Grange Hill Axed After 30 Years
Long-running children’s television institution, Grange Hill, has been axed after three decades.
The BBC has decided not to recommission the fictional schoolyard show and the final episodes will air at the end of this year.
Anne Gilchrist, the CBBC controller, said the decision to end Grange Hill‘s 30-year run was part of a move to more accurately reflect children’s lives today.
“Part of CBBC’s reputation for reflecting contemporary Britain back to UK children has been built upon [creator] Phil Redmond’s brilliantly realised idea and of course it’s sad to say goodbye to such a much loved institution,” she said.
“The lives of children have changed a great deal since Grange Hill began and we owe it to our audience to reflect this. We’re actively seeking out new and exciting ways of bringing social realism to the CBBC audience through drama and other genres.”
Last month in an interview with the Observer, Redmond said the drama had been robbed of its purpose, claiming the BBC had abandoned the 12 to 16 age group that formed the series’ core audience.
Redmond had been working to a six-year plan which would see the Grange Hill comprehensive celebrate its 30th birthday this month with more of the gritty social realism that became its hallmark in the 1980s.
However, after a change of direction by the BBC, the new series will instead gradually move away from the Grange Hill school and relocate to “the Grange”, a creative learning centre focused on multimedia technology.
Story lines will be softened and the main characters will be younger that Grange Hill‘s traditional focus, in a bid to attract viewers aged six to 12, according to Redmond.
Jon East, the head of CBBC Drama, said: “For 30 years, Grange Hill has become a byword for realistic and contemporary children’s drama. It’s now time to apply what we’ve learned over the years to some of the new ideas we’re exploring.”
Tony Wood, the creative director of Grange Hill producer Lime Pictures, added: “It has been a privilege to be involved with one of the great titles in the history of British television.”
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