Waterloo Road series 14

Waterloo Road
Series 14
Starring	Jason Manford James Baxter Saira Choudhry Jo Coffey Neil Fitzmaurice Rachel Leskovac Kym Marsh Katherine Pearce Shauna Shim Adam Thomas
No. of episodes	8
Release
Original network	BBC One BBC iPlayer
Original release	10 September 2024 (2024-09-10) – present
Series chronology

The fourteenth series of the British television drama series Waterloo Road commenced airing on 10 September 2024.

The show follows the lives of staff and pupils of the eponymous secondary academy in Greater Manchester while tackling a range of social issues.

Production

Series 14 was announced along with series 13 and 15 by the BBC in August 2023. The press release confirmed that it would comprise eight episodes and that filming would commence that same year. Filming commenced in a new building for the Waterloo Road Academy setting, provided by Manchester College in one of its former campus'.

In August 2024, it was confirmed that Series 14 would premiere on 10 September 2024.

Casting

The majority of series regulars from the thirteenth series reprised their roles for this series, these included James Baxter, Jo Coffey, Neil Fitzmaurice, Rachel Leskovac, Kym Marsh, Katherine Pearce, Shauna Shim, and Adam Thomas, portraying Joe Casey, Wendy Whitwell, Neil Guthrie, Coral Walker, Nicky Walters, Amy Spratt, Valerie Chambers, and Donte Charles, respectively.

New pupils introduced in the fourteenth series included Billy Savage (Olly Rhodes), Boz Osbourne (Nathan Wood), Aleena Qureshi (Sonya Nisa), Lois Taylor-Brown (Miya Ocego), Luca Smith (Danny Murphy), and Jared Jones (Matthew Khan).

Additionally, Kerry Howard, Tom Wells, Hollie-Jay Bowes and Marie Critchley reprised their roles from the thirteenth series as recurring characters Serena Michelle Davies, Marc Todd, Debs Rafferty, and Barbara Rafferty, respectively.

Jason Manford joined the cast as Steve Savage, the new Headteacher of Waterloo Road, replacing Kim Campbell (Angela Griffin) following her departure from the school. Saira Choudhry also joined the cast as Nisha Chandra, the new Head of Maths.

Scheduling

The series debuted on 10 September 2024 at 9pm on BBC One, all episodes of the series were made available as a boxset on BBC iPlayer earlier that day.

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Jason Manford as Steve Savage; Headteacher
• James Baxter as Joe Casey; Deputy Headteacher and languages teacher
• Saira Choudhry as Nisha Chandra; Head of Maths
• Jo Coffey as Wendy Whitwell; PA to Headteacher
• Neil Fitzmaurice as Neil Guthrie; History teacher
• Rachel Leskovac as Coral Walker; Deputy Headteacher and Head of English
• Kym Marsh as Nicky Walters; School canteen worker
• Katherine Pearce as Amy Spratt; Early career English and drama teacher
• Shauna Shim as Valerie Chambers; Music teacher
• Adam Thomas as Donte Charles; Site manager and supply PE teacher

Pupils

• Noah Valentine as Preston Walters
• Alicia Forde as Kelly Jo Rafferty
• Francesco Piacentini-Smith as Dean Weever
• Liam Scholes as Noel McManus
• Lucy Eleanor Begg as Caz Williams
• Summer Violet Bird as Tonya Walters
• Thapelo Ray as Dwayne Jackson
• Chiamaka Ulebor as Shola Aku
• Hattie Dynevor as Libby Guthrie
• Zak Sutcliffe as Schumacher "Schuey" Weever
• Tillie Amartey as Stacey "Stace" Neville
• Maisie Robinson as Portia Weever
• Aabay Noor Ali as Mollie 'Mog' Richardson
• Olly Rhodes as Billy Savage
• Nathan Wood as Boz Osbourne
• Sonya Nisa as Aleena Qureshi
• Miya Ocego as Lois Taylor-Brown
• Danny Murphy as Luca Smith
• Matthew Khan as Jared Jones

Recurring

• Hollie-Jay Bowes as Debs Rafferty
• Marie Critchley as Barbara Rafferty
• Tom Wells as Marc Todd; Maths teacher
• Kerry Howard as Serena Michelle Davies; chief executive officer of Lowry Community Academies Trust

