Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
show name	Grange Hill
format	Teen Soap 1978-1993Teen Drama 1993-2008 Children's drama 2008
runtime	25 minutes
camera	Multiple camera (1978–98);Single camera (1999–2008)
starring	See cast below
country	United Kingdom
network	BBC One
first aired	8 February 1978
last aired	15 September 2008
num episodes	601 (inc. 2 specials)
creator	Phil Redmond
website	http://www.grangehill.com/ }}

''Grange Hill'' is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television. It was created by Phil Redmond, who is also responsible for the Channel 4 dramas ''Brookside'' and ''Hollyoaks''; other notable production team members down the years have included producer Colin Cant and script editor Anthony Minghella.

On 6 February 2008, it was announced that ''Grange Hill'' would be cancelled after 30 years and the last episode was shown on 15 September 2008.

2011 rerun

It was announced on August 5th 2011 that every single episode of Grange Hill will be shown again on new sky channel "FilmGB" which is to be launched alongside two other new channels "Sofa Stars" and "Sofa Screen".

Plot

The drama was centred on the fictional comprehensive school of Grange Hill in the (equally fictitious) borough of North London called "Northam" (although when filming moved to Liverpool in 2003, it ceased to have any specific location), and follows the lives of the students as they progress through school. The series was to have originally been called "Grange Park", which would go on to be used as the name of the school in another Redmond creation, the ''Channel 4'' soap opera ''Brookside'' (1982–2003)

Series history

''Grange Hill'' was originally conceived by ATV comedy writer Phil Redmond, who first approached various television companies with the idea in 1975, unsuccessfully. In 1976, he managed to sell the idea to the BBC, and the drama executive Anna Home gave the series a trial run of nine episodes, the first being broadcast on 8 February 1978.

From the start, the series caused controversy for its real-life, gritty portrayal of school life, rather than the more idealistic school dramas that preceded it. Redmond has said that he wasn't really able to start pushing the boundaries until later series. This led to Redmond being summoned to lunch by BBC bosses and forced to agree that there would be no further series unless he toned things down. ''Grange Hill'''s highest profile period was undoubtedly the mid-late 1980s. One of the most famous storylines during this time was that of Zammo McGuire and his addiction to heroin. This storyline ran over two series (1986–87) and focused on Zammo's descent into drugs and how it strained his relationship with girlfriend Jackie and friend Kevin. The show's other favourite characters during this period were Gonch and Hollo played by John Holmes and Bradley Sheppard. During his time at the school (1985–89) Gonch took part in many money-making schemes, most unsuccessful. There was a comedic element to the duo's relationship that worked well with viewers. Script editor Anthony Minghella, who worked on the series for several years during the 1980s, later won an Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''The English Patient'' in 1996.

During the 1990s, Grange Hill did not receive the same media attention it did just a few years previously. The teachers were now equals in the narrative with their personal lives taking up almost as much time as those of the pupils. In 1994, two characters were introduced with disabilities, Denny Roberts (Lisa Hammond), who suffered from dwarfism, and Rachel Burns (Francesca Martinez), who had cerebral palsy. Both characters were presented as "one of the gang" and hated any special treatment because of their circumstances. This prompted the BFI's 2002 publication ''The Hill And Beyond'' to comment that Grange Hill had perhaps become politically correct. Beginning on 4 April 1993, to celebrate Grange Hill's 15th anniversary, the first fifteen series of Grange Hill were repeated during CBBC's Sunday, and later Saturday morning slots on BBC1 and BBC2. The repeats ended with Series 16 in 1999. Interest in ''Grange Hill'' renewed in the late 1990s and the series celebrated its 20th anniversary with the introduction of sinister Scottish bully Sean Pearce (Iain Robertson), who carried a knife and slashed the face of a female classmate. Cast member Laura Sadler, who was heavily involved in this storyline, died after falling out of a building in June 2003; four years earlier her ''Grange Hill'' character Judi Jeffreys was killed after slipping and falling out of the window of a burning storeroom in the school.

