Byker! Byker! Byker Grove!
British children's series running from 1989 to 2006. Set around a youth club in Byker, Newcastle. Predominantly filmed in Benwell. Famed for being grim and gritty in its early days, when it featured stories about suicide, drug addiction and homophobia.
Made Ant and Dec stars and had one character electrocuted in a flooded kitchen. In July 2023 a reboot, produced by Ant and Dec, was announced. It is set to begin airing in 2024.
Contains examples of:
- Coming-Out Story - Noddy, Bradley.
- End-of-Series Awareness - In the final episode, the youth club is made aware of the fact that they are all fictional characters, that their world is fictional, and that the almighty scriptwriters have decided to end their show. But the scriptwriters give them a parting gift...a stack of magic script paper; anything they write on the paper will happen in front of them. The idea is that they can write their own happy endings before the show is finished for good. They do...until two of the younger children write in a ton of dynamite and try to blow the youth club up.... *end credits*
- Eye Scream - when Duncan is blinded by a stray shot during the infamous paintball match.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners - PJ and Duncan. Also followed into real life for actors-turned-stars Ant and Dec.
- Moral Guardians - A lot of the storylines attracted complaints, including Noddy trying to kiss Gary in the cinema, Amanda's underage pregnancy and drug addiction, and an episode that showed PJ buying condoms and trying to seduce both Amanda and Debbie on the same night.
- Paintball Episode - Done realistically, PJ gets blinded when he doesn't use goggles. Furthermore, he never recovers.
- Teen Pregnancy - Several, notably Amanda Bewick and Kylie Whilde.
- Television Geography - only very slightly though, Byker (where it's set) is in the eastern part of Newcastle, while Benwell (where it was filmed) is in the west.
- Very Special Episode - too many to count.
