Caroline 'Calley' Donnington - Simone Hyams Simone Hymas is best known for her role as Calley in Grange Hill, which she starred in from 1985 until 1991. The young actors were there as part of the first ladys anti-drugs campaign but one later claimed to have smoked a joint in the garden. 'I had a great time, getting time off school to play football. She previously told the BBCthat she was determined to make the role more modern because she was only 35 when she took on the role. Hed found someone he was attracted to, and who was attracted to him basically. It would get a good response, but its just a case of getting the Grange Hill fans to know about it. Roland Browning was Grange Hill's 'fat kid'. What happened to Grange Hill kids next as Lee Whitlock dies Erkan is also a writer and director. The PE teacher has long had a low opinion of Roland but on the course it becomes clear the boy is much better at the task. . I think the storyline was handled really, really well. . Did you get much reaction to your character from the public? They could have had a whole night of the public voting for their favourite characters in the show. It first aired on BBC1 on February 8 1978. I wrote it about 4 years ago; its quite funny reading it. Erkan Mustafa speaks exclusively to Grange Hill Gold about playing one of Grange Hills most iconic characters, and the legacy of Roland Browning . The storylines focused on hard-hitting issues for its time - including teenage pregnancy to alcoholism and drug addictions. During this race war Gripper made Roland swear allegiance to his own race, and also taunted Roland claiming that he wasn't white. Unable to cope, he goes and locks himself in the toilets. No, the way I looked at it, at the time, I was just doing a job. Your email address will not be published. The hit teen show, which ran between 1978 and 2008, focused on life in a. Mustafa laughs wearily. His relationships include Fabienne. Fly to A. merica ; never done that before. I say that to everybody in life! We started with the clothes and she was quite fashion conscious and chic. Diane K. Young. The actual show came across a bit strangely. The episode was just really, really funny. She went on to appear in The Bill, Baywatch and had a role in 1993 film Dirty Weekend. Required fields are marked *. Todd Carty said he was 'deeply saddened' by the sudden death of his Grange Hill co-star. This is a list of characters from the long-running BBC children's series Grange Hill . leaving it . BBC Grange Hill: Roland 'Roly' Browning star's life after show from Grange Hill 1978 - 2008 - Precious stands up to Gripper The love that he had for the show was amazing. There was an episode where there was a school disco and they were playing Spandau Ballets True (another song I cant stand!). Click here to upload yours. Alford's case was among those taken up by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. And the rest is history basically. You can do it.". I said to Simone that I thank her for that and she told me to shut up! Roland Browning was Grange Hills fat kid. Grange Hill wasn't afraid to tackle controversial subjects and that's why people loved it so much. The single reached number five in the charts in 1986. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. 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Its ranging from George Armstrong (Alan) to people from much later, that I didnt even know on Grange Hill. 'I was told by lots of people she was a great fillip to young women teachers who started applying for headships.'. Was it difficult to play these scenes? Roland Branning, played by Ercan Mustafa, starred on Grange Hill for six years. We always got on well. Grange Hill ran for 30 years until 2008 and covered major issues from drug use to teen pregnancy, HIV and knife crime. The national press were advertising the fact that they couldnt find a fat child at stage school to appear in Grange Hill. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Most recently, he appeared in the film Silver Birches in 2017 about an author struggling to rebuild his life after the untimely death of his wife. In May last year, I approached the BBC with an idea and they said no. We dont even really talk about Grange Hill ; its just where we grew up really. He was a single child. Looking at it now, we were the chosen ones; we were lucky to get it. It was 50 minutes long and it had to be edited to 29 minutes. We keep saying we are going to meet up; we will do some time this month. What Zammo did next: Lee MacDonald on life after Grange Hill I came up with a story that bit me on the arse. As I tell everybody else . The show followed the lives of a school based in North London, and dealt with hard-hitting storylines following themes of drugs, racism, crime, mental health, and death. The TV star alsoworked as a presenter for E4 Music and previously did some interviews and presenting for a film website. "The national press were advertising the fact that they couldnt find a fat child at stage school to appear in Grange Hill. . They even had the same name for the restaurant that Id wrote! . A poolside prank during a swimming lesson has fatal consequences. We gave each other Christmas presents. He didnt have any friends. But Gripper's attention to Roland was slightly taken away as Gripper focused on carrying out a hate campaign against non-white pupils at the school. His Grange Hill character was so popular, he was given his own spin-off show Tucker's Luck from 1983 to 1985. GRANGE Hill's Zammo, Tucker, Roland and Janet look unrecognisable in a 'mini reunion' picture. and what did you think of the finished programme? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site is dedicated to the BBC TV series Grange Hill which ran from 1978-2008, concentrating particularly on the early years (1978-1990). He briefly worked in a catering business, before returning to his television roots to work as a writer and director. Hes living in France and he owns a restaurant. Ive come out with great experiences. George has also appeared in numerous theatre productions, including some he's written himself and is currently working on a stage version of Papillion. They made my character dance with his girlfriend, Fabienne. . Roly even had a knack for foreign languages. Following the show, Erkan made appearances at three Grange Hill reunions: ITV This Morning's reunion in 1998, the Bring Back Grange Hill programme in 2005, and he hosted a cast reunion at Sound nightclub in Leicester Square in 2009. I live with it every day. The Grange Hill gang meet Nancy Reagan in 1986. A few years ago, Channel 4 reunited some of the cast for Bring Back Grange Hill. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Roland's most memorable storylines included being the victim of sustained bullying by school thug Gripper Stebson and forming friendships with Zammo McGuire, Fay Lucas and Janet St. Clair. Bullied by others, only child Roland struggled to fit in at Grange Hill. I was there with someone I grew up with ; one of my brothers best mates. Its about forgetting the past, and its the past who made us who we are today. At one point in the show I was 13 stone and he was getting bullied by someone who was much smaller, so at the end of the day he should have fought back. Grange Hill Roland 'Roly' Browning actor Erkan Mustafa looks totally At the time there was some animosity on the set because only certain people on the set got invited to America. At my age now, 2 years older doesnt make any difference, but when youre 15,16, 17; it does. People dont realise that. Thats what the whole episode was about. Looking back, you live and learn. So the fact that he cant remember much about the visit wasnt to do with being high, but a more prosaic reason. Original Grange Hill cast now - tragic death, arrest and very - mirror Lee MacDonald played. and also made appearances onSoccer AMandCelebrity Juice. I was just a normal child attending school. Grange Hill Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. What are your memories of that? How do you look back on your time at Grange Hill? Erkan starred alongside other famous faces including former EastEnders star Todd Carty who played Peter 'Tucker' Jenkins, Casualty's Amanda Mealing, who portrayed Tracy Edwards and Lee MacDonald as Samuel 'Zammo' McGuire. When I left Grange Hill it was only really Ricky who I kept in touch with, and Amma Asante (Cheryl) for about 12 or 15 years. Gripper Stebson | Villains Wiki | Fandom It was funny ; it was realistic. How is a 16-year-old kid meant to be doing that? Im going to be seeing Simone for the first time in about 20 years, this month, and its just going to be amazing. Erkan, who starred in the show from 1982 until 1987, said: "I was just a normal child attending school. Grange Hill: Erkan Mustafa stars as Roland in 1983, Hollyoaks star John Pickard looks completely different over a decade after leaving show, Sacked CBeebies star Sarah-Jane Honeywell felt 'lost' after axing over naked photoshoot. Something went wrong, please try again later. It was a bit of a dream come true, really.'. He then starred as Mark Fowler in EastEnders from 1990 to 2003, with a groundbreaking storyline when his character was diagnosed with HIV. Because I had a character mother and father on set, I did scenes with those and when you have those parent scenes youre acting with adults quite a lot. Ian Welsh interviewed by Andrew Lambirth - Art and - sounds.bl.uk . . Episode 1 - It's the first day of a new term at Grange Hill. Roland attempted to fit in with the school and took part in a sports event where he was given support by older pupil Benny Green, who had also warned Gripper off from picking on Roland. She left the series in 1985 and continued to act, appearing in TV series such as Spender and Only Fools and Horses. In terms of the character, I think Roland really really did like the fact that someone cared for him and basically hed push Janet away, knowing that shed come back. Do you have a story to sell? Wherever we went, they played the video of Just Say No, so they had to bring those characters there as well. . Always full of money making schemes, Gonch was a wheeler dealer who ran a toast bar, a dating agency, a homework service and a PE kit lending scheme all from the classroom. After Grange Hill he starred in Lenny Henry's 90s sitcomChef! 'Grange Hill' cast: Where are they now? - Yahoo Its going to be quite strange for us, the class of 86; we had our reunion a couple of years ago. They remember Pogo, but if you ask people they will say they only remember Roland and Zammo. So never say never! Then just as Im walking back down to the station I bumped into Melissa Wilkes (Jackie) who I hadnt seen in about 14 years!