By 2001, the series was almost entirely issue-led and the decision to tackle the subject of rape upset some parents. But when Phil Redmond took over production of Grange Hill in 2003, his plan was to get the show back to its roots and the issues were toned down as Redmond skewed the show towards a younger audience. In early 2006, it was announced a film of ''Grange Hill'' was to be released in late 2007 focusing on the lives of former pupils but has not yet appeared.

''Grange Hill'' returned on 14 April 2008 with its final series, including a return of the original theme music. Series 31 returned to BBC1 after the 2007 series was shown exclusively on the CBBC Channel.

Production history

For its first 25 years Grange Hill was produced in-house by the BBC, then the show was made independently for the corporation by Mersey TV, the production house founded by Redmond (and later renamed as Lime Pictures), hence the reason for the production move.

Television Centre years: 1978–85

''Grange Hill'' was originally filmed at real schools in London. The first of these would be Kingsbury High School in North London, which was used as the ''Grange Hill'' setting for the first two series. For the series 3, in 1980, exterior filming moved to Willesden High School in Willesden Green, which was similar in looks to Kingsbury and was also situated in a residential area of the capital. In 1981, Grange Hill moved to Holborn College (now Fulham Preparatory School) in Greyhound Road, Hammersmith. This school looked very different from the two that had been used previously, and it was also in a built-up area of London. Holborn College was the longest serving of the "real schools", remaining on screen until 1985. Up to and including 1985, studio scenes were shot at BBC Television Centre in London.

Elstree years: 1985–2002

Popular rumour suggests Grange Hill was forced to move between real schools so often because fans disrupted filming. In 1985, this problem was resolved when the BBC purchased the former ATV studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The studios would become known as BBC Elstree Centre and from Series 8, some exterior filming was switched to the closed Elstree set. A 1960s office block, Neptune House, would double as Grange Hill's "lower school".

The change was explained on screen with an elaborate storyline whereby Grange Hill merged with rival schools Brookdale and Rodney Bennett to form a new school, Grange Hill. In Series 8 the merger had taken place and Grange Hill operated as a split-site school; the former Rodney Bennett building (Neptune House) being the lower school and the original Grange Hill building (still Holborn College) the upper school.

In Series 9, the Upper School building was condemned after a fire, allowing production of Grange Hill to fully move to Elstree including studio work. Grange Hill was, at this time, made as an outside broadcast in the same way as its stablemate, ''EastEnders''. New producer Diana Kyle switched filming to a single camera format from 1999, at which time a filmic effect was also added, to the displeasure of some fans.

A new school entrance set was unveiled in 1990 and remained in use until 2002, with cosmetic modifications along the way. However, as the 1990s progressed more use was made of real schools including the Nicholas Hawksmoor School and Bushey Meads School, and St Audrey's School in Hatfield. The headmistress of Bushey Meads School was said to be delighted Grange Hill was moving to Liverpool in 2002.

Liverpool years: 2003–08

Early in 2002 it was announced that ''Grange Hill'' creator Phil Redmond had signed a deal for his production company Mersey TV to produce the next three series of the programme. Production moved to Mersey TV's studios in Childwall, Liverpool, from Series 26 onwards and for the first time in many years, the appearance of Grange Hill School itself would change radically. On screen, an explosion ripped through the school at the end of Series 25 and during Series 26, tarpaulins covered most of the new "school" to mask the "fire damage".

Phil Redmond originally wanted children from all over the country to participate in the relaunched ''Grange Hill'', having a variety of regional accents in the series as opposed to just the London area voices which had become associated with the programme. In the event new characters were almost exclusively cast from the north west of England due to the logistics of the child employment laws.

