Yahoo News Waterloo Road star Angela Griffin addresses huge change in new series
Waterloo Road star Angela Griffin has opened up on a major change coming to the soap.
Season 13 of the long-running BBC drama is set to premiere on January 2, but there's a huge shake-up coming for students and faculty members alike.
A trailer for the new episodes has revealed that Waterloo Road might be turned into an academy, something that both pupils and teachers have mixed feelings about.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Angela, who plays headteacher Kim Campbell, opened up on her character's reasoning behind the huge change.
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"She doesn't necessarily think it's a good idea," she revealed. "She's toying and playing with the idea to start off with. It gets put to her and it comes from Andrew (Treneman, Jamie Glover), who she trusts and she loves, so she's willing to entertain it and to investigate it, and to see whether it is something that would be right for Waterloo Road.
"They do go hand in hand because Andrew comes from the academy and she's head over heels in love with him. They're getting their second chance. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing and him putting that in front of her means she will entertain it.
"Whether it happens or not...there will be lots of ups and downs in terms of it, as happens with real schools. But ultimately, becoming an academy means it frees you up to teach your own curriculum and so you've got a lot more control of that.
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"You've got a lot more money, you've got a lot more facilities, you've got access to so much more. There are so many benefits to it. There are obviously negatives and we will investigate and interrogate those over the next eight episodes.
"This is the ultimate business and pleasure, but there are negatives to academies. They're run by companies and she's not a company – she's not corporate. Kim's not corporate and the kids aren't commodities.
"It's rife for a good bit of conflict there, but there will be lots of to-ing and fro-ing. It' really interesting because, again, it's happening. Waterloo Road consistently reflects what's happening in real-life education systems right now, both emotionally and with the business side of it all."
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She also spoke about the romantic dynamic between Kim and Andrew as the latest season approaches, and whether this could finally be their happily ever after.
"He's not leaving her. He just kept leaving her before but there is a lot of trust now," she said. "It's in a really good place for them in the beginning, in those first couple of episodes.
"We have set everything up precisely so it can be knocked back down. Life isn't perfect and the academy is not a perfect model to go into. And Kim and Andrew, do we really want them to be happy forever?"
Waterloo Road season 3 airs its first episode on BBC One on January 2, with more episodes following weekly. The entire eight-episode series becomes available to stream on BBC iPlayer on January 2.
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