Ackley Bridge
Genre	Comedy drama[1]
Created by	Ayub Khan Din Kevin Erlis Malcolm Campbell
Starring	Full list
Composer	Tim Phillips
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	46(list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Malcolm Campbell George Faber George Ormond Ayub Khan-Din
Producer	Alexander Lamb
Production locations	Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
Cinematography	Anna Valdez-Hanks Sergio Delgado
Editors	Anthony Combes Vicky Tooms Dan Crinnion David Stark David I'Anson
Running time	45 minutes (series 1–3) 23 minutes (series 4–5)
Production company	The Forge
Original release
Network	Channel 4 All 4
Release	7 June 2017 (2017-06-07) – 11 July 2022 (2022-07-11)

Ackley Bridge is a Britishcomedy drama series set in a multiculturalacademy school of the same name. The series is set in the fictional town of Ackley, and filmed inHalifax, West Yorkshire and it began broadcasting onChannel 4 on 7 June 2017. In thefourth series,Ackley Bridge saw a major overhaul, including differenttime slots, a shortened runtime, several new characters to replace cast exits and moving the series onto streaming platformAll 4.

The first three series ofAckley Bridge received praise from critics and viewers, who liked that the programme represented minority groups and tackled real-world issues. Main cast membersPoppy Lee Friar,Amy-Leigh Hickman andSunetra Sarker have received awards for their portrayals of their respective characters, as well as the series itself garnering awards and nominations at various ceremonies. However, the fourth series faced criticism from the public. They felt that Channel 4 movingAckley Bridge to a 6pm time slot had led to the edgy storylines being softened and that the long-term characters did not receive enough screen-time. Following afifth series that received a late night slot, Channel 4 confirmed that they had decided not to renewAckley Bridge further.

In early 2017,Channel 4 announcedThe ABC, a six-partschool drama produced by The Forge.^[2][3] The series follows the merger of two schools in a dividedWhite andPakistani community due to budget cuts, exploring "the turbulent school experience, covering the challenges of prejudice and cultural issues in the school environment, as well as the humour, relationships and conflict had by the pupils, teachers and parents."^[4][5]St Catherine's Catholic High School inHalifax is used as the filming location for Ackley Bridge College.^[6] The series was later renamedAckley Bridge.^[7]

Following theManchester Arena bombing, the first episode was re-edited prior to airing as there were scenes showing "a troubled student strap a fake bomb to himself in order to disrupt the merging of a predominantly white and a predominantly Asian school."^[8] A spokesperson commented: "In light of the tragic events in Manchester, the first episode of forthcoming drama seriesAckley Bridge is being re-edited."^[8] Ahead of the first series premiere, additional content from the show was shared onSnapchat for "high school age characters to tell their stories in the way young people are" to introduce the characters. Further episodes will "be subsidised with additional videos that will help build the world outside of the allocated TV broadcast."^[9]

The first series aired from 7 June^[10] to 12 July 2017,^[11] andAckley Bridge was renewed by Channel 4 for a second series consisting of 12 episodes.^[12][13] Following the broadcast of an eight-part third series,^[14]Ackley Bridge was again renewed by Channel 4, with thefourth series initially set to premiere in September 2020.^[15] Due to theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television, production was postponed.^[16][17] This meant that the premiere of the series was postponed to April 2021.^[18] It was later confirmed that the first episode would premiere on Channel 4 at 19 April 2021 with a revised timeslot of 6:00 p.m.; the following nine episodes were released afterwards as a boxset onAll 4.^[17] Another of the changes made to the series included the runtime, which was halved from 60 minutes to 30 minutes. Rebecca Holdsworth, Channel 4's commissioning executive, stated that the shortened runtime was to reflect the viewing habits of younger viewers and to give the series "a new look and feel".^[19]

