Byker Grove star "excited" to see how reboot tackles hard-hitting stories

The coming-of-age drama aired from 1989 to 2006 and centred on the lives of young teens who grew up in the Byker district of Newcastle and attended their local youth club.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly found fame on the show and will serve as executive producers for the upcoming series, which will be aimed "at a primetime audience" and "engage with a new generation of teenagers navigating the different challenges faced by young adults today", production company Fulwell 73 said.

Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the news of Byker Grove getting a brand new reboot, Andrew Hayden-Smith, who played Ben Carter in the original run, said: “I’m so excited to hear that Ant and Dec are rebooting the series."

He continued: "Byker Grove never shied away from hard-hitting storylines so it’s going to be interesting to see the show tackle the new challenges that young people are faced with today.”

Hayden-Smith starred in eight seasons of the original show as Ben, and was arguably one of the 'bad boys' of the series.

He saw his fair share of major storylines, including being isolated from his friends at the youth club, being a bit of a Casanova and, of course, meeting his end when he was tragically run over and killed off.

Ben's final storyline was just one of the most talked-about in the series, which tackled issues such as abortion, homelessness, addiction and abuse.

So, there's no telling what the new series could focus on.

Since his stint in Byker Grove, Hayden-Smith is perhaps best known for presenting Blue Peter and appearing on CBBC, and more recently acting in Hollyoaks as DS Gavin Armstrong.

News of Byker Grove's reboot was announced this morning with beloved presenters Ant and Dec saying: "The exciting news is 17 years after it closed its doors for the final time, Byker Grove is opening up again.

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"It's obviously a show that's very close to our hearts, the show which gave us our breaks, so we couldn't be more excited that we'll be giving it a new lease of life."

As of now, there's been no word on a release date, broadcaster or cast, but Dec has said that Byker, the new series, will "help shine a spotlight on the North East and the talent the region has to offer both in front of the camera and behind it".

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