Byker Grove facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Byker Grove
Genre	Teen drama
Created by	Adele Rose Andrea Wonfor
Developed by	BBC Zenith Entertainment
Directed by	Various
Starring	Various
Theme music composer	Kane Gang Simon Etchell
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	18
No. of episodes	344
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andrea Wonfor (1989–90) Ian Squires (1990–92) Ivan Rendall (1992–95) Matthew Robinson (1995–97)
Producer(s)	Matthew Robinson (1989–95) Helen Gregory (1995–97) Stephen McAteer (1997–99) Morag Bain (1999–01) Edward Pugh (2002–05) Tim Holloway (2006)
Production location(s)	Newcastle upon Tyne
Running time	25 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC One (1989–2006)
Picture format	4:3 (1989–2000) (2001–2006)
Original release	8 November 1989 (1989-11-08) – 10 December 2006 (2006-12-10)

Byker Grove is a British teen drama television series which aired between 1989 and 2006 as part of CBBC on BBC One. It was created by writer Adele Rose and executive producer Andrea Wonfor. The show was broadcast at 5:10pm after Newsround (later moved to 5pm). It was aimed at an older teenager and young adult audience, tackling serious and sometimes controversial storylines.

Storylines

Byker Grove was not intended for young children, but aimed at a young adult and teenage audience as it tackled some controversial subjects. Although some of the action took place outside the youth club, the series was unusual among dramas in that the characters were rarely shown in school. One of the major settings was the foster home run by the kindly but strict Lou Gallagher, the longest-running character.

The series frequently depicted life as unjust, with bad things happening to good people, such as Flora's death from a brain tumour, Greg's fall from the roof of the Grove which left him paralysed from the waist down, Jemma Dobson being electrocuted by a faulty electricity mains socket and youth leader Geoff Keegan's death in an accidental gas explosion after 11 years on the show.

The central storyline of the first three series was the character of London teenager Julie Warner (Lucy Walsh) struggling to fit in and adjust to life in working class Newcastle and her relationship with the rebellious Martin "Gill" Gillespie. In the show's final episode the characters discover that they do not exist and are the creation of unseen characters known as "The Writers" who plan to conclude the show by demolishing the Grove. However numerous present and former Grove members buy enough time for the characters to re-write the ending so that the club will remain open forever.

Until Series 10 (1998) the rival youth club was known as Denton Burn. In Series 13 (2001) rival youth club members were known as the Denwell Burners as they were from a youth club in Denwell Burn. This is a fictitious area of Newcastle upon Tyne, the name coming from a mixture of Benwell and Denton Burn.

The bands of Byker Grove

A number of musical acts have been spun off from the series. These include:

• Michelle Charles – "The Best Thing in My Life", "For the Good Times"
• PJ & Duncan — who became Ant & Dec for The Cult of... album (Singles: "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble", "Better Watch Out", "We're On The Ball")
• Byker Grooove – girl band starring Donna Air ('Charlie'), Jayni Hoy ('Leah') and Vicky Taylor ('Angel'). Byker Grooove evolved into the duo Crush with Jayni Hoy and Donna Air. (Singles included "Jellyhead" (AU No. 32, UK No. 50) and "Luv'd Up" (UK No. 45) on Telstar Records.) In the United States, where Byker Grove did not air and nor was the Crush duo promoted as being associated with the series, "Jellyhead" reached No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1996. The song "Jellyhead" also charted in Australia from early February 1997, peaking at No.32 in early April 1997, spending 23 weeks within the ARIA Top 100 Singles chart, 13 of which were in the Top 50.
• Summer Matthews – aka Emma Miller (Single: "Little Miss Perfect")
• Point Break, boyband which included Brett Adams and David Oliver, who played Noddy and Marcus respectively. (Singles include "Freakytime" on Eternal Records.)

Other bands with links to Byker Grove include:

• Freefaller – includes member of Point Break
• Kane Gang – writers of the original theme music, a development from the "Ooh Gary Davies on your radio" jingle for BBC Radio 1.

List of characters in Byker Grove

Grove staff

There have been several youth leaders working at the Grove over the years. The following is a list of all the ones shown on-screen.

Grove members

This is a list of characters who appeared in the show as members of the Grove from 1989 to 2006. (When surname is not listed, it is either unknown, or was never mentioned in the show)

* Indicates character was still in the show when it finished.

+ In the books that accompanied the series, Duncan's surname was listed as MacDonald until 1992, despite it being stated in the show in his 1st appearance (Series 1, Episode 3) that it is Sperring.

Parents

Although most of the action took place in the Grove, several characters' home lives and families were also shown. Some families remained in the show for many years. The house next door to the Grove was home to the Dobson family (1990–93) followed by the Turnbulls (1993–97) and then the Watsons (1998–2000). Other long-running families included the O'Hagans, the Carters and the various children at Lou Gallagher's foster home.

Images for kids

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  The Mitre, also known as Benwell Towers, acted as the production offices and the fictional youth club.