Waterloo Road: Difference between revisions

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It should be noted that [[Economy Cast|we only actually see a few of the teaching staff]] and everything seems to happen to them. And a disproportionate number teach English. It's not specified what size Waterloo Road is (it's filmed in an old primary school, considerably smaller than most <s> high</s> secondary schools in the UK) but there are probably many more we haven't seen. There's no visible PE teacher for a start.
* There is now a Head of PE for SeasonSeries 4 and he's definitely the competitive type - he's brought in full-contact boxing and considers that the girls' football team is not trying hard enough if "it's not the winning that matters". He then abolishes said football team and replaces it with a cheerleading squad.
* 5.11 mentions 650 kids, which is pretty small for a [[The Good Old British Comp|Good Old British Comp]], but still too many for the staff we see.
 
Speaking of PE teachers, the uniform standards at this school are sloppy to say the least. Uniform standards slightly improved over the course of the first season, [[Word of God]] being that this was a deliberate way of representing the school's improvement. Of course they've still got some way to go.
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{{tropelist}}
=== This show contains examples of: ===
* [[Abusive Parents]]: [[Dysfunction Junction|Well, naturally]].
* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: Or rather just Maxine wanting Earl. Which results in {{spoiler|the former's death.}}.
* [[All Guys Want Cheerleaders]]: Possibly the reason why none of the girls complained when it was created.
* [[An Aesop]]: Frequently used, in all formats of the trope.
* [[Apathetic Teacher]]: Mr Budgen.
* [[Axes At School]]: Several times, notably in the seriesSeries 4 opener.
* [[Badass Teacher]]:
** Mr Rimmer.
** Standing up to the woman he loves and putting himself between a thug {{spoiler|with a knife}} and a student, all in one day? Who expected that from Chalky?
* [[Berserk Button]]:
** Lindsay is quick to offer a death threat to anyone who hurts her sister. {{spoiler|She means it.}}.
** And increasingly, Mr Mead tends to lose it whenever one of his students are endangered or harmed.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: The second season finale, everything seems to be going right for the school and then a teacher gets stabbed to death right before the closing credits. It was left open as to whether she was actually dead until the start of the next season, [[Reality Subtext|probably because the actress was involved in contract negotiations.]]
* [[British Brevity]]: Well and truly averted by the 20-hour Series 3.
** The opening episode of SeasonSeries 4 was 90 minutes long and there's a projected 20 episodes again this season!
** Plus another season also of 20 episodes!
* [[Coming Out Story]]: {{spoiler|Josh}}.
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* [[Crapsack World]]: One reviewer described it, not entirely inaccurately, as being set in a town that resembles a cross between [[Divine Comedy|Dante's Inferno]] and Baghdad.
* [[Dark and Troubled Past]]:
** In Series 5, we find out that Lindsay James {{spoiler|was sexually abused by her father}} leading to {{spoiler|her eventually murdering him.}}.
** Rachel Mason {{spoiler|was revealed to have worked as a prostitute before becoming a teacher.}}.
** Bex appears to have had one, from the time she was missing.
* [[Does Not Like Men]]: Lindsay has a few moments like this, {{spoiler|due to her abusive father.}}.
* [[Dawson Casting]]: Considering UK laws on child filming and the fact that the pupils are a major part of the show, it's pretty much a given.
* [[Driven to Suicide]]: {{spoiler|Lorna Dickey.}}.
** A possible [[Lampshade Hanging]] in the third season when a teacher successfully passes herself off as a student for a football match.
** Taken to the extreme with the casting of 28 year old Roxanne Pallett as a 17 year old. [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s24/waterloo-road/news/a344609/waterloo-road-casts-emmerdale-star-roxanne-pallett.html\]
* [[Driven to Suicide]]: {{spoiler|Lorna Dickey.}}
* [[Does Not Like Men]]: Lindsay has a few moments like this, {{spoiler|due to her abusive father.}}
* [[Dysfunction Junction]]
* [[Economy Cast]]
* [[Expository Hairstyle Change]]: A female teacher gets hair extensions... and then kills herself.