On 17 June 2021, it was announced in a report byProduction Weekly that production on thefifth series ofAckley Bridge had commenced that week.^[20][21] The series premiered on All 4 on 11 July 2022.^[22] In November 2022, Channel 4 announced that they had decided not to renewAckley Bridge.^[23] In a statement, they said: "As a broadcaster, we’re immensely proud ofAckley Bridge, which over the last five series has received praise for the way in which it has tackled real-life situations and issues in an irreverent and insightful way. However, Channel 4 has a responsibility to continuously look for new and innovative ideas and we have made the difficult decision to not greenlight another series."^[24]

The cast, main and supporting, are a mix of experienced and trained actors, as well as street cast actors.^[25]Amy-Leigh Hickman playsNasreen Paracha, daughter ofKaneez Paracha, who is described as a "quieter and tamer" student, as well as "intelligent", but "ballsy." She felt comfortable acting scenes withPoppy Lee Friar, who plays best friendMissy Booth, due to having a friendship in real life.^[26] Friar says she loves portraying Missy, who she describes as "sassy, saucy and a survivor."^[27] Television newcomers Nazmeen Kauser and Esa Ashraf playRazia andSaleem Paracha, Kaneez's two other children.^[28][29]

FormerEastEnders actorsJo Joyner andPaul Nicholls received the parts of married coupleMandy Carter, the headteacher of Ackley Bridge College, andSteve Bell, a PE teacher.^[30] Joyner described Mandy as "career driven", who has "worked so hard over the years to get to the level she's at." Joyner added that she likes the fact her character is not interested in having children.^[31]Adil Ray was cast as school sponsorSadiq Nawaz,^[32] as well asLiz White also joining the series as English teacherEmma Keane.^[33] Maariah Hussain andSamuel Bottomley, both students at Yorkshire School of Acting inBradford, were cast asAlya Nawaz and Jordan Wilson, respectively. Hussain described her character as "super intelligent, fiercely righteous, and a bit of a mean girl", but noted that Alya is as "insecure as any teenage girl".^[34] Jordan is billed as an artist that is "badly behaved and not fazed by getting into trouble".^[34] Matt Zina, principal of Hussain and Bottomley's acting school, saidAckley Bridge is Hussain's first role, noting her excitement, and he described Bottomley as an "exciting young actor".^[34] Cody Ryan got the part ofHayley Booth through an acting workshop at her school,Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College, which was run by Beverley Keogh casting agency.^[35] Students fromTrinity Academy,North Halifax Grammar School,The Crossley Heath School, andCalderdale College feature in the series.^[36]

In the second series,Tony Jayawardena was cast asRashid Hyatt, a science teacher at Ackley Bridge College, and a love interest of Kaneez.^[37]Adam Fielding and Jay Saighal also appear.^[38]Megan Parkinson was then cast in the role ofSam Murgatroyd, a love interest for Nasreen.^[39]Vicky Entwistle guest-starred in the series as the secret wife of Iqbal,^[40] as well asKimberley Walsh, who appeared as "home-wrecking netball teacher"Claire Butterworth.^[41] For the third series, several new cast members were cast, including Phoebe Tuffs-Berry,^[42] Zara Salim,^[43] Hareet Deol,^[44]Rob James-Collier,Charlie Hardwick, andTy Glaser in regular roles.^[45][46]James Atherton^[47] andNatalie Gavin, amongst others, also joined the series in recurring roles.^[48][49]

In December 2019,Ackley Bridge was renewed for a fourth series, and it was announced that the series would face an overhaul, including cast changes.^[50]Robyn Cara was cast as Kayla Azfal, a "funny, mixed-race pupil torn between her white mum's family and her traditional Pakistani dad's family", alongside sister Marina Perry, played byCarla Woodcock, who was described byDigital Spy as a "mean girl".^[51]Yasmin Al-Khudhairi was cast as Fizza Akhtar, the best friend of Kayla. Ryan Dean was cast in the role of Johnny Cooper, a love interest for both Kayla and Fizza, and it was also confirmed thatConnor McIntyre would guest star as Johnny's grandfather. Tahir Randhawa, played by Shobhit Piasa, was also introduced as the nephew of Kaneez. The numerous castings came as a result of numerous cast members leaving following the ending of the third series.^[51] For the fifth series, the role of Marina was recast to Megan Morgan. New castings for the series included Adam Little asKyle Dobson, the younger brother of Marina, andLaila Zaidi asAsma Farooqi, a new "hotshot teacher [who] ruffles some feathers".^[52]

