|
|
Post by justinate on Jan 4, 2023 5:38:16 GMT -5
Happy days indeed - we get to move something out from the Gone but Not Forgotten pile. The revival of Waterloo Road (officially series 11) introduces a number of LGBTQ+ regulars:  From left to right: - Deputy Headteacher and Head of Pastoral Care, Joe Casey (played by James Baxter): If Lindon [the other deputy head] represents the sharp-suited professional edge of the senior management team, then Joe is the laid-back alternative. As a result, many of the staff seek him out to help solve issues as they feel he is a little more 360° in his understanding of a situation. His husband, Mike, is a police officer and has been supportive of Joe taking on more, especially because he so believes in the results. Joe and Mike are foster parents to brothers, Dwanye and Zayne, who have been with them for 18 months now and they’re a tight family unit – or getting there.
- Police Sergeant Mike Rutherford (Ryan Clayton): He's married to Joe, and together the pair have two foster kids attending the school.
- Kai Sharif (Adam Ali): Kai is a basketball ace with Dennis Rodman good looks and his own flamboyant style on the court – and in life. Easy in his own skin, he’s comfortably gay and pretty camp – even if he does tone it down a bit at home. His family are perfectly kind, nice and reasonable; Kai just wishes they were more exciting. He feels so stifled at home, like he just can’t be the Kai he needs to be. He is best friends with (straight) Danny Lewis who is living rough at the school due to family troubles.
An interview with Adam who plays Kai: www.thepinknews.com/2023/01/03/adam-ali-waterloo-road-interview/I seem to remember reading that the new series would deal with struggles with sexuality or coming-out, but I can't find that article with a simple Google search. But assuming it was accurate, it shouldn't apply to any of the three above characters who are all out, so there may yet be a love interest for Kai among his fellow students. |
|
|
|
Post by kevvoi on Jan 6, 2023 8:38:29 GMT -5
Brief clip from the first episode courtesy of LoveisLove:
|
|
|
|
Post by overtherainbow on Jan 6, 2023 11:16:48 GMT -5
Just read about this reboot. Can't wait! Finally some new and exciting gay teenage characters, with Kai here and Arthur on Emmerdale. It doesn't surprise me that they're from the UK either. America basically doesn't have gay characters anymore, only European countries like the UK, Germany and Spain, give us gay characters regularly.
|
|
|
|
Post by justinate on Jan 6, 2023 13:02:25 GMT -5
I got excited too, but people who've watched it have helped lower my expectations. I remembered belatedly how poorly the original Waterloo Road dealt with their gay characters, but I thought at least they'd show Joe and Mike parenting their foster sons (Matt fostering Sambucca was a highlight, even though they did very little with his love life). No such luck. Apparently there is zero storyline for Joe and Mike together - Mike disappears after episode 1 and even though police are called to the school, he's never the one to respond. It's an odd choice, like the actor wasn't available or something (but then why make a big deal of his casting?). And neither of them are seen parenting their foster sons, which honestly is such a huge oversight given that Joe is literally at the school all day, every day. Apparently, if you didn't watch the first episode, you wouldn't even know they were the boys' foster parents!
