History YMMV / GrangeHill

** Judi Jeffreys was (long story short) locked in a storage room that was on fire. She tried to escape by climbing out of the window onto a nearby fire escape, and ended up falling head first to her death. The actress who played her, Laura Sadler, met her own sad and untimely demise in the exact same way about four years later. (That is, she fell head first out of a building to her death, but while drunk on vodka and drugged up with cocaine -- not while trying to escape a fire).

** Mrs Mcclusky is notoriously inflexible, but she offers the pupils a referendum on flexible school hours. A pupil sees through this at once, and says to his mates "They'll only offer a referendum when they're sure they'll get the result they want." In 2016, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. Many people think this was not the result that the prime minister who called the referendum wanted or expected at all.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: With her BoyishShortHair, non-obvious breasts compared to her other female castmates, and her deep voice, it's not uncommon for fans to mistake Jessica for a boy in a skirt.

** Judi Jeffreys was (long story short) locked in a storage room that was on fire. She tried to escape by climbing out of the window onto a nearby fire escape, and ended up falling head first to her death. The actress who played her, Laura Sadler, met her own sad and untimely demise in the exact same way about 3 years later. (That is, she fell head first out of a building to her death, but while drunk on vodka and drugged up with cocaine -- not while trying to escape a fire).

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The change of signature tune halfway through the run. A generation of Brits who had grown up with the original tinkly ''WesternAnimation/{{Roobarb}}''-style theme tune were alienated overnight.

* HilariousInHindsight: Mrs Mcclusky is notoriously inflexible, but she offers the pupils a referendum on flexible school hours. A pupil sees through this at once, and says to his mates "They'll only offer a referendum when they're sure they'll get the result they want." In 2016, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. Many people think this was not the result that the prime minister who called the referendum wanted or expected at all.

* RetroactiveRecognition: A very young Creator/AlexKingston played an AlphaBitch.

* LoveToHate: The school's most memorable teacher was the pompous, strict, humourless git Mr. Bronson. He was such a hate figure in Britain that he was voted the person they'd most like to see gunged on national television.

** The character of Judi Jeffreys was (long story short) locked in a storage room that was on fire. She tried to escape by climbing out of the window onto a nearby fire escape, and ended up falling head first to her death. The actress who played her, Laura Sadler, met her own sad and untimely demise in the exact same way about 3 years later. (That is, she fell head first out of a building to her death; but while drunk and drugged up with vodka and cocaine, not while trying to escape a fire).

* ViewerGenderConfusion: With her BoyishShortHair and deep voice, it's not uncommon for fans to mistaken Jessica for a boy in a skirt.

* ValuesDissonance: There are many references to casual violence by parents, especially if they find out about misdemeanours at school. One piece of dialogue is particularly notable for a teacher casually dismissing this; nowadays, this would almost certainly be followed up by the school.
--> '''Teacher''' (To Duane Orpington, who has a black eye): Just a moment. Who gave you that?
--> '''Duane''': My dad, sir.
--> '''Teacher''': Why?
--> '''Duane''': Got my bike nicked, sir.
--> '''Teacher''': (shrugs) Go on.

* MonochromeCasting: Even for its time, the cast was extraordinarily White for a working-class London school.

* EarWorm: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SlvZF6k5bE The original theme tune]].

* HarsherInHindsight: The character of Judi Jeffreys was (long story short) locked in a storage room that was on fire. She tried to escape by climbing out of the window onto a nearby fire escape, and ended up falling head first to her death. The actress who played her, Laura Sadler, met her own sad and untimely demise in the exact same way about 3 years later. (That is, she fell head first out of a building to her death; but while drunk and drugged up with vodka and cocaine, not while trying to escape a fire).

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The change of signature tune halfway through the run. A generation of Brits who had grown up with the original tinkly ''{{Roobarb}}''-style theme tune were alienated overnight.