Ackely Bridge
Both staff and students are in for plenty of struggles, as the school drama returns…
As Yorkshire academy school Ackley Bridge opens its doors for a new term, it looks like headteacher Mandy Carter already has a tough job on her hands.
‘Ackley Bridge is very low on Year 7 applicants, and without an influx of students, it looks like the school’s failing,’ says ex-EastEnders’ actress Jo Joyner, who plays Mandy. ‘So Mandy sets her mind on getting a better intake, and comes in with a fierce policy. She’s not everyone’s favourite person at the start.’
English teacher Emma Keane
(Liz White) is particularly critical of Mandy’s new initiative, which soon puts the pair at loggerheads. Although Mandy and her husband, PE teacher Steve Bell (Paul Nicholls), are now separated following her affair with school sponsor Sadiq Nawaz (Adil Ray), will he defend her?
Elsewhere, after kicking husband Iqbal out of the house in the last series, dinner lady Kaneez Paracha is finding her independence and starts learning how to drive…
Secret life
‘I certainly wouldn’t get in a car with Kaneez behind the wheel – she thinks she should be on Top Gear!’ laughs ex-Casualty star Sunetra Sarker, who returns as the dinner lady this series, which also guest stars Vicky Entwistle, best known as Corrie’s Janice Battersby.
Meanwhile, after coming out as gay last series, Kaneez’s daughter Nasreen (Amy-Leigh Hickman) is going along with her mum’s idea of a sham engagement to Naveed, a boy who’s in the closet about his sexuality.
Nas’ best friend Missy Booth (Poppy Lee Friar) advises her pal against living this secret life. Nas has bigger problems, however, when she bumps into a stranger, who has news that blows the teen’s already complicated world apart…
‘A big secret comes out about the Paracha family, causing a rift between Kaneez and Nasreen,’ says Sunetra. ‘When a bombshell drops on a family, everyone has the right to be angry.’