As for Kai, he is mostly supporting his straight best friend, but he does get a love interest and a couple of kisses but it doesn't seem like the story gets much airtime, focusing instead on the other boy's mental health issues. I am glad that, at least, it's not the case of the gay guy having an unrequited crush on a straight friend. I thought at first it was a repeat of Ackley Bridge. |
|
|
|
Post by mrfixit477 on Jan 7, 2023 14:19:53 GMT -5
|
|
marow
New Member
Posts: 82
|
Post by marow on Jan 7, 2023 15:34:08 GMT -5
Anybody knows the deal regarding how many episodes will this season have? Sources on Wikipedia say that there are only 7 episodes and all the episodes will be released on iPlayer the same day. But in an interview with Angela, they ask her if the show will be here long-term, and she says yes and "...we got 7 episodes that have kind of dropped on iPlayer right now this minute that will be going out tonight (3/1/2023) at 8 o'clock, but yeah, there will be more later on in the year." Not sure whether she means more eps airing but are already on iPlayer or new new episodes... Somebody in the comments also claimed that based on inside info, there should be around 20 episodes, but don't really know if I can trust that... |
|
|
|
Post by justinate on Jan 8, 2023 10:20:33 GMT -5
Anybody knows the deal regarding how many episodes will this season have? Sources on Wikipedia say that there are only 7 episodes and all the episodes will be released on iPlayer the same day. But in an interview with Angela, they ask her if the show will be here long-term, and she says yes and "...we got 7 episodes that have kind of dropped on iPlayer right now this minute that will be going out tonight (3/1/2023) at 8 o'clock, but yeah, there will be more later on in the year." Not sure whether she means more eps airing but are already on iPlayer or new new episodes... Somebody in the comments also claimed that based on inside info, there should be around 20 episodes, but don't really know if I can trust that... Wikipedia does say that, but anyone can edit it. The very first season of WR had only 8 episodes and the second 12, but after that it's been between 20 and 30 episodes. Given that this show was positioned as replacing Holby City, I would lean towards more episodes than fewer. It doesn't really make sense for them to axe a continuing drama like Holby to make a 7-episode season, especially with all the outlay costs. But 7 is a decidedly odd number of episodes to release as a first batch. I'm thinking it may just be the first half of the season, or some similar "bloc" of episodes. I really hope that, assuming we're right and more episodes are coming down the pike, they will do a better job with Joe and Mike. |
|
|
|
Post by overtherainbow on Jan 8, 2023 15:02:36 GMT -5
I just finished it. I liked it a lot. I found it refreshing that the reason Preston didn't meet up with Kai was not because he was closeted, even though he is. What I mean is that he isn't self hating. He has a lot going on, at home, with his sexuality, trying to keep up an act, trying to fit in etc. And that developed into an eating disorder. It makes sense. And he needs to be fit for basketball, so he binges and then throws it up. It makes sense. Anyays, my point is just that it's refreshing that Preston's issue is not his sexuality in itself, as he doesn't seem to have an issue with it, despite keeping it a secret, but it's the anxiety. If something had to keep them apart I'm glad it was Preston's own issue and nothing to do with some internalized homophobia. I'm sick of those type of storylines. Preston has never been homophobic to try and cover his own sexuality. He was actually friends with Kai before making a move on him. The one thing about this storyline I didn't like was that they got very little screentime. I totally understand that Preston's sexuality was meant to be a secret to be revealed, but that just lead to him and Kai's storyline barely starting before the season was over. Two other things I wonder about: what is Preston's sexuality, gay or bi? I guess we'll find out? Maybe he's not into labels? Also, what was the point with that police officer who was that teacher's husband? I'm glad we got to see a gay police officer, as that doesn't happen often. I'm ok with guys like Kai, but it's also refreshing to see some masculine gay guys too. But I don't get why the gay police officer got like one scene? There were many police incidents at the school, could they not have included him in any of those scenes? It was weird.
|
|
|
|
Post by justinate on Apr 18, 2023 7:01:49 GMT -5
It was obvious that more episodes were on their way, but it's a little sooner than I expected - next month! Hopefully they do justice to both gay couples this time, although the return of another adult cast member doesn't bode well. http://instagram.com/p/CrK_g-AI7RR |
|
|
|
Post by justinate on May 2, 2023 7:49:13 GMT -5
May 16 is the premiere date. They specifically mention Ryan Clayton as Mike among the returning cast, so I don't know if they will finally give him and his husband some personal drama,especially with two more new cast members joining.
|
|
|
|
Post by justinate on May 4, 2023 12:52:14 GMT -5
|
|
blake
Junior Member
Posts: 793
|
Post by blake on May 19, 2023 16:13:11 GMT -5
Does anyone know where I can watch scenes of Joe & Mike's storyline?
|
|
|
|
Post by justinate on Aug 21, 2023 8:31:14 GMT -5
Renewed for two more seasons.
|
|
|
|
Post by justinate on Dec 6, 2023 8:27:24 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by justinate on Jan 3, 2024 11:40:20 GMT -5
I read that Kai is written out at the end of the new batch of episodes. |
|
|
|
Post by justinate on Feb 13, 2024 10:18:25 GMT -5
|
|