Real schools in the locality were also used including Croxteth Comprehensive, Holly Lodge Girls' School and St Hilda's C of E High School in Liverpool. In 2005, the former Brookside Parade set at Mersey TV was redeveloped to benefit ''Grange Hill'' and the new "Creative Learning Centre" subsequently became an integral part of the show. With the cancellation of ''Grange Hill'', the CLC exterior set has now been turned into skateboard park set for ''Grange Hill'''s stablemate show Hollyoaks while the former Grange Hill school frontage has become a permanent exterior for Hollyoaks High.

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.

"The Grange"

In 2007 BBC Children's ordered major changes to Grange Hill so that it fitted in with the new requirement that all programmes under the CBBC banner must appeal to an audience age 12 and under — younger than the traditional age group for Grange Hill, which was the same as to slightly younger than the secondary school characters. Under a deal signed in 2005 Lime Pictures was contracted to produce Grange Hill until 2008, so changes began to be made.

For Series 31, Lime Pictures creative director Tony Wood set about the task of meeting CBBC's new requirements. He shifted much of the action away from general school life to "The Grange", the school's multimedia learning centre which was given a radical makeover and became as much a "hang out" as a learning resource. The emphasis was now on younger characters with a group of Year 6 pupils regularly coming to use The Grange from primary school; storylines were much lighter and fantasy sequences were introduced. One episode, "Boarderman", saw a Year 7 pupil become a masked skateboarding superhero campaigning for an end to the school's ban on skateboarding. In another, "Veggin' out", a girl and her classmates smuggled animals from a local petting farm into school, believing they were destined for slaughter.

''The Observer'' reported on 13 January 2008 that the BBC's intention was to shift the action away from Grange Hill School and into The Grange completely. Phil Redmond responded in the same article by calling for Grange Hill to be scrapped, saying the programme had been "robbed of its original purpose". Redmond had been planning a hard-hitting storyline to return Grange Hill to its gritty origins in Series 31, and although he signed off the changes he believed it wasn't his show any more.

Cancellation

On 6 February 2008, the BBC announced Grange Hill was to be axed after exactly 30 years. The announcement was made by CBBC controller Anne Gilchrist just two days before the show's official 30th birthday.

Grange Hill ended on Monday 15 September 2008 with a further return appearance by Todd Carty, in which Tucker persuaded his nephew Togger Johnson not to give up on school like he did. Other than that there would be no spectacular conclusion; characters simply walked out of the school gates after their end-of-term prom, an almost mirror-image of how pupils walked into the school gates in the very first episode.

In 2006, the BBC had announced big plans for the show's 30th birthday including special programming on BBC2, possible repeats and a lavish reunion of former stars during 2008. But in the event, none of these celebrations happened aside from a special Radio 4 programme ''Grange Hill: Soap Pioneer'' broadcast on 4 September 2008. The last Grange Hill was watched by 500,000 viewers.

Seven months later, ''Ashes to Ashes'' paid homage to the series in its episode 2.1 (airing 20 April 2009). In that episode, the time-travelling protagonist, DI Alex Drake, sees her daughter Molly incorporated into an episode of ''Grange Hill'' on the evening of 3 or 5 April 1982 [calendar indicates 3 April; the news report was from 5 April]. Molly (in new footage) tells headmistress Bridget McClusky (appearing as archival footage and Gwyneth Powell's newly recorded audio) that she and Tucker got into a fight when Tucker said her mother Alex was dead.

Spin-offs

The show spawned a successful spin-off called ''Tucker's Luck'' (1983–1985) which ran for three series, and furthered the acting career of Todd Carty. The three series saw the two lead characters (Tucker and Alan) when finding work. Also, the 1986 cast released ''Grange Hill: The Album'', with two singles: "Just Say No" (tying in with a character's heroin addiction) and "You Know the Teacher (Smash Head)". The album was re-released on CD on 12 November 2007, as part of the BBC's 30th Anniversary celebrations.

In 2005, Justin Lee Collins reunited some of the cast members from the 1980s in the documentary ''Bring Back...Grange Hill''.

