Issues Covered
The programme has covered many controversial storylines, ranging from students throwing benches into the swimming pool (1978; as a result of which, following letters of complaint from teachers and parents, the episode was withdrawn from the repeat season), rape (2001), heroin addiction (1986), Asperger syndrome (2001), knife crime (1998) and attempted suicide (2005), prompting many complaints from viewers. Grange Hill broke new ground by the inclusion of a gay teacher, Mr Brisley, who was in the cast from 1992 to 1999.
In 2005, the character Holly Parsons was wrongly heralded as Grange Hill's first deaf character. While it is true that the actress who played her, Rebecca-Anne Withey, is the series' first deaf cast member, Grange Hill first featured a deaf character, Eric Wallace, in 1985.
During the final series in 2008, Grange Hill cut back on the harder-hitting issues and concentrated more on the early years of secondary school. The final series, though concentrating mainly on lighter aspects of school life, still dealt with some social issues; a Year 6 pupil battled with dyslexia while it turned out school bully Chloe Moore had to care for a disabled parent.
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