New school Grange Hill set to target under-12s

The next 20-part series, to air on BBC1 in spring 2008, will focus solely on eight to 14-year-old characters and will dispense with ongoing storylines in favour of a more episodic structure. Topics that touch on sensitive but universal issues such as child abuse and teen pregnancy will still appear but in a more subtle way.

In a further departure, the show will move away from pure naturalism with fantasy sequences. One episode of the forthcoming season involves a child becoming a skateboarding superhero freedom fighter and is filmed like a graphic novel.

The BBC ordered the changes to comply with its new commissioning structure for children’s shows, in which all programmes in the CBBC weekday afternoon slot must be suitable for children aged six to 12. Teen-oriented shows now appear on new Saturday afternoon strand Switch, while CBeebies will continue to target children under the age of six.

Next year marks Grange Hill’s 30th anniversary and the final year of Lime Pictures’ current three-year contract to produce it for the BBC. The two parties are in talks about the show’s long-term future and the overhaul will be watched closely to see if it retains the younger audience. Lime Pictures creative director Tony Wood said the BBC’s request posed major challenges. “Since the early 1980s, the show has drifted towards the sixth form,” he said. “It has tackled difficult issues. It follows a rite of passage for its adolescent characters as well as its audience.”

Younger characters will be introduced through a “creative learning centre”, in which primary school children work with older pupils. Despite skewing younger and lighter, it will still cover sensitive topics. “We didn’t want to move too far away from the programme’s intentions and will still cover things like teenage pregnancy and losing your virginity, but these will have to be told through the eyes of younger characters and usually within a comic framework,” added Wood.

Controller of BBC children’s programmes Richard Deverell added that storylines solely of interest to older viewers such as preparing for university were out, but promised: “We can still do crunchy, weighty issues in a careful way.” Wood and producer Dave Hanson drew up the new format in consultation with Grange Hill creator Phil Redmond. “It’s something Phil thought long and hard about as more than anything, even Brookside, Grange Hill is his baby. It was important that he was comfortable with what we were doing,” he said.

Old school tune

One sign that Grange Hill is staying true to its roots is the restoration of the original theme tune, coupled with a “pop art” update of its comic-book style opening credits.
“It says that it’s bouncy and jaunty in ways that subsequent themes weren’t, which fits the new tone,” said Tony Wood.

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