Waterloo Road season 16 release date confirmed along with new and returning cast
Jon Richardson is joining the cast in the school drama's new season.
Fans of school drama Waterloo Road, it's time to get excited – we now know when all episodes of the show's upcoming 16th season will arrive.
The full eight-part season will debut on BBC iPlayer at 6am on Tuesday 23rd September. Two episodes will then air back to back each week from 9pm on a Tuesday evening on BBC One.
The new season's biggest new addition to the cast will be Jon Richardson as media studies teacher Darius Donovan, while other new additions include Christine Bottomley as Sam Drake, the daughter of head teacher Dame Stella Drake (Lindsey Coulson). Fintan Buckard (Phoenix Rise) and Savannah Kunyo (Coronation Street) will play Stella's grandchildren.
Meanwhile, Christopher Jeffers (Riot Women) will play Mitch Swift, the new SenCo lead (Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator), and Jason Merrells will be back as Jack Rimmer, now acting as the school counsellor.
Additional returning cast members include Adam Thomas (Donte Charles), Hollie-Jay Bowes (Debs Rafferty) James Baxter (Joe Casey), Jo Coffey (Wendy Whitwell), Kym Marsh (Nicky Walters), Neil Fitzmaurice (Neil Guthrie), Rachel Leskovac (Coral Walker), Ryan Clayton (Mike Rutherford) and Shauna Shim (Valerie Chambers).
The returning student cast include Aabay Noor Ali (Mog Richardson), Chiamaka (ChiChi) Ulebor (Shola Aku), Danny Murphy (Luca Smith), Hattie Dynevor (Libby Guthrie), Liam Scholes (Noel McManus), Maisey Robinson (Portia Weever), Miya Ocego (Lois Taylor-Brown), Sonya Nisa (Aleena Qureshi), Summer Violet Bird (Tonya Walters), Thapelo Ray (Dwayne Jackson), Tillie Amartey (Stace Neville), and Zak Sutcliffe (Schuey Weever).
The synopsis for the new season says: "This September, Headteacher Stella is forced to navigate a fresh set of challenges, and this family dynamic will undoubtedly alter her approach on how she manages things, as well as relationships with students and fellow teachers.
"With another tragedy on the horizon, the choices of some of Waterloo Road’s own will have some life-changing consequences."
Brand new images for season 16 can be found throughout this article, giving us new looks at some of the key characters.
The season will also feature a full on-location episode, which has been directed by Angela Griffin, who played Kim Campbell in the series. The episode will see more familiar faces return as the Waterloo Road student-body heads to the local estate to participate in a community clean-up that doesn’t quite go to plan.
Thankfully, fans don't need to worry that this will be the last time we'll see Waterloo Road – far from it, as the series has already been renewed for three more runs, up to season 19.
Waterloo Road season 16 will arrive on BBC iPlayer at 6am on Tuesday 23rd September, with the first two episodes airing that evening on BBC One from 9pm. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
