Christopher "Chris" Mead was the Deputy Head and Science teacher at Waterloo Road. His father, Oliver Mead was later in a relationship with his colleague Steph Haydock.
Series 5
Chris joined the school following the merger with John Fosters School. Unlike most of the staff and pupils he is optimistic about the merger.
He has got through life utilising his boy-next-door charm and personable demeanour, but there is something more substantial behind his laid-back façade.
Designer clad, Lexus-driving Christopher is a former commercial lawyer, who abandoned his champagne lifestyle a few years ago in search of something more meaningful and fulfilling. He retrained as a science teacher and soon found himself zooming up the ranks to become Deputy Head. Chris is a favourite both among the pupils and in the staff room – no one can fault his dedication to his profession. He is seen to help student Vicki MacDonald while she is failing chemistry and skipping school in Series 5, continuing in Series 6 when her father dies. Chris also finds himself admired by many pupils after Amy Porter and Siobhan Mailey upload a video of him bending down onto the school website. Rachel Mason warns him to be more careful.
He has a brief relationship with Kim Campbell in Series 5 which is soon ended when she had a baby from a previous relationship with Max Tyler and felt the need to dedicate herself totally to motherhood.
Series 6
Chris respects his new Head Karen both personally and professionally, especially after learning about her difficult family situation and the disappearance of oldest daughter Bex. They present a united front throughout Series 6, in particular to the external criticisms levelled at Karen's new single sex initiative. But when she finds out that Chris inadvertently slept with her youngest daughter Jess before the start of term – will their professional partnership survive? Chris's whole career is at stake.
Series 7
Karen saved Chris's job at the end of Series 6, despite knowing that he'd unwittingly bedded her youngest daughter who was also a pupil at the school. This series Chris continues to blur the pupil/teacher boundaries when he becomes moved by and heavily involved with Scout Allen's impoverished family. Chris goes above and beyond the role of an educator and begins to veer into murky terrain - becoming more like a surrogate father to her. This incident made him realise that he was too involved with the pupils, so he decides to depart from Waterloo Road. Chris is last seen drinking with the rest of the staff at the pub. This is the last time both he and Karen Fisher are seen.
Quotes
- "Rachel! Hiya." (first line).
- Chris: "Finn! - you little"…
- Kim: "Chris!"
- Finn: "You're looking well old, sir."
- Chris: "You wanna keep that mouth of yours shut, Sharkey."
- "FINN!!!! AMY!!!!"
- Karen: "Why do I think I'm not gonna like this?"
- Chris: "Cos you're not."
- "The guy's a monster. If you hadn'ta stopped me, I'd still be punching him now."
- Chris: "Absolutely, I can see that, but you know, the problem is, if I come across a similar situation in the future, then...I know that I would do the same thing again and again."
- Karen: "Right. So what are you saying?"
- Chris: "Today's made me realise that I can't be a teacher any more. Don't get me wrong, I love this place, pretty much everything about it, and leaving's gonna be really really difficult, but...I can't be the deputy that you need."
- [Sarcastic] "Aww Grantly, I never knew you cared so much!" (final spoken line. Chris's actual final on-screen words are him singing along to 'Hi Ho Silver Lining' by Jeff Beck with the rest of the staff at the pub)
Trivia
- Chris was the only member of staff from John Fosters to continue working at the school past Series 5 along with Ruby Fry.