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Channel 4 bringing back legendary show that had viewers in tears – 10 years after axing it
The legendary series is part of a huge TV franchise
CHANNEL 4 is bringing back the iconic TV series Educating Yorkshire after a decade off air.
The documentary programme, which regularly brought viewers to tears, premiered in 2013, returning briefly for a special in 2014.
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Educating Yorkshire, a spin-off of Educating Essex, has become the most iconic Educating… franchise.
The franchise came to an end in 2020 with Educating Greater Manchester, but it is now making an epic return with a new series of Educating Yorkshire which is set to hit screens in next year.
Educating Yorkshire will return to Thornhill Community Academy and although it has been more than a decade since the show last aired, some familiar faces will be returning, too.
Fans of the show will no doubt recognise teacher Mr Burton, who worked with student Musharaf, helping him to overcome his stutter.
Mr Burton has now advanced up the ladder to become Thornhill’s head, replacing Mr Mitchell. He is thrilled to be bringing Channel 4 back to the academy, and said that he waited until the time was right.
With the school now doing well, Mr Burton feels there is no better time to shine a light on the issues his staff and students are still facing. The rise in teenage anxiety, a post-Covid national attendance crisis, the influence of mobiles and social media and difficulties in recruiting and problems retaining teachers are among them.
Original co-creators Grace Reynolds and David Clews are back in the driving seat for the new series, which will be a “reimagining” of the iconic show.
“We don’t want to feel like we’re telling the same stories the same way,” David said in a statement to Broadcast.
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He added: “Creatively, we’ll still use the fixed rig in the way that we did before and follow the stories in an unobtrusive way. But we’ve got ambition for this to look and feel bigger and better than ever before.”
Having kept in touch with Mr Burton since 2013, David agreed that this was the right time to return to Yorkshire.
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“We’ve always celebrated the good work that teachers and all the staff do in the schools and we definitely want to be able to do that again, but through the lens of 2025,” he elaborated. “We want to look at that bigger question of ‘what is modern Britain?’ through the eyes of a school that we all know and love.”
Taking about the exciting new series, Burton added: “The national challenges the profession faces are well publicised, and at Thornhill, I’m really proud of how our staff and students work together to thrive through those.
"Our values - ‘work hard and be nice’ - are at the centre of all we do; I have no doubt that viewers will see those come to life in our brilliant community.”
Educating Yorkshire’s class of 2013: where are they now?
Some former Thornhill students found success after the series, but others ended up on the wrong side of the law.
Musharaf Ashgar
- Musharaf – known as Mushy – is arguably Educating Yorkshire’s biggest success story.
- After working closely with Mr Burton to overcome his stutter, Mushy finished school and went on to attend university.
- In 2021 he graduated from The University of Huddersfield and now works as a motivational speaker.
Ryan Ward
- Educating Yorkshire fans may remember Ryan Ward as the kid who proudly announced he wanted to be Prime Minister one day.
- While he seems to have set that goal aside for the time being, he wants kids to know they can always dream big and achieve success.
- “No matter how strange or odd your dreams may be, for example, wanting to be a police, a fireman, an actor or even the prime minister, the only way you can guarantee yourself to succeed is if you never give up and keep on trying,” he said.
- After finishing school, the latte-lover opted to stay in Yorkshire and took a job with his parents at a flooring company.
Kamrrem Harris
- Former Thornhill pupil Kamrren Harris had a difficult few years after featuring on Educating Yorkshire and found himself in trouble with the law in February 2018.
- The then 18-year-old was jailed after breaking a man’s jaw in a pub in Dewsbury. Kamrrem was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm, violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon.
- This resulted in a 27-month jail sentence in a young offenders institution. He has since been released back into the community.
Tom Foster
- Educating Yorkshire’s Tom Foster was a regular class clown back in 2013. He was in Year 10 at the time of filming but has since finished his education and taken on a job in a warehouse — and he’s still making people laugh.
- He is glad to have appeared on the show, previously telling Yorkshire Live: "I'm 100 percent happy with how the show portrayed me. That's exactly who I am - loud, outgoing and always trying to make people laugh."
The original season of Educating Yorkshire is available to stream on Channel 4. The new series will premiere in 2025.