Theme music

The theme used for the first 12 years, which returned for the final series of ''Grange Hill'' was "Chicken Man" by Alan Hawkshaw, a track from the Themes International music library composed one hour before it was recorded during a session in Munich, Germany. ''Grange Hill'' was the first programme to use it as a theme followed by the popular quiz show ''Give Us a Clue'', whose makers wanted it despite it already being played on ''Grange Hill''. The version used by ''Give Us A Clue'' was a special arrangement that was significantly different from that used by ''Grange Hill''.

The theme was rerecorded in 1988 and updated along with the opening titles and lasted until 1990, when a brand new theme was specially written for the series by Peter Moss. Moss had previously written some special hip-hop music for a storyline in Series 11 of Grange Hill. His theme tune lasted until 2007, although as the years progressed less and less of it was heard as the opening titles got increasingly shorter, with the final version being no more than about 10–12 seconds long.

For the final series, "Chicken Man" was reinstated as the main theme, albeit in a shorter form.

The last four notes of the original theme song were heard when ''Brookside'', one of Phil Redmond's other TV series, aired its final episode in November 2003.

Head teachers

There have been many head teachers of Grange Hill over the years; the full list is as follows:

Character !! Actor/Actress !! Duration
Mr E. Starling	Denys Hawthorne	1978
Mr Llewellyn	Sean Arnold
Mrs Bridget McClusky	Gwyneth Powell
Mr C. J. Humphries	Dennis Edwards
Mrs Angela Keele	Jenny Howe
Mr Alistair H. McNab	Never seen
Mr Peter Robson	Stuart Organ
Mrs S. Bassinger	Jacqueline Boatswain
Miss Gayle	Cathy Tyson

Mr Llewelyn did not appear on screen during the 1980 series: the day-to-day running of the school was left to the highly competent but much put-upon deputy head Mr Keating (Robert Hartley), who was also deputy head under Mrs McClusky until 1984. Similarly, Mr McNab was never seen at all during the mid-1990s; the most senior authority figure being Mr Robson who at this point was deputy head. Mr Robson himself did not appear on screen during Series 27, even though he was still headmaster for the early part of the series. Mrs McClusky, perhaps Grange Hill's best known head teacher, was demoted to deputy head temporarily in 1985 having had to reapply, unsuccessfully, for her post following the merger of Grange Hill with Brookdale and Rodney Bennett. When the new head, Mr Humphries, was killed in a road accident the following year, Mrs McClusky was again acting head and her permanent headship was later confirmed.

The final headmistress of Grange Hill was Miss Gayle, introduced as deputy head in the 2007 series although she did not appear in Series 31.

Cast

''See:''

List of Grange Hill characters

List of Grange Hill cast members

Books

During the 1980s, when Grange Hill merchandising was at its height and the series arguably at its most popular, a number of annuals and novels were published.

Eight annuals were published from 1981 to 1988.

Comic strip adventures appeared in the short-lived BEEB magazine, which portrayed new stories, and the longer running Fast Forward, magazine which loosely followed the early 90's series. Additional comic strips occurred in School Fun and in the Radio Times. Grange Hill had its own dedicated magazine, but this only lasted two issues, although there was a holiday special too.

There were 14 short story books and novels, some of which were written or co-written by series creator Phil Redmond, but which also involved authors such as Robert Leeson and Jan Needle. Below is a full list of Grange Hill short story books and novels:

