Grange Hill creator reveals why he was forced to change the show's original title

Virgin Radio

15 Aug 2022, 14:33

The creator behind Grange Hill has revealed why he was forced to change the title of the beloved kids drama.

Sir Philip Redmond was behind the 1970s series, which was originally supposed to be titled Grange Park, but the BBC legal team got involved as it was considered ‘too legally sensitive’ due to the number of schools with that name. 

The broadcaster was worried it might receive complaints from parents and teachers who may have found the use of their school name offensive. 

While speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, Sir Philip said: “It was called Grange Park because that’s an area I worked in St Helens. I can’t remember if there were too many schools called Grange Park, or whether there were too few, but the legal department said, ‘we’ll have everybody complaining, so we need to change it’.”

With many often dark storylines, including racism, addiction and shoplifting, it seems the legal team might’ve been concerned people were suggesting their Grange Park was also experiencing the same issues. 

The news comes after the show creator also confirmed there would be a brand new adventure from the pupils at Grange Hill.

Phil admitted he was working on a movie reboot of the popular children's show, and was busy picking out which original characters he wanted to bring back. 

At the time, Phil revealed he’s still got the task of choosing which grown-ups he’d like to return, but it’s proving challenging. 

He said: “I’ve got to sit in a room and make a decision who will and who will not and that’s going to be really difficult. We won’t be able to bring back all of them but it’s going to be fun.”

Just last month, four of the show’s original stars met up for a surprise reunion, over forty years since the BBC series began. 

Lee MacDonald, who played Zammo McGuire, joined up with Tucker star Todd Carty, Simone Nylander, who starred as Janet, and Erkan Mustafa, who portrayed Roland.

The Zammo star took to Twitter to share the meet-up, writing: “‘Mini #grangehill reunion with Tucker, Roland and Janet.”