History Series / WaterlooRoad

The new headmaster of Waterloo Road, a failing comprehensive in [[UsefulNotes/FootballPopMusicAndFlatCaps Rochdale, Greater Manchester]], has to turn the school around when it faces closure. Or at least that's how things were in the first season. The show quickly developed a large revolving cast and uses the school setting to explore many different storylines and characters. The end of seasons seven saw the show move filming location and setting to Scotland where it remains based. Currently midway through its ninth season, the show has already been renewed for a tenth.

** When Grantly Budgen discovers he has incorrectly accused Harley Taylor of plagiarism, while still on kidney dialysis, he does everything in his power to make amends. [[spoiler: Tragically, the physical strain becomes too much for him and [[KilledOffForReal he dies]].]]

** Josh pushes Finn out of the way when Kyle tries to murder him with a crossbrow, with it narrowly missing him and gashing the edge of his arm.

** Series 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 get 20 episodes a piece, including a 90-minute opener in Series 4

* CainAndAbel: Barry and Dynasty Barry become this when he [[spoiler: takes a job as a people smuggler and she calls the Police after trying to help the immigrants in Barry's van escape.]]

** Bex appears to have had one, from the time she was missing.

** George Windsor becomes takes on this role [[spoiler: after Budgen dies.]] He even resigns when new headteacher Vaughn Fitzgerald introduces a number of community involvement schemes, [[LampshadeHanging Lampshading]] that there's no longer a place for a teacher like him at Waterloo Road.

** Tom Clarkson, stood up to Earl Kelly amongst others

* BigDamnHeroes: Frequently. Pretty much any time a person is rescued from danger, it becomes this trope.

** Josh has one while doing a video project about the school being built on a plague pit. He starts acting erratically and becomes convinced the staff and pupils could become infected with the Black Death. He's later diagnosed as Schizophrenic.

* TransferStudentUniform: When Waterloo Road merges with private school John Foster's in Series 5, the John Foster's kids still wear their old uniforms for a while.

** Averted with an angst and romance fuelled one from [[spoiler: Finn and Amy]]. Mr Mead swoops in at the last and stops it happening.

* TraumaCongaLine: In Series 10 Episode 3, Gabriella (now a mix of BrokenBird and TheAtoner) is put through a horrific one of these as revenge for her actions in Series 9. As well as casual bullying and chemistry teacher Sue Lowsley being a {{Jerkass}} towards her; Lisa and Shaznay ambush her in the toilets and [[Swirlie bogwash]] her several times, gatecrash her house party, swipe her phone and send a topless picture to Mr Reid (whom Gabriella had previously been a StalkerWithACrush to), and completely trash her deceased sister's room, destroying the precious few mementos that the Warks have of her.

** Gabriella utterly loses it when she discovers Lisa and Shaznay have vandalised her dead sister's room.

** But the absolute king of this trope is [[CompleteMonster Lindsay James's father]] who sexually abused her and [[CrossesTheLineTwice was planning to move onto her younger sister Emily]] after Lindsay got too old for him. [[spoiler: You can start to see why Lindsay murdered him.]]

* BadassTeacher:

** When Grantly discovers he has incorrectly accused Harley Taylor of plagiarism, while still on kidney dialysis, he does everything in his power to make amends. [[spoiler: Tragically, the physical strain becomes too much for him and [[KilledOffForReal he dies]].]]

* TraumaCongaLine: In Series 10 Episode 3, Gabriella (now a mix of BrokenBird and TheAtoner) is put through a horrific one of these as revenge for her actions in Series 9. As well as casual bullying and chemistry teacher Sue Lowlsley being a {{Jerkass}} towards her; Lisa and Shaznay ambush her in the toilets and bogwash her several times, gatecrash her house party, swipe her phone and send a topless picture to Mr Reid (whom Gabriella had previously been a StalkerWithACrush), and completely trash her deceased sister's room, destroying the precious few mementos that the Warks have of her.

** Gabriella for Mr Reid. Her opening gambit is flashing and it only gets worse from that point on.

* DawsonCasting: 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.
** A possible LampshadeHanging 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]]

* RealLifeRelative: Steph and Dave the security guard are played by actors who are married to each other in real life.

* RealitySubtext: A few times.

* ViralMarketing: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. The semi-regular appearance of WRTL 2600 and Delta streetlights in outside broadcasts makes it look that way, anyway. No, the streetlighting firm WRTL does ''not'' have any involvement with the show, despite popular belief.

** When Grantly discovers he has incorrectly accused Harley Taylor of plagiarism, while still on kidney dialysis, he does everything in his power to make amends. [[spoiler: [[TearJerker Tragically, the physical strain becomes too much for him and he dies]].]]

