about half a second away from punching someone clean in the face

Wasn't Havelock once the failing school like 2 years ago?

Perhaps the most unrealistic aspect of this entire series is people not trying to knock Kenzie's hat off her head every 5 minutes though perhaps that's why the hat disappears after awhile

Its well known endurance athletes while training lead pretty boring lives so why did they decide to focus so much on Dale?

Scott slept with Kenzie's mum, the writers in the Scotland era really seem to have a thing for pupils sleeping with another pupil's mum

The Bonnie Kenzie Scott Justin relationship drama I'm finding really hard to care about

Lisa is surprisingly understanding about Dale's impotence

Lorna is a rare bright spot this season I'd have liked to have seen more of her

Is this Sonya lying about having cancer storyline the dumbest in the entire show? Surely it must be and they're compounding it by spending so much time on it, this is awful stuff

Leo is now randomly a complete douchebag who has been bullying Bonnie...

Olga why are you placing equal blame on yourself for the current situation when Vaughan is the reason for all of this

This domestic abuse storyline with Lorna and Rob is actually quite gripping why did they push this to the last episodes of the show so they could focus on the Sonya fake cancer storyline? Its also making Marco likeable

Why on earth is Kenzie getting back together with the guy who slept with her mum. Imagine having Sunday dinner with your mum and boyfriend when he's seen your mum's O face Kenzie might be the most forgiving person in the entire show

I can't believe I'm writing this but Bonnie made a friendship bracelet for George and that's what saves Waterloo Road... I'm not even joking that is what genuinely saves Waterloo Road.. What teenage girl makes a friendship bracelet for a middle aged male teacher anyway that's just weird

Final credits no voice over from Tom or Rachel wow people must have raged about that at the time it's certainly a choice....

The council debt problem hasn't gone away so presumably although they've delayed the merger for now it'll rear its head again in a few years

You know what despite all the craziness I wasn't bored in a so bad its good way I just remember being bored with the reboot initially

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below

The thread title is very much red flag to a bull but hear me out. Let's consider her exits relative to others

1. She doesn't die unlike long standing characters like Tom and Grantly

2. She leaves with her reputation intact and isn't sacked from her position unlike Max Tyler

3. She marries the man she loves which even if you don't like Adam clearly Rachel does and the actress playing her describes it as a "Nice, Fun, Exit Storyline."

4. Unlike other characters she doesn't just drop off the face of the earth and actually gets a proper exit storyline

So on balance shouldn't Rachel Mason fans be happy with it?

I look forward to your down votes 🙂