Don't, don't you want me?
You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me
What can I say about Grange Hill? Probably spoilers ahead. I have watched up to Season 13 Episode 1.
Most of us have recently discovered this show, through the Jundrew Ship, seeking a healing place, due to the dismemberment of Byler. A Jundrew edit came up on my TikTok FYP and I was intrigued.
This show is older than me and wildly different than any "kids" show that would have been on the Tele, in the States, at that time.
As I started watching, Grange Hill, I often wondered, what age group was this show for? 10 and up? 12 and up? 14 and up? Plots and themes are wildly serious for those age groups and the only Stateside show I can think of to compare it to is, Saved By The Bell. Which is a downright shitty comparison.
It's closest comparison would be the original Degrassi, but that's a Canadian show and was only shown on some PBS stations in the States.
In the first 8 seasons, 2 kids get hit by cars, 2 kids die, 1 kid gets addicted to heroin, 1 starts drinking, a couple of kids get caned, 1 kid starts a Race War and a kid gets sexually assaulted in a park!
Not to mention, one kid writes fantasies about their teacher in their diary and when confronted about it, claims it happened, not to mention one student actually has a relationship with a teacher. Like, What. The. Fuck.
Fag is said a lot, but not in the way you think it's used.
Oh and 1 kid gets smacked around by their gym teacher.
This is some serious fucking shit for a kids show. It is not a half hour commercial to sell kids a toy.
Grange Hill is so comfy, like comfy as fuck. It does not play it's audience for fools, even though they're kids. It has so much heart. It isn't a mean show, or callous. In no way cynical or sarcastic. Just a straight forward drama and it is beautiful.
You fall in love with these characters, their wit, their charm. You'll get in 7 episodes deep, just to resolve their arc.
Is it woke? Fuck yea, it's woke as fuck. It tackles racism and sexism mostly. Girls can't play cricket! I learned what a Gollywog is and oooof.
It touches on British style Classism on more than one occasion.
Grange Hill never moralizes. There's never an adult, monologuing to the kids. It never shoves social propaganda in your face. It subtly pushes you in the direction of it's morality. What's right and what's wrong. The viewer is left to decide.
Characters have arcs. Some that last a few episodes. Some that last a whole season, even multiple seasons. Characters grow, they have real development.
You'll meet Rowland in Season 5 and his arc is amazing. But Rowland, needed to stop being such a little bitch to Janet. She is an angel and Rowland needed to recognize.
There's a couple of characters that just disappear, with no explanation or the explanation is, "they moved." Which kinda does fit reality, especially in the late 70s and 80s. Sometimes, you'd show up for the new school year and some kids would just be gone and you never knew why.
But fr fr, where's Benny!?! WHERE DID HE GO!?!
Oh, sigh, Jonah and Zammo. The bestest Best FriendShip in all of Television history. Their chemistry is just amazing and it saddens me that it doesn't last longer. They are the definition of, Thick As Thieves.
I kinda wonder if since, Todd Carty, became a Teen Idol, that the writers decided to focus storylines on him and his friends group, more than some of the other characters?
And Lo, that we love Tucker so, because, Tucker is cool to his school, did we miss out on more Jundrew storylines?
Jundrew is very VERY subtle. But there are some hints and one line that Tommy blurts out to Justin. They really do make a beautiful pair. Justin is so kind and gentle. Andrew is so talented and doting. They match perfectly and in a perfect world, Jundrew would have been one of the first gay ships on Television.
Shout out to, Hollo. Another possible gay character. It is implied through dialog between him and some girls, during the storyline about girls playing Cricket.
Oh, sigh, a long laborious sigh of the deepest sadness.
I love you, Danny Kendall, more than any Television character from any Television show, I've ever watched.
You are my parasocial soul mate and I'm taking a break, at Season 13 from watching, because of you. I really just can't bare it.
Mr. Bronson is irredeemable. How ever the show tries to offer him redemption, fuck that guy.
Seriously? This is a kids show!?!
Grange Hill does start to get a bit goofy in Season 10 and it's OK, it ain't a cringe kind of goofy but the show definitely starts to wade into what would be considered, kids show territory.
A few days before the Reuters article was released, "outing" Banksy, I was formulating a theory that, Jonathan Lambeth, is Banksy.
It makes sense. Danny is an artist, he is allowed to paint a mural at school, he even does a report on the "Street Mural" scene in New York City. He is spray painting a wall at the Community Center. He's been getting ups around the Estate. There's even another character, nicknamed, Banksie, in the show.
It all makes perfect sense and that's my own personal Low Stakes Conspiracy Theory.
We never find out, what exactly is in the red plastic bag, he always carries with him in his coat pocket. I think it's his graff blackbook, with the first draft of, Girl with Balloon.
You should watch this show. Really, you should. I can't recommend it enough. It is well worth your time to watch all the way through till the end of season 12.
All episodes are available on the Internet Archive. The first 14 Seasons are available to torrent as Packs. Episode 10 from Season 10 is missing from the S10 Season Pack, but you can download it from the Grange Hill directory listing on the Archive.
There's sooo many characters in this show. I haven't even mentioned, Trisha Yeats or Helen, Vince and Stewpot. It's never hard to keep track of characters and their storylines.
You'll love this show too. It's simply wonderful.
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