** Gabriella Wark. [[JerkassWoobie At]] [[CharacterDevelopment least]] [[TheAtoner initially]].

* MoralEventHorizon: Lewis when he [[spoiler: tries to burn Jack alive.]]
** Barry when [[spoiler: he starts people smuggling.]]
** Small-time bullies Lisa and Shaznay well and truly cross this line when, in the culmination of an appalling vendetta against Gabriella - see TraumaCongaLine for the full rundown - , they crash her house party and utterly destroy the bedroom of her deceased sister with sadistic glee. It snaps Sue out of being an unprofessional {{Jerkass}} towards Gabriella and even disgusts Kacey who has more reason than anybody to hate Gabriella.

** Barry Barry (who may in fact be a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, given how much he cares for his family, but his actions make this hard to credit at times).

* FakeNationality: Francesca Montoya is played by an Indian actress of British extraction, born in India.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Several, namely:
** [[spoiler:Anna Camp from ''TrueBlood'']]
** Philip Martin Brown. who was in ''Series/TheProfessionals''
** Paige Meade from ''AttacktheBlock'', aka rapper Paigey Cakey
** Robson Green (who plays Mr. Scotcher the caretaker) was [[Series/BeingHuman McNair the werewolf]]

** And Lewis Seddon, to a rather extreme degree, though he eventually reforms.

* RichBitch: Lorraine.

The new headmaster of Waterloo Road, a failing comprehensive in [[FootballPopMusicAndFlatCaps Rochdale, Greater Manchester]], has to turn the school around when it faces closure. Or at least that's how things were in the first season. The show quickly developed a large revolving cast and uses the school setting to explore many different storylines and characters. The end of seasons seven saw the show move filming location and setting to Scotland where it remains based. Currently midway through its ninth season, the show has already been renewed for a tenth.

* BritishBrevity: While Series 1 stands at eight hours, and Series 2 at twelve, the trope is defied for all seasons from Series 3 onwards.

** Possibly due to viewer backlash, this trope is defied in 7.23, when [[spoiler:Josh's drug dealer]] is shown openly flirting with him, and kisses him outside the school gates.

* {{IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Idiosyncratic Block Naming}}: Although not used explicitly by TheBBC or in promotional materials, the DVDs assign names to each series' 10-episode blocks, starting with Series 3. The first block of 10 episodes in a series is titled "Autumn Term", and the second block is titled "Spring Term". For Series 7 and 8, with 30 episodes, the final 10 episodes were given the title "Summer Term".

* BritishBrevity: Well and truly averted by the 20-hour Series 3.
** The opening episode of Season 4 was 90 minutes long and there's a projected 20 episodes again this season!
** Plus another season also of 20 episodes

* ButNotTooGay: Josh and Nate's romance in Spring Term of Series 6 was consistently less explicit than every other couple on the show. ** In 6.13, when Nate is staying over at Josh's place, what would be their first (on-screen) kiss is interrupted by the doorbell.

* BookEnds: The first episode introduces Tom Clarkson going up the school roof to help someone in need. The finale of Series 8 shows Tom going up to the school roof to help someone in need, [[spoiler: but this time, events take a more tragic turn.]]

* StrawManPolitical: Mika as tree-hugger. Seriously, that woman needs some help.

Of particular note is that revolving cast which easily stretches to well over seventy principal cast members over the course of eight seasons. The show can be reasonably divided based on headteacher, of which there have been four so far (with a fifth soon to step up). The tone especially changes with each headteacher. Initially, the headteacher was a world-weary cynic with a more idealistic deputy but the more cynical perspective tends to be sidelined, and occasionally vilified, as the show evolved.

Of particular note is that revolving cast which easily stretches to well over seventy principal cast members over the course of eight seasons. The show can be reasonably divided based on headteacher, of which there have been four so far (with a fifth soon to step up). The tone especially changes with each headmaster. Initially, the headmaster was a world-weary cynic with a more idealistic deputy but the more cynical perspective tends to be sidelined, and occasionally vilified, as the show evolved.

It should be noted that [[EconomyCast we only actually see a few of the teaching staff]] and everything seems to happen to them. And a disproportionate number [[MostWritersAreWriters teach English]]. This extends to the students as well. While the show makes use of single episode characters to explore some more involved storylines, primarily the care student cast will be involved in just about everything. It's not specified what size Waterloo Road is (it's filmed in an old primary school, considerably smaller than most [[strike: high]] secondary schools in the UK) but there are probably many more we haven't seen. Of course this can all be brushed off as [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality part of the nature of setting a television show in a school]].

The new headmaster of Waterloo Road, a failing comprehensive in [[FootballPopMusicAndFlatCaps Rochdale, Greater Manchester]], has to turn the school around when it faces closure. Or at least that's how things were in the first season. The show quickly developed a large revolving cast and uses the school setting to explore many different storylines and characters. The end of seasons seven saw the show move filming location and setting to Scotland where it remains based. Currently finishing its eighth season, the show has already been renewed for a ninth.