It’s hard to believe that over 40 years ago one of the BBC’s most popular children’s series Grange Hill first hit our screens.
Whatever age you are Grange Hill will likely have been on your televisionat some point as for 30 years from 1978 to 2008.
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The series was centred around the drama and antics that broke out at a north-London school, from teacherswith drug addiction to playground gossip.
It’s hard to picture the cast without their school blazers and blue and white ties on, but since the show the stars have been up to a lot to say the least.
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Let’s take a look at the paths of some of the much-loved child actors decades on.
Lee MacDonald – Samual ‘Zammo’ McGuire
Zammo was the cheeky one around the school.
He became the centre of one of Grange Hill’s most famous storylines when he became a heroin addict in 1986.
Lee, 47, played Zammo for five years, and later attempted to become a boxer.
He unfortunately got into a car accident in the early nineties leaving him unable to return to the show.
He has remained in the public eye appearing in The Bill, and on Celebrity Scissorhands, and Celebrity Pointless.
In 2019 he joined the cast of EastEnders as Terry.
John Alford – Robert ‘Robbie’ Wright
The Casino 2021 Cast
John starred in 90s show London’s Burning, as well as playing Robbie in Grange Hill for five years.
He had three top 30 hits in theUK Singles Chart in 1996.
But his career quickly ended after supplying cocaine to News of the World journalist Mazher Mahmood.
Last year he also appeared in court on grounds of attempting to steal a bin lorry from refuse collectors, in 2019.
Simone Hyams – Caroline ‘Calley’ Donnington
Simone played the role of Calley in Grange Hill for six years, appearing in the very first episode of the show.
The star has had quite a change in career, and is now a corporate events manager for Virgin.
Erkan Mustafa – Roland ‘Roly’ Browning
Erkan, now 50, played one of the most popular stars of the show – Roly.
Roly suffered from horrific bullying at the school and after six years, was able to stand up for himself and discovered he had a talent for foreign languages.
Since the show, Erkan has appeared in two series of Lenny Henry’s sitcom, Chef!, and also appeared in several episodes of Black Adder.
He now occasionally continues to act and appears at many charity events.
Susan Tully – Suzanne Ross
After appearing as student Suzanne for three years on the show, Susan went onto the soap world appearing as Michelle Fowler in EastEnders.
She is now a successful television director with credits including Secret Diaries of a Call Girl, Larkrise to Candleford, and Getting On.
Sean Maguire – Terence ‘Tegs’
Sean, 44, has moved far from his days on Grange Hill as he has become a permanent resident of the US.
After leaving the show in 1991, the actor went onto playEastEnders character Aidan Brosnan.
George Christopher – Eric ‘Ziggy’ Greaves
George played Liverpudlian scamp Ziggy in the show for three years.
He went on to play a heroin addict in Brookside, and has remained in the industry working in theatre, and starred in an American TV film about John Lennon.
Todd Carty – Peter ‘Tucker’ Jenkins
Todd Carty remains one of the show’s most famous cast members.
The Casino 2021 Cast Members
He remained on screen as Tucker from the first series, which led to spin-off show Tucker’s Luck from 1983 to 1985.
Todd then starred in his most well-known role as Mark Fowler in EastEnders for 13 years.
He took on some ground breaking storylines when his character was diagnosed with HIV.
The star has also appeared on The Bill, Celebrity Master Chef, and Channel 5’s Dangerous Adventures For Boys.
Paula-Ann Bland – Claire Scott
Paula-Ann’s edgy character Claire caused a stir by fantasising about teacher Mr Hopwood in her diary, who was then attacked by her overprotective father.
Because of her success on the small screen, record company bosses eyed Paula-Ann as a potential British Kylie and she even released a cover version of The Locomotion.
After leaving the show in 1985, she appeared in Only Fools and Horses, and Spender, and cause controversy after posing topless for men’s magazine Mayfair.
The mother-of-two has since turned her back on acting and launched her own PR company and shoe shop businesses.
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Gwyneth Powell – Bridget McClusky
Gwyneth played one of the longest standing characters and was on the show for 10 years.
After leaving Grange Hill she appeared in popular shows such as Heartbeat, A Touch of Frost, Holby City, and Casualty.
She also appeared in Man Down for 19 episodes as Polly Davies.
Michelle Herbert – Trisha Yates
Michelle played bad girl Trisha Yates in the school drama for four years, but quickly gave up acting after the show and decided to work for a major sweet manufacturer.
She made a brief return as Trisha in the final episode of Tucker’s Luck, a Grange Hill spin-off based on Todd Carty’s character Tucker.
Michelle moved to Dundee in the early 1990s to bring up her family, where she works alongside her husband running their family glazing business.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer and following a mastectomy was given the all-clear.
Now she campaigns to raise awareness of the lesser-known symptoms of breast cancer.
Terry Sue-Patt – Benny Green
As Benny Green, Terry Sue-Patt was the first character to ever be seen on the show and became one of the most popular characters.
He was discovered aged 14 by a talent scout while playing football in the park and enjoyed success in 1989 film The Firm, starring alongside Gary Oldman and Phil Davis.
In October 2015, Terry was sadly found dead at his London home, aged 50, following a battle with alcoholism.
He was found lying face down in bed andreports suggested his body may have lain undiscovered for a month.
Todd Carty said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the sudden death of his Grange Hill co-star.
Alison Bettles – Fay Lucas
Alison Bettles, now 48, played Fay Lucas from 1982 to 1987 in six series of the show.
Bettles was one of the cast members to take part in the famous Just Say No single, to promote an anti-drugs message after the programme’s controversial storyline with Zammo McGuire who became hooked on heroin as a child.
The single reached number five in the charts in 1986.
In 1988, Alison appeared in an Eastenders spin-off called Civvy Street, set during the second world war, playing a young Ethel Skinner.
She continued acting with small roles in The Bill and No Strings in the eighties and nineties and last appeared on British TV screens in London’s Burning in 2001.
Now married with four children, she is a qualified beauty therapist and has reportedly set up a freight business. Meanwhile two of her sons have followed in her acting footsteps, clinching roles in Doctor Who and EastEnders.
John Homes – Luke ‘Gonch’ Gardener
Luke ‘Gonch’ Gardener stepped into the shoes of Pogo Patterson as Grange Hill’s ginger entrepreneur, joining the cast in 1985.
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.
In 1989, during Gonch’s last series, he fell in love with Mandy Freemont.
Actor John Holmes left the show to complete his education and studied at the University of East Anglia, where he eventually became president of the Student Union for several years.
John gave up acting after Grange Hill and now works as the manager of a casino.