Waterloo Road
School & campusSchools and universities as the primary world.This show: 10/10Soap & telenovelaHeightened, continuing melodrama.This show: 8/10British TVThe British television sensibility: tone, restraint and format traditions.This show: 8/10Ensemble castMany characters carrying equal weight.This show: 8/10Working classOrdinary people, ordinary money, real stakes.This show: 7/10SerializedContinuous arcs where every episode builds on the last.This show: 7/10
Rate this series
Starring
Philip Martin BrownJason DoneChelsee HealeyAdam ThomasDenise WelchMelanie Hill
Written by
Ann McManusMaureen Chadwick
Starring
Philip Martin BrownJason DoneChelsee HealeyAdam ThomasDenise WelchMelanie Hill
Written by
Ann McManusMaureen Chadwick
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
Waterloo Road Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | E10 | E11 | E12 | E13 | E14 | E15 | E16 | E17 | E18 | E19 | E20 | E21 | E22 | E23 | E24 | E25 | E26 | E27 | E28 | E29 | E30 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.3 | 7.6 | 7.7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 6.7 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 8.2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| S3 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 7.5 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 7.6 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 7.2 | 8.5 | |||||||||||
| S4 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 6.7 | 7.2 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 7.2 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 6.9 | 7.3 | 7.5 | 8.1 | |||||||||||
| S5 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 7.7 | |||||||||||
| S6 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 8.1 | 6.8 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 7.4 | |||||||||||
| S7 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 7.3 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 9.2 | 7.1 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 9.0 | 7.2 | 8.4 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 8.2 | |
| S8 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 6.5 | 7.2 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 6.7 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 6.8 | 6.4 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 8.5 | |
| S9 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 7.6 | 6.8 | 8.7 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 7.2 | |||||||||||
| S10 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 7.3 | 6.2 | 6.7 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 6.2 | 5.5 | 5.7 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 7.6 | |||||||||||
| S11 | 7.5 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 7.1 | 8.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S12 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 7.8 | 8.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S13 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S14 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 8.8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S15 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 9.3 | 8.9 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 6.3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S16 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 6.4 | 7.0 | 8.6 | 7.0 | 8.1 | 6.6 | 6.9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S17 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S19 |
Download Infographic
About
"Comfort-food chaos in a British school corridor"
Waterloo Road follows the staff and students of a struggling British secondary school, jumping between classroom crises, playground fallouts, and the teachers' own messy lives. It's soap opera dressed as social drama: bullying, exam stress, family breakdowns, and teacher romances collide episode after episode. The tone swings from earnest issue-of-the-week storytelling to genuinely soapy melodrama, and the pace is brisk, built for binge-watchable comfort viewing rather than tight plotting. What carries it is the ensemble cast and the sense that every corridor holds another small crisis waiting to erupt.
Watch it for
the sprawling ensemble cast turning everyday school dramas into addictive, soapy comfort viewing.
Maybe skip if
you want tight plotting rather than episodic, issue-driven melodrama repeated across many characters.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
▶
Series 12006
7.557087h 45m
Drama series set in a failing secondary school.
▶
Series 22007
7.35621211h 36m
Drama series set in a failing secondary school.
▶
Series 32007
7.27872019h 20m
Drama series set in a failing secondary school.
▶
Series 42009
7.46822019h 51m
Drama series set in a failing secondary school.
▶
Series 52009
7.76352019h 20m
War breaks out in the playground after the closure of a local private school leads to an influx of middle-class pupils at Waterloo Road.
▶
Series 62010
7.65402019h 20m
New head teacher Karen Fisher sets out to revolutionise Waterloo Road but her steely exterior masks a dark personal tragedy which threatens to derail her leadership.
▶
Series 72011
7.78043029h
A gang war breaks out at Waterloo Road, threatening to derail Michael's efforts to turn the school around, and Josh struggles with an escalating drug problem which is masking a more serious illness.
▶
Series 82012
7.36413029h
Waterloo Road benefactor Lorraine wants a return on her investment but super head Michael insists that you can't make money from education. Will Lorraine listen, or is the school heading for disaster?
▶
Series 92013
7.63602019h 20m
Christine settles in as head of Waterloo Road but quickly finds new deputy Simon is after her job. As well as unruly students and her drink problem, old friend George is not all he seems.
▶
Series 102014
6.23792019h 20m
New head Vaughan Fitzgerald arrives with his partner Allie and her two children. When his two teenage sons from a previous marriage arrive unexpectedly to live with them, it all gets very complicated.
▶
Series 112023
7.535676h 50m
Riots, scandals, fractured families and familiar faces - Waterloo Road is back with a new term and a whole new attitude. Who said education was easy?
▶
Series 122023
7.820773h 51m
Affairs, scandals, blackmail and many, many headteachers. Who said education was easy?
▶
Series 132024
8.31858
With a swathe of long-term refusers descending on Waterloo Road, the balance of peace and harmony rests on thin ice.
▶
Series 142024
8.62148
Waterloo Road sees a changing of the guard with new head Steve Savage.
▶
Series 152025
6.83288
New head, Dame Stella Drake, ushers in a new era at Waterloo Road.
▶
Series 162025
7.31368
Headteacher Stella is forced to navigate a fresh set of challenges.
▶
Series 172026
7.91628
Deputy Darius holds the keys to the kingdom. How far will he go to hold on to that power?
▶
Season 18
—08
▶
Season 19
—07
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
Philip Martin Brown Grantly Budgen
Jason Done Tom Clarkson
Chelsee Healey Janeece Bryant
Adam Thomas Donte Charles
Denise Welch Steph Haydock
Melanie Hill Maggie Budgen, Maggie Croft
Kane Tomlinson-Weaver Harley Taylor
Darcy Isa Lauren Andrews, Lauren Fletcher
Reece Douglas Denzil Kelly
Angela Griffin Kim Campbell, Kim Treneman
Crew
Ann McManus
Maureen Chadwick
Similar Series
Popular picks Shows that people who know this one usually know too. From our AI taste analysis.
Our recommendations Specific picks with the reason, including shows you may not have heard of. From our AI taste analysis.
Teachers
4K 40 2001–2004
dark comedy-drama seen from the staffroom, same British school setting
Skam
43K 43 2015–2017
Scandinavian teen ensemble drama with intense social realism
My Mad Fat Diary
20K 16 2013–2015
raw British teen drama tackling mental health and identity
Derry Girls
79K 19 2018–2022
school-centred coming-of-age ensemble, different tone but shared setting
Elite
103K 64 2018–2024
soapy school drama blending class conflict and melodrama
Heartstopper
95K 24 2022–2024
contemporary British school drama with earnest emotional arcs
The Inbetweeners
101K 18 2008–2010
same secondary-school backdrop, comedic counterpart to the drama
Class
5K 8 2016–2016
school-set ensemble drama with heightened stakes, same BBC teen sensibility
Close in taste Nearest neighbors in our taste profile comparison: shared tone, themes and style.