# ''Grange Hill Stories'', by Phil Redmond. First published by the BBC in 1979. Short stories. # ''Grange Hill Rules OK?'', by Robert Leeson. Published by Fontana Lions in 1980. The first Grange Hill novel. # ''Grange Hill Goes Wild'', by Robert Leeson. Published by Fontana Lions in 1980. Novel # ''Grange Hill for Sale'' by Robert Leeson. Published by Fontana Lions in 1981. Novel # ''Tucker and Co.'', by Phil Redmond. Published by Fontana Lions in 1982. Novel # ''Grange Hill Home and Away'' by Robert Leeson. Published by Fontana Lions in 1982. Novel # ''Great Days at Grange Hill'', by Jan Needle. Published by Fontana Lions in 1984. Short stories that form a sort of prequel to ''Grange Hill Stories''. # ''Grange Hill After Hours'', by Phil Redmond. Published by Magnet in 1986. Novel # ''Grange Hill Graffiti'', by Phil Redmond. Published by Magnet in 1986. Novel # ''Grange Hill on the Run'', by Phil Redmond. Published by Magnet in 1986. Novel # ''Grange Hill Heroes'', by Phil Redmond and David Angus. Published by Magnet in 1987. Novel # ''Grange Hill Rebels'', by Phil Redmond and David Angus. Published by Magnet in 1987. Novel # ''Grange Hill Partners'', by Phil Redmond and David Angus. Published by Magnet in 1988. Novel # ''Ziggy's Working Holiday'', by Phil Redmond and Margaret Simpson. Published by Magnet in 1988. Novel

Video release

The first and second series were originally released on the new technology of home video in the early 1980s. Both videos were edited to remove some storylines and thereby shorten running times, given the duration of early videocassettes. The front of the box for the series 1 video features a cast photograph (and small photos of specific individual characters) from series 3, as some characters pictured therein do not feature in that series. The series 2 videocassette box art features a similarly styled front cover, but with a cast photo from the correct year.

These abridged versions of the first two series of the show were also released on Betamax and Video 2000 video and laserdisc at around the same time.

DVD release

Two DVD box sets covering the first four series were released on 12 November 2007. There are no subtitles, episodes are in 4:3 (the original format) and both box sets come with a booklet detailing each episode. Some episodes have been edited to remove pop music tracks that could not be cleared for DVD release . There are currently no known plans to release any further series on DVD .

References

External links

Grange Hill Wiki

Grange Hill Gold 1978–1990

Grange Hill Online

Phil Redmond's Grange Hill site

The Grange Hill Blackboard (Grange Hill Discussion Forums)

British Film Institute Screen Online

The Museum of Broadcast Communications

Category:BBC children's television programmes Category:Television shows set in London Category:Teen dramas Category:High school television series Category:1970s British television series Category:1980s British television series Category:1990s British television series Category:2000s British television series Category:1978 British television programme debuts Category:2008 television series endings Category: Fictional schools

nl:Grange Hill (serie)

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
background	group_or_band |
name	The Hamsters |
years active	1987–present |
origin	Southend on Sea, England |
genre	Blues RockRockRhythm & BluesAmericanaRockabilly|
current members	Snail's-Pace SlimRev Otis ElevatorMs Zsa Zsa Poltergeist |
website	www.thehamsters.co.uk }}

The Hamsters are a band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England.

They performed their first live show at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, on 1 April 1987. They initially played in local pubs with no ambitions to take themselves seriously or to turn professional. As the band ethos is to combine humour with music two members of the original band (now all three) use light-hearted and parodying pseudonyms as stage names. The original line-up was Snail's-Pace Slim on vocals and guitar, Rev Otis Elevator on drums and Andy Farrell on bass. Andy Billups, aka Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist, replaced Farrell on bass in 1988.

The band's name was based on a pseudonym used by the Sex Pistols.

History

Their first performances were in local pubs in and around Southend as a part of the area's well-known R&B; scene which had begun in the 1960s; they initially formed for their own amusement and didn't take themselves too seriously. Their bookings quickly started to increase as an increasing number of local music fans requested venues to book them. Eventually it was decided to turn pro and slowly they started getting bookings from venues further afield. During 1988-1990 they released a limited run of four cassette releases of their music until they released their first CD in 1990, titled "Electric Hamsterland" as a parody of the Hendrix "Electric Ladyland" album. There was also a limited run of vinyl LPs of the album.

