| Bgcolour: |
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| Series Number: | 14 |
| Num Episodes: | 8 |
| Network: | BBC One BBC iPlayer |
| Episode List: | List of Waterloo Road episodes |
The fourteenth series of the British television drama series Waterloo Road commenced airing on 10 September 2024, and concluded on 29 October 2024. The series comprised 8 episodes.
The show follows the lives of staff and pupils of the eponymous secondary academy in Greater Manchester while tackling a range of social issues including trolling, the cost-of-living crisis, gender politics, bullying, being a child in care, bereavement, menstruation, County lines drug trafficking, the arts vs academic performance, being deaf, and manslaughter.
Series 14 was announced along with series 13 and 15 by the BBC in August 2023. The press release confirmed that it would comprise eight episodes and that filming would commence that same year.[1] Filming commenced in a new building for the Waterloo Road Academy setting, provided by Manchester College in one of its former campuses.[2]
In August 2024, it was confirmed that Series 14 would premiere on 10 September 2024.[3]
The majority of series regulars from the thirteenth series reprised their roles for this series, these included James Baxter, Jo Coffey, Neil Fitzmaurice, Rachel Leskovac, Kym Marsh, Katherine Pearce, Shauna Shim, and Adam Thomas, portraying Joe Casey, Wendy Whitwell, Neil Guthrie, Coral Walker, Nicky Walters, Amy Spratt, Valerie Chambers, and Donte Charles, respectively.[3] Vincent Jerome did not return from the previous season as Lindon King, while Ryan Clayton returns as Mike Rutherford in a recurring capacity.
New pupils introduced in the fourteenth series included Billy Savage (Olly Rhodes), Boz Osbourne (Nathan Wood), Aleena Qureshi (Sonya Nisa), Lois Taylor-Brown (Miya Ocego), Luca Smith (Danny Murphy), and Jared Jones (Matthew Khan).[3] Almost all of the students from the previous series return, with the exception of Inathi Rozani, Zanele Nyoni and Teddy Wallwork as Zayne Jackson, Jess Clarke and Declan Harding respectively. Returning pupils include Noah Valentine and Summer Violet Bird as Preston and Tonya Walters, with Alicia Ford as their cousin Kelly Jo Rafferty. Liam Scholes, Lucy Eleanor Begg, and Thapelo Ray portray Noel McManus, Caz Williams, and Joe's former foster son Dwayne Jackson. Younger students include Hattie Dynevor, Chiamaka Ulebor, Zak Sutcliffe, Maisie Robinson, Tillie Amartey, and Aabay Noor Ali as Neil's daughter Libby Guthrie, Shola Aku, school troublemaker Schumacher "Schuey" Weever, his sister Portia Weever, Stacey "Stace" Neville, and Mollie 'Mog' Richardson. Francesco Piacentini-Smith, who plays Dean Weever, Shuey and Portia's cousin, appears only in the first episode.
Additionally, Kerry Howard, Tom Wells, Hollie-Jay Bowes and Marie Critchley reprised their roles from the thirteenth series as recurring characters Serena Michelle Davies, Marc Todd, Debs Rafferty, and Barbara Rafferty, respectively. Former pupils Kai Sharif and Samia Choudhry return in the final episode, with Adam Ali and Priyasasha Kumari reprising their roles alongside Angela Griffin and Jamie Glover who return as Kim Campbell and her husband Andrew Treneman.
Jason Manford joined the cast as Steve Savage, the new Headteacher of Waterloo Road, replacing Kim Campbell (Angela Griffin) following her departure from the school. Saira Choudhry also joined the cast as Nisha Chandra, the new Head of Maths.[4] [5]
The series debuted on 10 September 2024 at 9pm on BBC One, all episodes of the series were made available as a boxset on BBC iPlayer earlier that day.