Waterloo Road icon confirmed to return amid 20th anniversary celebrations for beloved school drama

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I can hardly believe it’s been 20 years! This week marks the anniversary of the very first episode of Waterloo Road. Honestly, it was a show everyone underestimated, but it really captured the public’s imagination. And I was thrilled to see it make such a fantastic comeback in 2023 – a true testament to how much people loved it.

As a lifelong movie buff, I’ve seen a lot of dramatic storylines, but the last twenty years at that school – first in Manchester, then briefly up in Scotland – have been something else. It’s been a total rollercoaster of scandals, literal explosions sometimes, and just endless trouble with both teachers and students. Honestly, they’ve gone through nine headteachers! And the characters? Forget about it – truly unforgettable, for all the wrong reasons, in many cases.

One of the most memorable characters from the show was Janeece Bryant, a former student who became the school secretary, played by Chelsee Healey.

For the first four seasons, Janeece was a lovable, clumsy character who always seemed to cause trouble, but somehow always managed to talk her way out of it. She was so well-liked by fans that she returned in the sixth season as a staff member.

I was totally hooked on Waterloo Road, so when the original school closed and everyone moved to Greenock, I followed them! Honestly, it was amazing. But during series eight, I started to feel really bad for her – she seemed to be neglecting her daughter, Cheryl. So, she made this big decision to move to Ibiza and start all over again, which I thought was a brave thing to do.

We last saw the character on television when she briefly appeared at the funeral of Chlo Thomas (played by Katie Griffiths) in season eleven.

I’m excited to see Healey back in the cast! And they’ve made a really interesting choice with Lauren Hylton – she’s joining the show to play Cheryl, now all grown up as a teenager. It’s going to be fascinating to see how they portray that transition.

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Healey expressed her excitement about returning to Waterloo Road, saying it felt like coming home to reprise her role as Janeece. She described the character as still being strong and humorous, but now also a mother, and she’s eager for viewers to see what Janeece has been doing.

As a long-time fan, I was so excited to hear that Waterloo Road is coming back! Cameron Roach, the executive producer, said it feels like a huge new chapter for the show, and they’re really aiming to keep it fresh and relevant for today’s viewers. The best part? Chelsee Healey is returning as Janeece to celebrate the show’s twentieth anniversary – that’s fantastic news!

Janeece perfectly captures the show’s personality and fun, and she connects all its different eras together.

Healey will be returning as their character from the original series, alongside familiar faces like Griffiths, Adam Thomas, Denise Welch, Angela Griffin, Jamie Glover, Zeriozha Annika, Lauren Drummond, and Jason Merrells.

There’s also a wave of new additions heading to the classroom:

New Waterloo Road pupils

  • Leo Ashton as Liam Shaw
  • Callum Broome as Nathan Clark
  • Yousef Naseer as Ibrahim Azzi
  • Lewis Pemberton as Cane Morris
  • Keelan Wright as Marshall Clark

New Waterloo Road staff

  • Tashinga Bepete as Edward Connell
  • Cora Kirk as Leah Merchant
  • Mollie Winnard as Gemma Tully.

The new season of Waterloo Road will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer later this year.

Every episode of Waterloo Road is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

Authors

Michael AdamsSoaps Editor

Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at TopMob, giving fans the latest news and spoilers from popular shows like Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, and Hollyoaks. Before joining TopMob, he worked as a Soaps Reporter at Metro for two years and even worked on the sets of Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

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2026-03-10 15:38