Influences

The Hamsters have been called Britain's leading interpreters of the music of Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top. and thus they are called a blues rock band. These covers only make up a small part of their playlist, the majority being Americana.

Work schedule

As of March 2009, the Hamsters are in their 21st year and claim to have performed more than 4,000 shows. They have constantly toured throughout UK and occasionally mainland Europe. In 1991 they performed a small tour in the US. The group has been described as "the hardest working band in the UK". In 2000, the Hamsters were runners-up in the best blues rock band category, voted on by the readers of ''Blueprint''. They contributed a track for the BBC Radio 2 series "Bright Lights, Big City" documenting the story of British Rhythm and Blues from the fifties to the modern day and presented by former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, and was broadcast in late 2001. They performed at the 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 London Guitar Shows at the Wembley entertainment complex.

In 2003 the Hamsters performed two live sessions on Paul Jones' BBC Radio 2 blues show. The track "Taxi Driver" from their ''Open All Hours'' album was included in Classic Rock magazine's (August 2006 issue) '100 Blues Anthems'.

They have supported such artists as Albert Collins and Status Quo. During 2006 and 2007 they joined Wilko Johnson and John Otway to perform ''The Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous'' tour.

The band have been Whispering Bob Harris' featured band on his BBC Radio 2 radio show on several occasions.

In October 2008 the band announced that their track "Route 666" (from the ''Route 666'' album) was selected by producer/director Neil Jones to be played over the end credits of a low budget British horror film titled ''Stag Night of the Dead''.

Retirement

On 13 March 2011, via their website and Facebook, the band announced that on their 25th anniversary they would be splitting the band so the individual members could retire from the music business. They also announced that their last show would be performed on 31 March 2012. The venue for the last show was not announced.

Personnel

Snail's-Pace Slim

The Hamsters' lead singer and guitar player, Snail's-Pace Slim has been part of the Southend music scene for many years. He formerly played in various Essex-based bands including Dr Feelgood, the Kursaal Flyers and the Old Pals Act (with bassist Dave Bronze and Robin Trower's brother Brad). He was voted one of the top 100 guitarists of all time in a radio poll on LBC.

Slim also contributes technical articles to guitar magazines, and was featured in the September 1994 edition of ''Guitar Techniques.'' Slim was asked by the magazine to contribute a monthly recorded lesson on how to play the blues for inclusion on the CD which accompanied every issue. He was also included in the ''Guitarist Magazine Book of Guitar Players'', published in 1994. In 2007 Slim was interviewed as part of a 3-hour video documentary about the Fender Stratocaster titled ''Stratmasters'', and in August 2008 he was interviewed by ''Guitarist'' for their October 2008 issue.

Rev Otis Elevator

Rev Otis Elevator is the drummer of the Hamsters. He was born in Edmonton in 1951 and is largely self-taught as a musician. Before joining the Hamsters, worked with various Top 40 bands, as well as playing radio and TV jingles. He also provides back-up vocals and plays bass during the traditional Hamsters' finale.

Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist

Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist (real name Andy Billups) is the current bass player. He replaced original member Andy Farrell. In 1992 he left the band after he was diagnosed with focal dystonia affecting his right hand. He was replaced by Dave Bronze. In 1994, after having relearned the bass using a custom designed thumb-pick, he rejoined the band when Bronze left to join Eric Clapton's band.

Pseudonyms

As the band always intended to combine humour and music and wanted to remain relatively anonymous, they decided to adopt light-hearted stage names: Snail's-Pace Slim's stage name was selected as a parody of old time blues players such as Lightnin' Slim.

Otis Elevator's came about after seeing a manufacturer's name plate at the base of an escalator in a local shopping mall.

Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist's is based on the name of an incidental character from the BBC Radio comedy show ''Round The Horne''.

