[Scarlett.]

The BBC has decided to pull the plug on children's TV school drama Grange Hill after a 30 year run. The series began on 8 February 1978 and featured storylines about hard-hitting social issues such as teenage pregnancy and drug useage.


One series is still to be broadcast of the school drama and will focus on the younger children of Year Six.

The show's most controversial story was in 1986 when Zammo Maguire began taking drugs. It led to the Just Say No campaign and a top 10 single.

The drama was also recognised as a nurturing ground for young talent. Among its stars were Todd Carty, Susan Tully and John Alford.

The BBC has announced a series of new shows to fill the gap. They include Half Moon Investigations, about wrongdoing in the school playground, and Paradise Cafe, described as a beachside mystery with a supernatural twist.

There will also be We Are Family, following a family who are the house band on a talk show, and Roy, about a cartoon boy marooned in the real world.

Creator Phil Redmond, although unhappy to see the school drama go, felt that the programme was losing its gritty edge. He told The Observer. "I don't like keeping things going when the point has been lost.

"I do now think the point of Grange Hill has been lost, and 30 years is a nice time for it to hang up its mortar board," he said.