# Grange Hill (1978)

> A long running British children's drama following pupils and teachers at the comprehensive school Grange Hill.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/3203

## Facts

- Seasons: 31
- Episodes: 602
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Phil Redmond
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Kim Hartman, Georgia May Foote, Lucien Laviscount, Jack McMullen, Kirsten Cassidy, Josh Brown, Lucas Lindo, Chris Perry-Metcalf
- TMDB rating: 7.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075512/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: earnest, observant, warm, grounded

## What critics say

Reviewers broadly regard Grange Hill as a pioneering, socially frank youth drama whose ensemble and issue-driven storylines gave young viewers a realistic mirror, though its later years drew more mixed notices.

## Synopsis

Grange Hill is a British children's school drama created by Phil Redmond and broadcast on BBC One from 1978 to 2008. Set in and around the comprehensive school of the same name in London, the series follows its pupils and teachers through the ordinary drama of school life, with classroom conflicts, playground disputes and small crises shaping young lives. Its ensemble is constantly rotating as characters arrive, struggle and leave, so the show works less as a single continuing plot than as a portrait of a school across many years. Staff members anchor the stories while students navigate friendships, rivalries, first romances and the pressures of growing up. The tone is earnest, observant and grounded, with a reassuring warmth for young viewers beneath its frank treatment of bullying, peer pressure, family troubles and other difficult subjects. Running to many seasons and hundreds of episodes, it became a fixture of British children's television. Viewers who enjoy Waterloo Road, Byker Grove and Teachers will find similar resonance in its British school setting and its focus on youth-centred storytelling.

## Shows like Grange Hill

- [This Is England '86 (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/31232)
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- [Brookside (1982)](https://ember.film/tv/1438)
- [Waterloo Road (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/2663)
- [Heartbreak High (1994)](https://ember.film/tv/12126)
- [Degrassi: Next Class (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/57583)
- [The Story of Tracy Beaker (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/5957)
- [Degrassi (2001)](https://ember.film/tv/1840)
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