Waterloo Road season 17 start date confirmed with first look pictures as iconic character makes big comeback
Denise Welch and Karl Davies join the cast next year.
The release date for the next series of school-based drama Waterloo Road has been confirmed by the BBC - and you haven't got long to wait, as eight new episodes drop on 16th January.
It's a new term, and there are some fresh faces around the corridors, alongside some familiar ones too. OG favourite Steph Haydock (Denise Welch) is called in to do some supply work for the academy, and soon proves herself by solving a crisis amongst the students.
Her highly-anticipated comeback was teased at the conclusion of the last series, when devious media teacher Darius Donovan (Jon Richardson) was promoted to deputy head. With everyone still unaware that he caused the death of Hope Drake (Savannah Kunyo), how long will it be before his past catches up with him?
Waterloo Road has teased that love is in the air as prom season arrives, while it appears that Stace Neville (Tillie Amartey) will walk down the aisle with Noel McManus (Liam Scholes).
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Soap fans will recognise Nicky Walters's (Kym Marsh) ex-husband Anthony when he arrives to coach the girls football team, as former Emmerdale actor Karl Davies takes on the role. Karl was the third actor to portray Robert Sugden in the ITV soap during the '00s.
Anthony is set to cause trouble when he reunites with Nicky - who is returning with a new role within the school - and their daughter Tonya (Summer Violet Bird).
Other topics that are set to be explored throughout the upcoming episodes include exploitation, grief and addiction.
A bunch of newbies include The Dumping Ground stars Myra-Sofia Iftikhar as Aisha Azzi and Freddy Smith as Freddie Hollister, who strikes up a friendship with Luca Smith (Danny Murphy), and The Enfield Poltergeist's Olivia Booth-Ford, who plays troubled Leoni Tennant.
Returning Waterloo Road staff
- Adam Thomas as Donte Charles
- Christopher Jeffers as Mitch Swift
- Hollie-Jay Bowes as Debs Rafferty
- James Baxter as Joe Casey
- Jason Merrells as Jack Rimmer
- Jon Richardson as Darius Donovan
- Jo Coffey as Wendy Whitwell
- Kym Marsh as Nicky Walters
- Lindsey Coulson as Dame Stella Drake
- Neil Fitzmaurice as Neil Guthrie
- Rachel Leskovac as Coral Walker
- Shauna Shim as Valerie Chambers
- Saira Jackson as Nisha Chandra
Returning Waterloo Road students
- Aabay Noor Ali as Mog Richardson
- Cory McClane as Ashton Stone
- ChiChi Ulebor as Shola Aku
- Danny Murphy as Luca Smith
- Hattie Dynevor as Libby Guthrie
- Liam Scholes as Noel McManus
- Lucy Chambers as Cat Guthrie
- Maisey Robinson as Portia Weever
- Miya Ocego as Lois Taylor-Brown
- Niamh Blackshaw as Agnes Eccleston
- Scarlett Thomas as Izzy Charles
- Sonya Nisa as Aleena Qureshi
- Summer Violet Bird as Tonya Walters
- Tillie Amartey as Stace Neville
- Zak Sutcliffe as Schuey Weever
Waterloo Road season 17 will arrive on BBC iPlayer at 6am on Tuesday 6th January, with the first two episodes airing that evening on BBC One at 9pm and 10:40pm. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guideto see what's on tonight. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
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