Episodes

No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
223	Episode 1	Robin Sheppard	Kellie Smith	10 September 2024 (2024-09-10)	TBD
Waterloo Road, now fully integrated into Lowry Community Academies Trust, has been relocated to a new site, and Joe has become Acting Head under the mentorship of Steve Savage, the Headteacher of another school in the Trust. His first day in charge gets off to a difficult start when the staff realise they do not have a staff room. Joe then attempts to help Amy financially through additional payments, but cannot follow through when the rest of the staff hear of his plan and soon faces a rebellion. Nicky sees Steve on school grounds and recognises him, as they were in a relationship as teenagers. She later learns that her mother has died, and Steve comforts her. Schuey and Portia have been sent to different foster placements, but plan to move to Blackpool and live in their uncle's caravan. Tonya convinces Portia not to go ahead with the plan. Libby is being trolled by text message and suspects Dean, who has returned to the school with a troubling new attitude. Libby finds an unlikely confidante in Kelly Jo, who tricks Dean into confessing. Outsmarted, he loses control and takes a swing at Neil who restrains him on the floor. Joe is compelled to suspend Neil, who suspects Joe is acting out of retaliation. Dean's friends turn against him and he is permanently excluded. Lead by Coral, the rest of the staff make it clear that they have no confidence in Joe's leadership and when he finds himself stuck in an elevator, the staff use this as an excuse to shut the school on the grounds of safety. Joe realises he cannot continue as Headteacher. Steve tracks down the staff in the local pub and listens to their concerns, before revealing to Joe that the Trust have approached him to step in as Headteacher.
224	Episode 2	Robin Sheppard	Neil Jones	17 September 2024 (2024-09-17)	TBD
The Raffertys are coming to terms with Barbara's death in their own individual ways. Nicky's primary concern is that they can't afford to honour her last wishes but her sister Debs is devastated. Tonya also takes the death of her nan badly, but is advised by newcomer Billy to try calling her mobile so she can hear her voice once more. Unbeknownst to Tonya he is none other than Steve's son. Schuey is under the influence of county lines dealer Carla Duggan and is selling vapes. When he is caught smoking his own supply in the disabled toilets, Joe investigates a misaligned ceiling tile and finds a stash of class A drugs. Steve deduces Carla's hand in this and warns Schuey to stay away from her malign influence. He asks for a full bag search under the guise of trying to establish the scale of vaping amongst the student body. The staff are asked to review each other's departments. Coral and Neil vie for the position of co-deputy head. The two review each other's lessons and find themselves at loggerheads. It takes Amy to make Neil realise he is putting his relationship in jeopardy for the sake of a promotion. Steve notices the ceiling tile in the disabled toilets askew once again and realises someone has been back for the stash unaware it has been discovered. Mog confides in Preston that she is the mule and that she has been coerced into drug running for Carla. When Steve finally learns of this he proposes an unorthodox course of action, one that Joe has grave reservations about. Mog arranges to meet with Carla where Steve confronts her and lets her fall for his trap. When Schuey discovers Billy is the head's son, he attacks him as a surrogate for revenge on Mr Savage. The discovery of a large box of cash belonging to Barbara has the Rafferty sisters at each other's throats once more.
225	Episode 3	Piotr Szkopiak	Jayshree Patel	24 September 2024 (2024-09-24)	TBD
Coral discovers she has a rival for the post of co-deputy head in the form of Nisha. When a parent threatens to complain to Ofsted about Neil insulting her son, Coral pretends to be deputy head in an attempt to portray herself as a respected authority figure. In Nisha's presence she is forced to take a hard line with Neil and suggests he takes part in restorative justice. Meanwhile Donte covers Coral's girl's P.E. class, but is met with indifference from them, who see him as no more than a janitor in joggers. When he approaches Tonya to establish why she didn't back him, she confides in him that she is suffering severe menstrual cramps. Touched by his support, Tonya is later instrumental in persuading the class to participate in the Tag rugby session Donte has planned. Debs Rafferty has joined the cleaning staff at the school, but Nicky is still not on talking terms with her and is still trying to keep her former relationship with Steve under wraps from Donte. The situation deteriorates when Debs deliberately spills the beans. Kelly Jo, sensing that (her gran's) money is at the root of all of the problems, intervenes by taking the cash and redistributing it from the top floor of the school. Pupils and teachers alike find cash raining down on them, but the lucky few later discover they aren't so fortunate after all, as most of the notes are monopoly money. When Billy auditions for Noel and Preston for a spot in the school's 'Battle of the Bands' competition, he stuns the cafeteria into silence. Whilst he is chatting to Val, his guitar, a gift from his deceased mother, goes missing and is found smashed up in a corridor. When Billy confronts Schuey, he finds himself challenged to a fight after school where he is beaten by the gang and humiliated. Steve impressed by Coral's initiative appoints her co-deputy head. Kelly Jo splits her gran's savings between herself and her two cousins, advising Tonya and Preston not to blow their share but to save it for a rainy day. In the aftermath of the Steve revelation, Nicky proposes to Donte.
226	Episode 4	Piotr Szkopiak	Natalie Mitchell	1 October 2024 (2024-10-01)	TBD
227	Episode 5	John Maidens	Charlie Swinbourne	TBA	TBD
228	Episode 6	John Maidens	Paul Mousley	TBA	TBD
229	Episode 7	Angela Griffin	Andrea Dewsbery & Liz Lewin	TBA	TBD
230	Episode 8	Angela Griffin	Katie Douglas & Nasreen Ahmed	TBA	TBD