Cillian Darcy Goes to Waterloo Road (Series Five)

The Fifth Series of Cillian Darcy Goes to Waterloo Road

Summary
Series 5 follows the merger of Waterloo Road with the local posh, private school – John Fosters. The current Head Teacher, Rachel Mason, and newly appointed executive Head Teacher, Max Tyler (played by Tom Chambers), immediately clash, causing a lot of tension, especially when Max takes the liberty of using Rachel's office. It isn't just the tension in the Heads' office that is brewing, the rivalry in the playground as well as the staff room is unimaginable. Six new teachers from John Fosters transferred to Waterloo Road to support the merger, much to the disapproval of snobby John Fosters and new Food Technology teacher Ruby Fry (Elizabeth Berrington), and to the immediate shock of hopeless newly qualified teacher, Helen Hopewell (Vinette Robinson), whom the pupils, and some staff, soon label 'Hopeless Hopewell.' Other John Fosters staff transfers include New Deputy Head and Science teacher Christopher Mead (William Ash) and Head of Modern Languages Jo Lipsett (Sarah-Jane Potts). A mix of new pupils also soon make their mark with their obvious disapproval of Waterloo Road and its existing pupils and staff, causing fights amongst both. This is a new term for Waterloo Road, with many challenges for both staff and students, not all of whom will cope. Cillian Darcy (Kireran Allyne) died in his tenth incarnation and regenerated into his eleventh body (Harry Culverhouse).

Episode 8 marks the departure of hopeless English teacher Helen Hopewell, who takes it upon herself to leave after realising that her bribery of the students to ensure their good behaviour during her teaching inspection will result in her sacking. Before she took her undignified leave from Waterloo Road, Helen left Rachel a computer disc, proving that Max had taken her on not just "for being a good student", but also because they had had a fling. Max Tyler's increasingly desperate attempts to control the school eventually result in the end of his teaching career. After he brutally shoves Rachel's nephew, Philip Ryan, against a filing cabinet (in episode 9), resulting in an extremely large and painful-looking bruise on his back, Philip struggles to keep quiet. Shocked by Philip's bruise, Ruby Fry mentions it to Kim Campbell (who incidentally is having an affair with Max). Eventually, Philip admits how he received his injury. Max is fired and led away from the school by the police, much to the delight of the staff and pupils. Rachel and Chris also kiss in Episode 10, though this never led to anything further between them. Cillian discovers that Waterloo Road may not forgive him, when he retrived a shocking message from the Time Lord, He decided to leave the school again to begin his adventure.

When Waterloo Road came back on air 3 months later, in Episode 11 Kim Campbell announces that she is pregnant with Max's baby. New students are introduced, in one-off appearances, in Episode 11 (Bianka), 12 (Craig) and 13 (Aidan). Adam Fleet arrives, an old friend of Rachel and he later proposes to her, whilst Steph starts dating Chris' father, Oliver. The main storyline throughout the second half of Series 5 is Finn Sharkey, an unruly pupil who causes havoc. He graffitis the staffroom, does drugs and forces Amy to deface a valuable painting in Episode 18. In Episode 16, after Finn has done drugs with Amy and Josh, Josh spikes Tom's dinner and when he later drives Kim to the hospital, he hallucinates that he saw Cillian's life ending and crashes, although they both survive, including Kim's baby. In Episode 17, Jo Lipsett is suspended for acting inappropriately when student Ros McCain reveals she loves her, whilst Ruby Fry is on medication for the majority for the series. In episode 15 Bolton Smilie and Sam Kelly kiss but Bolton ignores Sam afterwards.

Long serving characters Steph Haydock (Denise Welch), Kim Campbell (Angela Griffin), Rachel Mason (Eva Pope), Paul Langley (Thomas Milner), Karla Bentham (Jessica Baglow), Danielle Harker (Lucy Dixon), Aleesha Dillon (Lauren Thomas), Bolton Smilie (Tachia Newall) and Michaela White (Zaraah Abrahams), as well as Philip Ryan (Dean Smith), Siobhan Mailey (Phoebe Dynevor) and Jo Lipsett (Sarah-Jane Potts) left at the end of Series 5, Rachel announced that Cillian had regenerated into his penultimate incarnation.

Cast

 * Philip Martin Brown as Grantly Budgen; English Teacher
 * Angela Griffin as Kim Campbell; Art Teacher and Head of Pastoral Care (until episode 20)
 * Jason Done as Tom Clarkson; Head of English
 * Denise Welch as Steph Haydock; French Teacher (until episode 20)
 * Jessica Baglow as Karla Bentham; Pupil (until episode 20)
 * Lauren Thomas as Aleesha Dillon; Pupil (until episode 20)
 * Lucy Dixon as Danielle Harker; Pupil (until episode 20)
 * Tachia Newall as Bolton Smilie; Pupil (until episode 20)
 * Kay Purcell as Candice Smilie; Senior Canteen Assistant (until episode 5)
 * Eva Pope as Rachel Mason; Head Teacher (unitl episode 20)
 * Thomas Milner as Paul Langley; Pupil (until episode 20)
 * Zaraah Abrahams as Michaela White; Pupil (until episode 20)
 * Reece Douglas as Denzil Kelly; Pupil
 * Elaine Symons as Rose Kelly; Canteen Assistant (until episode 17)
 * Holly Kenny as Sambuca Kelly; Pupil
 * Kieran Alleyne  as the Tenth Cillian Darcy; Pupil-Teacher (until episode 4)
 * Dean Smith as Philip Ryan; Pupil (until episode 20)
 * Darcy Isa as Lauren Andrews; Pupil
 * Elizabeth Berrington as Ruby Fry; Head of Food Technology (episode 1 onwards)
 * Vinette Robinson as Helen Hopewell; NQT English Teacher (episode 1 to 8)
 * Shannon Flynn as Emily James; Pupil (episode 1 onwards)
 * Jenna-Louise Coleman as Lindsay James; Pupil (episode 1 to 9)
 * Sarah-Jane Potts as Jo Lipsett; Head of Modern Foreign Languages (episode 1 to 20)
 * Phoebe Dynevor as Siobhan Mailey; Pupil (episode 1 to 20)
 * Sophie McShera as Ros McCain; Pupil (episode 1 to 20)
 * William Ash as Christopher Mead ; Science Teacher and Deputy Head (episode 1 onwards)
 * Richie Jeeves as Luke Pendle; Pupil (episode 1 to 10)
 * Ayesha Gwilt as Amy Porter; Pupil (episode 1 onwards)
 * William Rush as Josh Stevenson; Pupil (episode 1 onwards)
 * Tom Chambers as Max Tyler; Executive Head (episode 1 to 10)
 * Ralph Ineson as John Fry; Husband (episode 5 onwards)
 * Rebecca Ryan as Vicki MacDonald; Pupil (episode 5 to 6)
 * Jack McMullen as Finn Sharkey; Pupil (episode 11 onwards)
 * Steven Waddington as Adam Fleet; Healthy Schools Co-ordinator (episode 13 to 20)
 * Harry Culverhouse as the Eleventh Cillian Darcy; Pupil Teacher (episode 4 to 10)