Fifth episode of Series 14.
Synopsis[]
Billy is witness to Dwayne being ambushed and having his bike stolen by masked youths. He recognises a chain-link bracelet that one of the assailants has dropped as the property of Schuey. Hoping the return of the item to its owner will finally get his tormentors to leave him alone, Billy hands it back to Schuey, who simply perceives this as a sign of weakness and continues to terrorise him.
Following the closure of a local school for the deaf, several deaf children, including Luca and Jared, join the school along with their Communication Support Workers (CSWs). Shola volunteers to buddy with Luca to help him settle in. Libby, initially reluctant to become a buddy, changes her mind when she sees Jared. The two hit it off immediately. Luca's disorientation is compounded by the fact that Jess, his CSW, is only qualified to BSL level 1 and not very proficient at that. A faulty radio aid increases his sense of isolation and he walks out of class. Fortunately, Coral, with some rudimentary signing skills, is able to coax him back.
Donte's misspent youth catches up with him when learns that a GCSE in Maths is required to qualify as a teacher. Too embarrassed to ask Nisha for help directly, he installs a webcam in her class to observe lessons. The discovery of the device leads to a confession and a request for help, which is agreed in return for fixing Nisha's car.
Schuey and skinhead sidekick Boz tamper with Preston's bike. When he catches them, he threatens to kill them if he finds them messing with it again, punching Boz in the face when the pair mock his bulimia. Later, Boz overhears Billy talking to his late mother via her answerphone in the toilets. When Billy throws his phone to the floor, Boz emerges from the cubicle but doesn't bully him, instead kindly handing the phone back to him and telling him that Schuey can be out of order sometimes, but that he would eventually move on to someone else, adding "you're the smartarse, stop making it so easy for him".
Billy, unable to take any more and told to stand up for himself by his dad, finally retaliates by deploying a taut-wire trap across the towpath, hoping to ensnare Schuey. Disaster strikes when it is Boz who shows up on a bike, and the collision with the wire kills him. When Steve arrives on the scene, he decides to protect his son, and unceremoniously dumps Boz's body in the canal, before the pair leave without reporting the tragedy.
Cast[]
Staff[]
- Jason Manford as Steve Savage
- James Baxter as Joe Casey
- Saira Choudhry as Nisha Chandra
- Jo Coffey as Wendy Whitwell
- Neil Fitzmaurice as Neil Guthrie
- Rachel Leskovac as Coral Walker
- Kym Marsh as Nicky Walters
- Katherine Pearce as Amy Spratt
- Shauna Shim as Valerie Chambers
- Adam Thomas as Donte Charles
- Hollie-Jay Bowes as Debs Rafferty
Students[]
- Olly Rhodes as Billy Savage
- Thapelo Ray as Dwayne Jackson
- Nathan Wood as Boz Osbourne (Final appearance of the real Boz)
- Zak Sutcliffe as Schuey Weever
- Danny Murphy as Luca Smith (First appearance)
- Matthew Khan as Jared Jones (First appearance)
- Chiamaka Ulebor as Shola Aku
- Maisey Robinson as Portia Weever
- Hattie Dynevor as Libby Guthrie
- Noah Valentine as Preston Walters
- Alicia Forde as Kelly Jo Rafferty
- Liam Scholes as Noel McManus
Others[]
- Ryan Clayton as Mike Rutherford
- Elizabeth Clare as Jess Muller (One-off appearance)
- Jude Mahon as Riley Murphy (First appearance)
