The most popular faces from the early days of pioneering children's drama Grange Hill are reunited. The star has had quite a change in career, and is now a corporate events manager. I turned up for my first audition. I took it to a friend of mine who was the head of Light Entertainment at Channel 4. Bullied by others, only child Roland struggled to fit in at Grange Hill. It was a story he and some of the other cast members made up after becoming tired of being asked the same questions about it, long after he left the programme. The very first episode we ever filmed was the Chessington Zoo episode. Because I had a character mother and father on set, I did scenes with those and when you have those parent scenes youre acting with adults quite a lot. She made a brief return as Trisha in the final episode of Tucker's Luck, a Grange Hill spin-off based on Todd Carty's character Tucker. RD's first wife, Anna [Teasdale]; sharing Notting Hill Gate flat . Thats what its all about ; you dont have to be in each others pockets all the time to remain wonderful friends. Roland reported Annette to Mrs McClusky but Annette said that this was because he wasn't kind to Diane. I never thought all those years ago that we would even be friends. Roland's best friends are Zammo McGuire, Jonah Jones and Kevin Baylon and his friends are Fay Lucas, Janet St. Clair, Annette Firman, Jimmy Flynn, Belinda Zowkowski, Julie Marchant, Diane Cooney, Jackie Wright, Banksy Banks, Julian Fairbrother and Cheryl Webb. Its a shame they didnt have 45 minutes of it. Lee was disgusted with the plans and didn't sign up for the new series. . As always you can unsubscribe at any time. No, really, I just hope that they enjoyed watching Grange Hill as much as we enjoyed making it! I didnt do that to many other members of the cast, but me and Simone always did. That got certain individuals backs up. They could have had a whole night of the public voting for their favourite characters in the show. How bizarre is that? All fun! Originally, viewers felt sorry for Roland, as he was a victim of bullying at the hands of Gripper Stebson. Lee has made several TV appearances since leaving Grange Hill, including an episode of The Bill in which his love interest was played by Melissa Wilkes - who also played his girlfriend Jackie. and also made appearances on Soccer AM and Celebrity Juice. "A teacher put me up for the role and said 'Go on. Immense, immense reaction from people. The older actors had to realise that we were just kids; we werent professionals even though some people had been trained. His character became inspirational to young viewers as the character always defended himself when getting bullied. Your email address will not be published. I was like a normal school kid; I never went to stage school or belonged to an agency. We have to ask you about Rolands friendship with Janet. We gave each other Christmas presents. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. So we spent the whole evening chatting about the reunion! Sign up for the free Mirror Showbiz newsletter. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Ive come out with great experiences. [23.25] Early money-making enterprises, especially hair cutting. I cant stand listening to Careless Whisper. Thats why me and Lee do our own Roland and Zammo thing; we do music shows (mainly because my friend is the booker) but also a couple of charity nights. The show followed the lives of a school based in North London, and dealt with hard-hitting storylines following themes of drugs, racism, crime, mental health, and death. As a result, he became involved in a number of anti-drugs campaigns encouraging youngsters to 'Just Say No'. . Theres even talk of a Grange Hill convention that Im discussing with someone at the moment; a meet and greet day, with a Q and A and show some episodes. Lee MacDonald played Zammo the character whose heroin addiction provided the hard-hitting storyline and sat on the sofa next to Mrs Reagan. But Gripper's attention to Roland was slightly taken away as Gripper focused on carrying out a hate campaign against non-white pupils at the school. Roland (played by Erkan Mustafa from 1982 to 1987) is finding it hard to adjust on his first day at Grange Hill (episode 1 of series 5), and has a nasty encounter with bully Gripper Stebson. Zammo, Tucker, Janet and Roland meet for catch-up 43 YEARS after the beloved children's show first aired. Half the time people would come up to me in the street and say You should fight Gripper. He was discovered aged 14 by a talent scout while playing football in the park and enjoyed success in 1989 film The Firm, starring alongside Gary Oldman and Phil Davis. We didnt grow up too far apart; about a 5 minute walk from each other. Something went wrong, please try again later. The first 4 series of Grange Hill were released on DVD in November, but subsequent releases have been cancelled due to poor sales. Caroline 'Calley' Donnington - Simone Hyams Simone Hymas is best known for her role as Calley in Grange Hill, which she starred in from 1985 until 1991. He said: 'I basically played myself in Grange Hill. He still teams up with Lee 'Zammo' MacDonald for public appearances and charity events. Its ranging from George Armstrong (Alan) to people from much later, that I didnt even know on Grange Hill. Now I know I get more pleasure from writing than acting. 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The optical illusion will leave you stumped as it's asking people to spot the ghost hiding inside the room. A lot of fan-mail that I received was from people who had been bullied and people felt really sorry for the character, saying he should stand up for himself. with Lenny Henry as well as several episodes of Blackadder. It really bugs me. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. To me, it made no difference working with a fellow child or an adult. It was great fun; it made me the person I am today. In 1988, Alison appeared in an Eastenders spin-off called Civvy Street, set during the second world war, playing a young Ethel Skinner. Photograph: BBC Shortcuts Grange Hill Just say no! In reality, only 3 years later, we had the whole beginning of the ecstasy movement. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Thoughts with his family RIP xxx.'. Most people dont want any publicity or any press involved, but I could probably film some of it and do it as a podcast. View our online Press Pack. Whether it's Tucker, Mrs McCluskey, Zammo, Bronson, Fay Lucas, Ziggy Greaves or Roland Browning, you'll find them here! I know when Lee got approached, he thought Well, Ive got to do my research. In April 2019, it was announced that he would appear in the BBC soap opera EastEndersas Terry. Oh yes. In reality, myself and Roland are two completely different people. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. The long-running series was created by Phil Redmon, who also created Channel 4's. authenticate users, apply security measures, and prevent spam and abuse, and, display personalised ads and content based on interest profiles, measure the effectiveness of personalised ads and content, and, develop and improve our products and services. Thats another person Im meeting up with next week. A few notable people who starred in the show include Todd Carty (Mark Fowler in EastEnders ), Gary Love (Casualty), Lee MacDonald (The Bill) and John Alford (London's Burning). You can do it.'". Watch out for a Grange Hill feature in this on BBC 1, Weds at 2100. In the last ten years, fans may have spotted the child actor on Celebrity Juice, Pointless Celebrities and Soccer A.M. Erkan spoke about his time on the show: "I was just a normal child attending school. When I left Grange Hill it was only really Ricky who I kept in touch with, and Amma Asante (Cheryl) for about 12 or 15 years. While dropping his girlfriend, Jackie, off at Brookdale, Zammo is chased by Gluxo Remington the Brookdale Bully. He later appeared in Blackadder's Christmas Carol in 1988, and in Lenny Henry's sitcom Chef! He also appeared on Soccer AM and Celebrity Juice. Ann Wilson was one of Grange Hill's original female pupils and wasted no time in getting herself voted onto the school council. Grange Hill: Erkan Mustafa stars as Roland in 1983, Hollyoaks star John Pickard looks completely different over a decade after leaving show, Sacked CBeebies star Sarah-Jane Honeywell felt 'lost' after axing over naked photoshoot. Well-meaning pupil Janet makes it her mission to help Roland, but he finds her constant nagging irritating.
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