Topless model. Caterer. Locksmith. Psychiatric hospital worker... what happened to the cast of Grange Hill

WITH its catchy theme tune, cast of mischievous pupils and gritty storylines, Grange Hill, set in a fictitious comprehensive school in London, provided the backdrop to a generation of childhoods.

First broadcast in 1978 and regularly attracting audiences of up to 12million during its 30-year run, the show’s cast became household names. Today, some will be reminiscing on Radio 4’s The Reunion – so what happened after they left Grange Hill?

TODD CARTY Tucker Jenkins

Todd’s character was so popular that he got his own spin-off show, Tucker’s Luck. Todd then played Mark Fowler in EastEnders and starred in The Bill, before appearing on Dancing On Ice in 2009. He continues to act and direct.

PAULA-ANN BLAND Claire Scott

With her Lady Diana hair-flick, Paula-Ann played the daughter of over-protective parents. She quit Grange Hill aged 18 and posed topless for a men’s magazine. ‘For a little time I regretted it, but I don’t now,’

‘I regretted posing topless for a little time, but I don’t now’

she says. ‘That was the thing at the time.’ After TV roles in Spender and Only Fools And Horses, a career in PR followed. The mother-of-two was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. ‘I’m just starting to feel normal again,’ she says.

ERKAN MUSTAFA Roland ‘Roly’ Browning

Erkan played a sweet, shy character with a love of crisps who suffered terrible bullying. After leaving the drama, Erkan, who is now married with a son, appeared in Chef! with Lenny Henry, and in Blackadder. He then set up a home-catering business but continues to write and direct.

LEE MACDONALD Zammo McGuire

Cheeky Zammo’s descent into heroin addiction was Grange Hill’s most memorable storyline. After Zammo’s shocking death from an overdose in 1987, Lee hoped to become a professional boxer, but his hopes were dashed by injuries in a road accident. In 2000 he opened a locksmith business in South London. However, in 2019, aged 50, he got another major acting role, in EastEnders. Now 54, Lee is due to get married this summer to his partner, Jess.

SUSAN TULLY Suzanne Ross

After leaving the show, where she had played rebellious pupil Suzanne Ross for four years,

Susan was cast in EastEnders as 16-year-old Michelle Fowler who became pregnant by ‘Dirty’ Den Watts. Since Susan took her talents behind the soap’s cameras in the 1990s, she has become one of television’s leading directors, with credits that include Lark Rise To Candleford, Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, Silent Witness and Line Of Duty.

MARK SAVAGE

Norman ‘Gripper’ Stebson Having played Grange Hill’s scariest thug, who was eventually expelled for bullying black pupils, Mark said his life was made ‘hell’ by the show’s fans, who even attacked him in the street. ‘It was open season on Gripper,’ he says. Mark has continued to act in theatre and film.

GWYNETH POWELL Bridget McCluskey

More than 30 years on from playing Grange Hill’s head teacher – she left in 1991 – Gwyneth remains in touch with many of her ‘pupils’, as she calls them. Now aged 76 and married to actor Alan Leith, she appeared in BBC1’s Not Going Out earlier this year, playing a juror.

SEAN MAGUIRE ‘Tegs’ Ratcliffe

Sean joined Grange Hill at the age of 11, and subsequently played an apprentice footballer on EastEnders – the episode in which his character, Aidan, who had turned to drug abuse, tried to take his own life, was watched by a massive 23 million viewers. Sean later moved to Hollywood, appearing in the sitcom Eve, and played Robin Hood in the series Once Upon A Time. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children, and runs an acting school.

JOHN HOLMES

Luke ‘Gonch’ Gardner

The playground Arthur Daley’s money-making schemes included selling slices of toast. Now 52, he is an English teacher in Warsaw.

GEORGE CHRISTOPHER

Ziggy Greaves

George played Northern scamp Ziggy, and later appeared in soaps such as Brookside. ‘I guess I was typecast from Grange Hill a bit,’ he says. The 51-year-old is now a support worker at a psychiatric hospital in Liverpool.

MICHELLE HERBERT

Trisha Yates

Michelle says she looked ‘utterly miserable’ as classroom rebel Trisha Yates. Michelle left acting at 16 and later settled in Dundee with her husband where they run a glaziers business. l The Reunion is on Radio 4 today at 11.15am.