Discography

Cassette

''Live At Kent Custom Bike Show'' (1988)

''Revenge of the Killer Hamsters'' (1989)

''The Night of the Rocking Rodents'' (1989)

''Flasher Hamsters From Hell'' (1990)

''Rodent Rock'' (1990)

''Condensed Hamsters'' (1990)

Albums

''Electric Hamsterland'' (1990)

''Hamster Jam'' (1991)

''The Hamsters'' (1993)

''Route 666'' (1995)

''The Jimi Hendrix Memorial Concerts: 1995'' (1996)

''Pet Sounds: 10 Years Of Rodent Rock'' (1998)

''Condensed Hamsters'' (2000)

''They Live By Night'' (2002)

''Open All Hours'' (2004)

Videos

''Burnin Vermin''' (1991)

''Band of Gerbils'' (1996)

''Verminator!'' (1997)

''Rodents Rock The Reich!'' (1998)

''To Infirmity, And Beyond!'' (2004)

''The Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous'' (2007) with Wilko Johnson and John Otway)

''Curse of the Killer Hamsters!'' (2008)

References

External links

The Hamsters Interview 2010 - iTalkGuitar

The Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous website

Andy Billups' official website

Category:British rock music groups Category:Blues rock groups Category:English rhythm and blues musical groups Category:British country rock musical groups Category:English country music groups Category:Music from Southend-on-Sea Category:British blues music groups Category:Contemporary blues musicians

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
birth name	Sean Martin Michael Maguire
birth date	April 18, 1976
birth place	Ilford, London, England
occupation	Actor
spouse	}}

Sean Maguire (born Sean Martin Michael Maguire, 18 April 1976, Ilford, Essex) is an English actor and singer, who rose to fame in 1988 when at the age of eleven he took on the role of "Tegs" Ratcliffe on the BBC children's drama ''Grange Hill'', in which he remained until 1992. For a short time after leaving Grange Hill, he played Aidan Brosnan in ''EastEnders''.

He has appeared in several feature films and also had moderate success as a singer. He is known in the US for his roles as Donovan Brink in the UPN sitcom ''Eve'', and as Kyle Lendo in the CBS sitcom ''The Class''.

Early life

Maguire's family were prominent in the London Irish community in the late 1970s as Irish dancers and the whole family performed regularly at events and in competitions. Sean Maguire danced traditional Irish dances alongside his family.

Career

His first role was at the age of five, opposite Laurence Olivier in ''A Voyage Round My Father''. At age seven, he played one of the many children in the "Every Sperm is Sacred" musical number in the 1983 film Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. In 1993, he joined the cast of the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' playing Aidan Brosnan, a young Irish footballer playing for fictional side Walford F.C. In 1994, Sean left the show to take a starring role in the BBC drama series ''Dangerfield'', playing Marty Dangerfield. He has also appeared in ''Holby City'' and ''Sunburn''. In 1995, Sean was voted "3rd person you'd most like to see get messy" by CBBC viewers and famously received a custard pie in his face from presenter Chris Jarvis dressed as "The Anorak."

Like many soap actors, Maguire then pursued a career in music, releasing three albums: his self-titled debut album in 1994, ''Spirit'' in 1996, and ''Greatest Hits'' in 1998. Sean's biggest hit was ''Good Day'', which reached number 12 in May 1996. During this time, Maguire appeared on the Childliners record ''The Gift Of Christmas'' alongside acts such as Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, E.Y.C., MN8, Deuce, Ultimate Kaos, Let Loose, East 17, Peter Andre, Michelle Gayle, Dannii Minogue and many more. Not content with acting on TV, Sean has recently branched out into films. In the early 90s, he appeared in ''Waterland'' alongside Ethan Hawke and Jeremy Irons, and has also allegedly been credited as having a part in ''A Kiss Before Dying'', but his part may have ended up on the cutting room floor as he did not appear to be in this film after all.

