The first series of Waterloo Road was filmed in the Autumn of 2005, and aired from 9 March to 27 April 2006.
A common theme throughout Series 1 was the threat of the school's closure by the governors, owing to falling pupil numbers, bad pupil behaviour, and the bad publicity it had been receiving prior to Jack Rimmer's appointment as headmaster. Rimmer, formerly deputy head, became headmaster when the previous head Brian Vaisey had a nervous breakdown after 30 years at the school.
Other storylines included the death of pupil Adam Deardon in a car crash. Donte Charles, who had been driving the car involved, blamed himself for Deardon's death and was remanded into custody for three months. Donte's girlfriend Chlo Grainger also blamed herself for the death of Adam and putting her best friend Holly Tattersall in a coma, from which she later regained consciousness. Donte later receives a suspended sentence and Chlo is not charged with any crime, although her behaviour had contributed to Donte crashing the car.

The series also focused upon the behaviour of troubled pupil Lewis Seddon, culminating in him sexually harassing Kim Campbell. Jack Rimmer was furious when he learnt about Lewis's behaviour and expelled him, only for the governors to overrule him and reduce his expulsion to a 15-day suspension, but Lewis's mother then withdrew him from the school after Jack threatened to report her for benefit fraud unless she removed him. Lewis later attacked Jack in his office after school and tried to set him on fire, only for French teacher Steph Haydock to foil this plan.
Another important theme of the series was the break-up of Tom and Lorna Clarkson's short-lived marriage, due to Tom's love for fellow member of staff and Lorna's best friend Izzie Redpath, who was already having family problems with her former partner and two teenage daughters, Chlo and Mika Grainger. Finally, the LEA decides to keep Waterloo Road open for the foreseeable future.
The final moments of the first series see Lorna taking a step towards the edge of a canal.
Main cast[]
Staff[]
- Philip Martin Brown as Grantly Budgen, Head of English
- Angela Griffin as Kim Campbell, Head of Pastoral Care and art teacher
- Jason Done as Tom Clarkson, English teacher
- Camilla Power as Lorna Clarkson, English teacher
- Denise Welch as Steph Haydock, French teacher
- Jill Halfpenny as Izzie Redpath, drama teacher and mother of Mika and Chlo
- Jason Merrells as Jack Rimmer, the newly appointed headteacher
- Jamie Glover as Andrew Treneman, the newly appointed deputy head
- Judith Barker as Estelle Cooper, the school secretary
- Jeff Merchant as Brian Vaisey, the outgoing headteacher (Episode 1 only)
Pupils[]
- Adam Thomas as Donte Charles
- Katie Griffiths as Chlo Grainger
- Lauren Drummond as Mika Grainger
- Chelsee Healey as Janeece Bryant
- Craig Fitzpatrick as Lewis Seddon
- Daisy Wignall as Holly Tattersall
- Jon Ball as Adam Deardon (Episode 1 only)
- Rhea Bailey as Yasmin Deardon (Episode 2 to 8)
- Claire Cooper as Zoe Ramsden (Episode 3 only)
- Shane Zaza as Ahmed Patel (Episode 3 to 4)
- Scott Kay as Zak Walker (Episode 5 only)
- Josh Hanlon as Rory Brears (Episode 7 to 8)
Others[]
- David Crellin as Jimmy Grainger, the father of Mika and Chlo (Episode 1 to 4)
- Steve Money as Clarence Charles, Donte's dad
- Kris Mochrie as Craig Harris (Episode 3 only)
- Robert Angell as Nigel Hinchcliffe, the Chair of Governors (Episode 8 only)
- Anna Wilson-Jones as Heather Davenport, an LEA inspector with a crush on Jack (Episode 6 to 8)
Episode list[]
# | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Episode 1 | Barnaby Southcombe | Ann McManus & Maureen Chadwick | 9 March 2006 |
2 | Episode 2 | Barnaby Southcombe | Ann McManus & Maureen Chadwick | 16 March 2006 |
3 | Episode 3 | Julie Edwards | Ann McManus & Maureen Chadwick | 23 March 2006 |
4 | Episode 4 | Julie Edwards | Ann McManus & Maureen Chadwick | 30 March 2006 |
5 | Episode 5 | Ian Bevitt | Steve Griffiths | 6 April 2006 |
6 | Episode 6 | Ian Bevitt | Harry Wootliff | 13 April 2006 |
7 | Episode 7 | Jim Loach | Shaun Duggan | 20 April 2006 |
8 | Episode 8 | Jim Loach | Ann McManus & Maureen Chadwick | 27 April 2006 |