Since the series was announced,Ackley Bridge has been compared to theBBC school dramaWaterloo Road, with Duncan Lindsay fromMetro opining that "Channel 4 have been crying out for a solid drama to fit into the early night slot" and that there has been a lack of a "solid school based drama".^[53] The series has also been compared to BBC's other long-running school drama seriesGrange Hill, as Michael Hogan fromThe Daily Telegraph stated "it could be described asGrange Hill with a mobile phone and a northern accent."^[54] Sam Wollaston fromThe Guardian wrote thatAckley Bridge is similar to a mixture ofWaterloo Road andShameless, and praised their use of social media in the series. He added that the series represents real-life issues and that cultural differences "aren't denied", while also avoiding the usage of stereotypes.^[55] Friar and Ryan received praise from viewers in the fourth episode of series one, where the episode revolved around the Booth sisters dealing with the death of their grandmother, played byRita May, which leads to Hayley being placed in care.^[56] Viewers also praised scenes of Lila Sharif, played by Anneika Rose, coming out as lesbian to her students.^[56]

Once again, Friar received praise during the teenage pregnancy storyline in series two, and the portrayal of "supportive female friendships" also received a positive reception.^[57] The child abuse storyline in series two involving Jordan (Bottomley) and Cory Wilson (Sam Retford) received praise from media and viewers, who thanked the producers for handling a difficult subject gracefully; Joe Anderton of Digital Spy added that "we can definitely put all the comparisons toWaterloo Road aside".^[58] Retford received praise again following Cory's troubled home life, mental illness and poverty being covered, with Digital Spy noting that theAckley Bridge "has never been one to shy away from serious, real-world issues".^[59] In 2019, Nasreen was listed as one ofAutostraddle's Favourite Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV Characters of 2019, and was described as "groundbreaking". It was noted that representation of Muslims on primetime television is rare, and that "to have a young queer Muslim woman as, essentially, the lead character in an ensemble show" was something to be praised.^[60]

The second and third series ofAckley Bridge was acclaimed by critics.The Guardian listed the second series as one of the best series to watch in the week it premiered, describing it as a midpoint between fellow Channel 4 programmesHollyoaks andShameless. They expressed their admiration for the series exploring serious issue such as race and religion without "lapsing into preachy worthiness".^[61] In a similar article a year later, Sarah Hughes ofThe Guardian praised the third series for continuing to explore dark moments while also balancing them with light-hearted comedy. Hughes appreciatedAckley Bridge "occasionally breaking out a musical interlude and tackling its teenage love stories with sensitivity and heart".^[62] Following the fourth series, Kyann-Sian Williams ofNME wrote thatAckley Bridge "has a few lessons to learn" fromWaterloo Road.^[63] Williams accreditedAckley Bridge with having much more diversity thanWaterloo Road and felt that it gave a more representative view of northern life, but felt thatWaterloo Road had more engaging drama. Williams proposed thatAckley Bridge's earlier timeslot of 6pm for the fourth series had led to the edge being taken away and a level of naivety being added to the storylines. She also expressed a desire to see more adult-themed plotlines. Despite her criticism, she noted that the series is "worth a watch" and admired that younger viewers had formed a connection to the series.^[63]Hello! magazine also wrote that viewers disliked the balance of new characters to old characters in the fourth series, noting that they wanted to see more of the original cast members.^[64]

• Ackley Bridge onChannel 4
• Ackley Bridge atIMDb 

• Ackley Bridge
• 2017 British television series debuts
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• 2010s British LGBTQ-related drama television series
• 2010s high school television series
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• Fictional schools
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• Halifax, West Yorkshire
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