| 1 | 1 | | February 8, 1976, was a special day in the history of British education: the start of |
| 2 | | that famous comprehensive school1) Grange Hill on BBC television. Anna Home, now |
| 3 | | Head of BBC Children's Television, was a producer in charge of children's drama in |
| 4 | | 1975, when struggling writer Phil Redmond came to see her about writing comedy shows. |
| 2 | 5 | | 'I thought the BBC badly needed a programme reflecting pre sent-day school life,' |
| 6 | | says Anna. 'Phil was him self one of the first products of the comprehensive school |
| 7 | | system, and we agreed he should supply some scripts about a school ... Grange Hill.' |
| 3 | 8 | | To be able to give a realistic picture, Anna and her team visited schools all around |
| 9 | | Britain: 'We found that older children bullying2) younger ones still went on, just as in the |
| 10 | | old days. There were always arguments for and against school uniform, and school |
| 11 | | polities.' |
| 4 | 12 | | Television watchdog Mary Whitehouse, her self a former teacher, described Grange |
| 13 | | Hill as encouraging children to bad behaviour and undermining the teacher's position. |
| 14 | | The storylines have been criticized as trendsetters in bad language, and when bull y |
| 15 | | Gripper was seen rolling a fat boy along a corridor, the BBC was flood ed with letters |
| 16 | | from angry parents. |
| 5 | 17 | | "Grange Hill was never meant to reflect the worst of school behaviour, but there has |
| 18 | | to be baddies and goodies,' says Anna Home. 'If children think you' re preaching at them, |
| 19 | | they'll switch off. |
| 6 | 20 | | Since we started on Grange Hill 10 years ago, child viewers have become more |
| 21 | | aware of adult situations. They get to know the realities of life at a much earlier age. So |
| 22 | | we had to introduce more adult themes to Grange Hill.' And in the last two years the |
| 23 | | public mood has changed somewhat. The programmes' strong anti-drugs attitude and |
| 24 | | their anti-smoking emphasis have been applauded by viewers. Teachers, too, have started |
| 25 | | saying that the programme's behaviour is more respectful than anything they experience |
| 26 | | in their own classrooms. It has also been noted that the scriptwriters slip in useful tip s |
| 27 | | such as what to do if you forget your tickets for a pop con cert, and advice like leaving a |
| 28 | | telephone number with your parents when you visit friends. |
| 7 | 29 | | 58-year-old producer Ronald Smedley said, 'Grange Hill has always provoked |
| 30 | | hysteria from people who can' t bear to see naughty children. But we reflect what's going |
| 31 | | on in schools, we don't create it.' |
| 8 | 32 | | While there will always be a bad boy or girl, topics being considered for the future |
| 33 | | include worries about leaving school and not finding a job, vandalism and - another sign |
| 34 | | of the times - more children thinking about money and how to acquire it. In 1988 a |
| 35 | | storyline about AIDS is not unlikely. But producer Smedley reassures: 'We're always |
| 36 | | mindful that at least half our audience is under the age of 11 and most are under 13.' |
| 9 | 37 | | Meanwhile the programme which always gets top marks from young viewers is set |
| 38 | | to continue indefinitely, with by-products including gramophone records and books; by |
| 39 | | 1988 creator Phil Redmond will have published five Grange Hill novels. |
| | | |
| | | from an article by Judith Simons in 'The Sunday Express Magazine', February 8, 1987 |
