Yahoo News Waterloo Road’s James Baxter reveals Joe headteacher twist
James Baxter has explained his Waterloo Road character Joe Casey will have a hard time adjusting after a change in leadership at the school.
In the upcoming series premiering on September 10, Joe will see the headmaster gig taken from him after a disastrous first day on the job.
"Joe gets appointed as head of the academy, and then realises very quickly that the nature of an academy doesn't sit with his morals and ethics as a teacher," Baxter told Digital Spy and other press.
"And then he has to adorn this corporate cap that doesn't fit his head, really. He really does try! And then it all comes crashing down."
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It's Steve Savage (Jason Manford), a representative for the trust, who steps in but it's soon becomes clear they don't see eye to eye.
"Joe's very by the book, and morally he's not ambiguous at all and he's very together," Baxter explained. "And Steve isn't adverse to breaking rules and getting the job done by any means necessary."
The actor said Joe will even suspect that he's been manipulated by Steve, though it seems the two of them will get to cooperate in the end.
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"So also after episode 1, there's a seed planted in Joe's head of 'has he been manipulated by Steve?' There's suspicion there," Baxter said.
"And then basically what happens is Joe then has to get in line, and he's just dragged along by the Steve Savage speedboat. And he's just trying to stay above water in the wake of this machine.
"But then they do start to work together. I think he sees his role and he starts to fit into how he's going to work with Steve. So I suppose that's Joe's challenge, for the beginning part of the series."
Joe is not a risk-taker, according to Baxter, and working with the more relaxed Steve won't change his personality.
"And I think for Joe, he just struggles at the beginning with how comfortable Steve is with breaking the rule book to get things done, even though it could go horribly wrong and it doesn't," the soap star said. "And Joe doesn't like taking risks like that, especially when it comes to the wellbeing of the kids at the school."
Waterloo Road airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Read more Waterloo Road spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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