Mid-term Report

Grange Hills: swimming pool disasters. Drugs, and just say "no." Flying sausages. School like you’d never seen it before. Brookside: lesbian kisses. Bodies under patios. Exploding shops. Suburban life like you’d never seen it before. Hollyoaks: bad boys on bikes. Loveable geeks. Leggy blondes. Students like you’d never seen them before. Phil Redmont: three classic TV programs. One TV genius. This is the behind-the-scenes story of how a working-class lad from the Liverpool suburbs went from living on a housing estate to buying one, and from comprehensive school dinners to lunch with the Queen. Along the way he learned a lot of lessons, broke all the rules, and changed television forever.

Phil Redmond is a well-known television producer and screenwriter. He began writing scripts for the TV sitcoms such as The Squirrels before using his own experience of comprehensive schools to come up with the idea for Grange Hill and Brookside. Redmond also developed the teen soap Hollyoaks, which is now one of the most established soap operas on UK television. Redmond was awarded a CBE in 2004 in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.