In 2001, Maguire played the title role in TV-movie ''Prince Charming'', alongside Bernadette Peters, Christina Applegate and Billy Connolly - with Martin Short as his assistant Rodney. In 2005, he also made ''The Third Wish'' - which co-starred actors Jenna Mattison, Armand Assante, Betty White and James Avery. He also appeared as "Euan" in the defunct WB Network sitcom ''Off Centre'' (which also co-starred actors Eddie Kaye Thomas from the ''American Pie'' movies and Jason George from also defunct US soap ''Sunset Beach'').

Maguire plays one of the main characters, Donovan Brink, on the television series ''Eve''. He was starring in the CBS sitcom ''The Class'', playing gay character Kyle Lendo, but the show was canceled in May 2007. He recently completed filming in 2006/2007 for a US comedy film ''LA Blues''. He played a character called Jack Davis.

His movie ''Meet the Spartans'' went to No. 1 in the US box office chart in 2008, although the film was panned by critics, and was voted 2nd worst movie of 2008 by The Times newspaper, and he is set to star in ''Mr Eleven'' on ITV1 in the autumn. Maguire has also signed on to a guest spot in Cupid for ABC, portraying an Irish musician.

Maguire's most recent role is as the lead in ''Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire'', a comedy fantasy series in which he plays a "sensitive, but clueless freedom fighter". The show premiered in the US on Comedy Central on April 9, 2009, in Canada on Citytv on June 8, and in the UK on BBC Two on June 11.

Filmography

Films

! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
	''A Voyage Round My Father''	—	Uncredited
	''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''	—	Uncredited
		Peter
	''Out Of Depth''	Paul Nixon
		Prince 'Charming' John	TV Movie
	''The Third Wish''	Brandon
		Dave
''L.A. Blues''	Jack Davis
	''Meet the Spartans''	Leonidas
	''Seven Songs for Amy''	Sean O'Malley
''Wartime Wanderers''	Harry Goslin

TV

! Year	! Show	! Role	! Notes
	''Grange Hill''	Terence 'Tegs' Ratcliffe	Series regular
	''Dodgem''	Simon Leighton	6 part series
		Jason Begley
	''The Bill''		1 episode: ''A Better Life''
''EastEnders''	Aidan Brosnan	Series regular
		Marty Dangerfield	Series 1 & 2 only
	''Dear Nobody''	Chris Marshall
''A Man Of Letters''	Alan
	''Holby City''	Darren Ingram	2 episodes: ''Staying Alive (Parts 1 & 2)''
		Lee Wilson	Series 2 only
	Jude Redfield	1 episode: ''Thirteen''
	''Off Centre''	Euan Pierce	Series regular
		Donovan Brink	Series regular
		Kyle Lendo	Series regular
		Dave	1 episode: ''Pilot''
''Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire''	Kröd Mändoon	6 part series
''Mister Eleven''	Dan	2 part series
		Phil	1 episode: ''Two Weddings''
''CSI: NY''	Alex Brodevesky	1 episode: ''The 34th Floor''
	Clive	1 episode: ''Xerxes''
		Sean	3 episodes
''Lovelifes''	Blake

Discography

Albums

!Year	!Information	!UK Album Chart
1994		*Debut studio album	*Released: November 26, 1994	*Formats:
! Year	! Single	! [[UK Singles Chart">Compact Disc	#75
1996		*Second studio album	*Released: June 3, 1996	*Formats: [[Compact Disc	#43
1998		*Compilation album	*Released: June 18, 1998	*Formats: [[Compact Disc	—

Singles

! Year	! Single	! [[UK Singles Chart	! Album
		#14	rowspan="3"
	#27
		#18
	#22	rowspan="4"
	#16
		#12
	#14
		#27

Stage work

''Romeo and Juliet''

''Loot''

''Funny About Love''

References

External links

Sean Maguire official webpage

Sean Maguire Bio at CBS - The Class

Category:1976 births Category:English film actors Category:English soap opera actors Category:English television actors Category:English male singers Category:Living people Category:People from Ilford Category:British people of Irish descent

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