Byker Grove

Byker Grove is a British children's television series which is shown on BBC One, and was created by Adele Rose.

Related Topics:
British - Television series - BBC One

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The show has run since 1989, and is set in a youth club in the northern English city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The show depicts the lives of children aged 11-16 as they grow up from childhood to adolescence. Although some of the action takes place outside the Grove, the series is unusual among children's dramas in that the characters are never shown in school. One of the major settings is the foster home run by the kindly Lou Gallagher.

Related Topics:
1989 - Youth club - Newcastle upon Tyne

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Byker Grove has tackled some controversial subjects such as drug addiction, child abuse, homelessness, teen pregnancy and abortion.

Related Topics:
Controversial - Drug addiction - Child abuse - Homelessness - Teen pregnancy - Abortion

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In 1995 Byker Grove became the first British children's drama to broach the subject of coming out when one boy kissed his close friend at the back of a cinema. The 2004 series saw the character of Bradley agonising over his sexuality and eventually coming out as gay to his girlfriend Sadie, after a romantic holiday together had failed to live up to their expectations.

Related Topics:
1995 - Coming out - 2004 - Sexuality - Gay

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Byker Grove launched the careers of Ant McPartlin (character name P.J.) and Declan Donnelly (character name Duncan) and who are otherwise known as Ant and Dec, as well as the actress Jill Halfpenny, Donna Air and CBBC presenter Andrew Hayden-Smith.

Related Topics:
Ant McPartlin - Declan Donnelly - Ant and Dec - Jill Halfpenny - Donna Air - CBBC - Andrew Hayden-Smith

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The series frequently depicts life as unjust, with bad things happening to good people and vice versa. One of the most shocking episodes is when P.J. is blinded in a paintball accident. It is one of many tragedies to befall Byker Grove characters through the years. Others include Flora's death from a brain tumour, Greg's fall from a rooftop which left him paralysed from the waist down, youth leader Geoff's death in an accidental gas explosion to the latest tragedy, Ben Carter, being knocked down and fatally injured by Craig on the Quayside.

Related Topics:
Paintball - Brain tumour

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Trivia

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• Byker Grove isn't actually filmed in the Byker area of Newcastle as many people who aren't from Newcastle, assume. The actual youth club set is in Benwell, which is in the west area of the City. The "youth club" building used to be a nightclub and a pub (which was mentioned in a few storylines from episodes in the late 90s) before it was bought by Zenith Television, who film the series.
• Byker Metro station and other landmarks in the real Byker (such as the famous architecture that is the Byker Wall and surrounding estate) are used for filming backdrops.
• The name of the rival youth club ? 'Denwell Burn' comes from a mixture of Newcastle districts - Benwell and Denton Burn.
 
Byker Grove: See also ►