The BBC has this week unveiled its “class of 2022” cast for the reboot series.
After announcing last month that Angela Griffin, Adam Thomas, and Katie Griffiths are to step into the shoes of their popular characters once again, the broadcaster revealed the full cast of characters on BBC’s Morning Live yesterday ahead of the iconic show’s much-anticipated revival later this year.
One of the more prominent castings is Adam Thomas’ real-life niece Scarlett Thomas, who’ll be playing his character’s daughter, Izzy Charles.
Time’s Adam Abbou will star as Danny Lewis, and The Bay’s Noah Valentine is set to play Preston Walters, while Little America’s Adam Ali (Kai Sharif), You Don’t Know Me’s Priyasasha Kumari (Samia Choudhry), and Coronation Street’s Liam Scholes (Noel McManus) will take up the roll some of Waterloo Road’s other featured pupils.
Francesco Piacentini-Smith, Thapelo Ray, Inathi Rozani, Lucy Eleanor Begg, Alicia Forde, Summer Violet Bird, Ava Flannery, Chiamaka Ulebor, and Sahil Ismailkhil are some of the other actors cast to take on roles.
As already announced, Angela Griffin will return as much-loved teacher Kim Campbell, who has since had a promotion to Headteacher of the school, while Adam Thomas will make his return as Donte Charles, and Katie Griffiths will reprise her role as Chlo Charles.
And in other notable castings, famous faces Kym Marsh and Rachel Leskovac will also join as school staff.
Waterloo Road originally aired from 2006 to 2015, and was one of the UK’s longest-running TV contemporary dramas – going on to launch the careers of many young and emerging actors, spawn plenty award-winning and highly-publicised storylines, draw in millions of viewers each week, and amass a cult-following of fans.
The show has consistently ranked among the top five most-watched shows for young audiences on the BBC iPlayer.
Set in a comprehensive school of the same name, Waterloo Road was famously set and filmed in Rochdale from series one until the end of series seven, before moving to the Scottish town of Greenock until the end of the show.
Angela Griffin, Adam Thomas, and Katie Griffiths will step into the shoes of their popular characters once again / Credit: BBC / Wall To Wall / Paul Husband
But, back in September 2021, the BBC announced that the show would be rebooted and make a return to our TV screens – and a return to Greater Manchester.
With the spotlight on education in the UK now more intense than ever before, and with awareness of the challenges that teachers, parents and pupils face more pronounced amid the ongoing COVID pandemic, the BBC says Waterloo Road will use its rich history of “telling entertaining and gripping human stories”, while “tackling the important issues of the day”.
Waterloo Road is returning to BBC One and BBC iPlayer in 2022.
Man City star Jack Grealish reveals the two players who inspired his loan move to Everton
Danny Jones
England international Jack Grealish has revealed the two ex-players that inspired him to join Everton FC on loan from Manchester City.
The fan favourite, who joined Man City as Britain’s first-ever £100 million player back in 2021, has struggled to find a regular spot in Pep Guardiola‘s starting XI since arriving at the Etihad Stadium, but has already won all there is to win at the English club level in his time there.
Now 29 years old – largely considered well within the prime years for a footballer, if not soon to be exiting it – the next few seasons are likely to prove crucial for the Birmingham-born star.
With that in mind, Grealish has now completed his loan transition from City to Everton and has revealed that, besides the history and passionate supporters, two former legends played a big part in influencing his decision to say yes.
"My two favourite English players ever are Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne and I know they both wore number 18 here."
Much like many footy fans from the past couple of generations, the Aston Villa product admitted that Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne are two of his favourite sportsmen of all time.
While the Man United legend went on to notch the biggest achievements of his career here in Manchester, he started out life and his professional career as a teenager in the blue half of Liverpool, coming through as one of the club’s most exciting prospects ever.
As explained above, the now-loaned-out attacking midfielder also revealed that picking the number 18 was a tap-in, not only because it was Rooney’s first shirt but also that of another fellow retired Toffee and English footballing icon in Gazza, who played 32 times for the club towards the end of his playing days.
There aren’t many clubs and/or shirts that could convince a modern-day Premier League star to swap the number 10 at Treble-winning ‘four-midables’, Man City; aside from the obvious increase in playing time, there seems to be some genuine heart and sentimentality behind the switch.
Whether or not it will prove to be the right next step for the talented dribbler and creative attacking talent, only time will tell.
Is it the right move for the England international? ⚖️#MCFC#Transfers
Not too long after being reinstated as Everton manager himself, David Moyes is also said to have played a significant role in convincing Grealish to make the move to Merseyside.
The fact that the Three Lions regular has serious “ambition” to get back in the squad for the upcoming World Cup, having been left “heartbroken” as he missed out on Euro 2024, made Moyes’ sales pitch a fairly straightforward one: ‘come be the main man and fight your way back into the selection’.
It’s said that the deal includes an option to buy for approximately £50m (half the price his parent club paid a then-record sum for him), and his new team are expected to pay a big chunk of his reported £300k-a-week wages – with overall outgoings potentially reaching more than £12m after the loan fee.
You can see Grealish’s first interview in the darker shade of blue down below.
Here’s what Grealish had to say on his loan move to Everton for the 2025/26 season.
Classic gameshow Wheel of Fortune is looking for Mancs to take part in next reboot series
Emily Sergeant
Classic gameshow Wheel of Fortune is looking for Mancs to take part in the next series of the popular reboot.
In case you missed it, Wheel of Fortune returned to ITV for eight hour-long episodes – which included two celebrity specials – back in 2024, with beloved and seasoned BAFTA-winning TV host Graham Norton fronting the revival, and just like the original run, the reboot proved to be very popular with audiences.
Not familiar with the show?
Based on the successful global brand, and modelled on the still-ongoing American show of the same name, the original British version of Wheel of Fortune first aired all the way back 1988, and went on to run for a whopping 14 series and 746 episodes before ending 2001.
Classic gameshow Wheel of Fortune is looking for Mancs to take part in the next reboot series / Credit: ITV / ITVX
The show’s premise is basically based around a giant carnival wheel that the contestants have to spin to win themselves a life-changing cash prize.
Just like the original, the reboot is also a ‘thrilling game of skill and luck’.
In each episode, the turn of the wheel secures contestants a cash value before they pick a letter to help them solve the puzzle, where, for every correct letter they reveal in the puzzle, they win multiples of that amount.
A casting call for the upcoming series on the ITV website reads: “We’re looking for contestants to take part in this brand-new series of the classic gameshow, Wheel of Fortune. If you love solving word puzzles and would like a chance to spin the wheel and win big cash prizes, then please apply now.”
Fancy it then? You’ll just need to be over 18 years old and a legal resident of the UK to apply, so if you reckon you’ve got what it takes, then you can find out more and stick an application in before the closing date of 19 September 2025.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd February 2022 