* [[Fake Nationality]]: Francesca Montoya is played by an Indian actress of British extraction, born in India.
* [[Fan Service]]:
** Elizabeth Berrington aka Ruby Fry, and an uncredited teacher played by a blonde extra.
** And more recently pop star [[wikipedia:Karen David|Karen David]] as Francesca Montoya.
* [[Freak-Out]]: theThe very first episode starts with the old headmaster, Mr. Vaisey, being driven to a nervous breakdown by the appalling state of the school.
* [[The Good Old British Comp]]
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Nearly ''always'' Grantly Budgen, or Tom Clarkson.
* [[Hooker with a Heart of Gold]]: {{spoiler|Rachel Mason,}}, sort of.
* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Several, namely:
** {{spoiler|Anna Camp from ''[[True Blood]]''}}
** Philip Martin Brown. who was in ''[[The Professionals]]''.
** Robson Green (who plays Mr. Scotcher the caretaker) was [[Being Human (UK)|McNair the werewolf]]
* [[Hooker with a Heart of Gold]]: {{spoiler|Rachel Mason,}} sort of.
* [[I Object]]: Donte and Chlo's first wedding.
* {{[[Jerkass}]]:
* [[Katy Perry]]: Her music is sometimes used as background music.
* [[Kidanova]]: Aiden, who manages to get two girls pregnant during series 7.
* {{spoiler|[[Kill'Em All]]: In one of the most bizzarre [[Mood Whiplash|Mood Whiplashes]] ever.}}
* {{Jerkass}:
** Ralph Mellor.
** And Lewis Seddon, to a rather extreme degree, though he eventually reforms.
* [[Katy Perry]]: Her music is sometimes used as background music.
* [[Kidanova]]: Aiden, who manages to get two girls pregnant during seriesSeries 7.
* {{spoiler|[[Kill'Em All]]: In one of the most bizzarre [[Mood Whiplash|Mood Whiplashes]] ever.}}.
* [[Large Ham]]: "Amy is NOT BANKSY!"
* [[Letting Her Hair Down]]: Chloe's hair-style goes up when she separates from Donte for a while.
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** Later, Miss Mason, who is also a [[Stern Teacher]] and a [[Non-Giving-Up-School Guy|Non Giving Up School Person]].
* [[Put on a Bus]]: Mika, who is stated on the official website to have gone to university.
* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: aA particularly ludicrous case. [[The BBC]] decided it needed to make more of its programmes in Scotland, including ''Waterloo Road''. So at the end of seriesSeries 7, the local authority closes the school. Meanwhile, a rich philanthropist and former pupil of headmaster Mr. Byrne has decided to set up a private but non-fee-paying school for local children in a deprived area near Glasgow... so Mr. Byrne decides to move there, along with most of the named teachers and even some of the pupils (the new school will have a boarding house). All this is about as realistic as an episode of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
* [[Real Life Relative]]: Steph and Dave the security guard are played by actors who are married to each other in real life.
* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: a particularly ludicrous case. [[The BBC]] decided it needed to make more of its programmes in Scotland, including ''Waterloo Road''. So at the end of series 7 the local authority closes the school. Meanwhile a rich philanthropist and former pupil of headmaster Mr. Byrne has decided to set up a private but non-fee-paying school for local children in a deprived area near Glasgow...so Mr. Byrne decides to move there, along with most of the named teachers and even some of the pupils (the new school will have a boarding house). All this is about as realistic as an episode of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
* [[Reality Subtext]]: A few times.
* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: Karla, the girl who has Asperger's syndrome.
* [[Refuge in Vulgarity]]: Paul Langley and Bolton Smillie.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:British Series]]
[[Category:TurnLive-Action TV of the Millennium/Live Action TV2000s]]
[[Category:Waterloo Road]]
[[Category:TV Series]]