Grange Hill the movie: Classic BBC children’s show is to be made into a film

The hit school drama Grange Hill is set to be made into a film and will hit screens in 2023.

Creator Sir Phil Redmond, who also was the vision behind other iconic TV series including Brookside and Hollyoaks, revealed he has started work on the new film.

The plot will focus on a new generation of pupils at the London school.

Sir Phil told BBC Breakfast he has been asked nearly every day for the last 15 years to bring the show back.

The much-loved children’s television series, set in a London comprehensive, told the story of characters such as Zammo, Tucker, Mrs McClusky and Roland.

Casting for the film is set to begin soon, with Sir Phil hinting that some familiar faces could be making a comeback to play parents and grandparents.

The original BBC show began in 1978 and aired for 30 years.

The groundbreaking series was praised for not shying away from hard-hitting topics, including drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, sexuality, homelessness, HIV, gun crime, disability, child abuse and cancer among other themes.

In a modern twist, Sir Phil said the movie version would look at subjects such as how children handle grief, social media and the purpose of education itself.

Discussing the pressure of bringing it back, he told BBC Breakfast: “If my hair could get any greyer it would do.

“We’ve only just started like working through the script. We go into production this year for release next year, so if anybody wants to form an orderly queue in the casting line, they can just wait a couple of months, that’d be great.”

Asked about how the new incarnation will tackle modern issues, he said: “You just go out as honestly as you can and try and reflect society as it is, trying to be as truthful as you can within the bounds of fiction, and do the research properly.

“One of the things I’ve always done is work with great young teams to actually deliver the vision so we’ll just take a look at the way Britain is now, not the way policymakers would like us us to think it is.

“We will take a realistic view of what education is like now and what that means to kids going through it.”