Waterloo Road: Series 3 - Autumn Term (3 Disc)

There's no doubt that 'Waterloo Road' has established itself as another in a long-line of soap-dramas that combine high production values (check out some of the choreographed camera moves) with cliff-hanger scripts and a reasonable cast. In many ways it puts me in mind of 'Footballers Wives' or 'Bad Girls' with many of the same actors and many of the same themes. The fact that it's set in a comprehensive school opens it up to a potentially wider audience of teenagers. Like 'Bad Girls' and 'Casualty' there will be many professional teachers who will object to the salacious and extreme portrayal of their professions, but I have it on good authority that it is enjoyed by many teachers too. Maybe this is in part because, despite the upset, violence and abject misery, there lies at its core a strong moral sensitivity. Most the story arc is about good versus evil, about those who want to help and give. And that's an attractive trait in any profession.

By now, anyone taking enough interest in the series to want to read this DVD review will know what it's all about. For those that don't, here's the description delivered with the accompanying press release.

"Based in a troubled Rochdale comprehensive school it focuses on the trials and tribulations of the staff and students. Waterloo Road is hard-hitting drama that never shies away from controversial issues such as teenage marriage, infidelity, HIV and divorce.
Commissioned for the BBC in 2006, Waterloo Road's original portrayal of the intertwining lives of staff and students and the effect that they have on each other delighted and gripped TV audiences. Series Three continues this groundbreaking tradition while bringing new faces to the staff room. Neil Morrissey (Men Behaving Badly, Up 'n' Under) joins the staff as Deputy Headteacher Eddie Lawson, along with Eva Pope (Coronation Street, Cold Feet) as Headteacher, Rachel Mason and Shabana Bakhsh (Ae Fond Kiss, Doctors) and Chris Geere (Blood And Chocolate, Wondrous Oblivion), are new teachers. With all this new blood, Series Three, Autumn Term can only go from strength to strength and will be available on DVD on 2 March 2009.

The series begins following the tragic murder of popular teacher Izzie Redpath (Jill Halfpenny - EastEnders, Coronation Street) and with the whole school reeling, it falls to Lawson and hardman original Headteacher Jack Rimmer (Jason Merrells - Clocking Off, Cutting It) to comfort and console students and teachers alike.

But Waterloo Road is never quiet for long, with unruly pupils, staff room and playground romances, Jack's creative accounting and a new Headteacher with a dark past to hide, school days are never dull. Pulling in excess of 6 million viewers per episode, Waterloo Road is an engaging and engrossing series, which will be back on BBC One for a fourth series in January 2009.

Starring a cast of established British actors including: Denise Welch (Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Coronation Street), Jason Done (Band of Brothers, Where The Heart Is), Philip Martin Brown (Juliet Bravo, Foyle's War) as well as a wealth of talented young stars including Tom Payne (Skins, He Kills Coppers) and Katie Griffiths (Coming Down The Mountain, Casualty) Waterloo Road is British drama at its best and most real." (Press Release Ends)

However, here's a fact not mentioned in the release. Fans of the series may want to note that this is not the whole of Season 3. When you buy Season 1 & Season 2 you'll get the whole tamale but Season 3 (in common with Season 4 which is currently half way through its run) is a much longer affair than the first two seasons. Twice as long to be exact. So now fans of 'Waterloo Road' can experience the frustrations shared by fans of C.S.I and Battlestar Gallactica who have also had to endure half season sets. This means that when the second half of Season 3 is released (by which time Season 4 will be a distant memory) you'll have to fork out all over again.

Though I received only a single DVD-R disc for this review, based on that I have to say that the picture quality is really first class. This is a very classy HD production, with some serious attention to grading and colour and the net result is about as good as it's going to get on DVD, especially with four one hour episodes on a single disc. No sign of artefacting or break up and fans of the series should feel confident that this will look as good as they remembered it to be.

Frustratingly the DVD-R disc I had wouldn't display a menu but went straight into the first episode so I am unable to report on any extras, subtitles or audio options.



With not one but two teenage girls in my household, 'Waterloo Road' has become a firm favourite and even as Season 4 reaches for more extremes in order to sustain momentum, it still seems to maintain some level of quality. The fact that we've moved on from simply drugs and underage pregnancy to murder probably means that the series will soon find itself with nowhere to go - except maybe into space? Who knows!

We already have the Season 1 and Season 2 box sets in our house and I guess there'll be some pressure to go for Season 3. The only reservation that I have is the disappointing splitting up of the season which elicited a collective groan and could prove to be a cynical marketing move too far.