Ant and Dec have said they are “beyond excited” to be returning to Byker Grove as executive producers for a reboot of the Geordie drama that made their names.
The original series ran on BBC 1 from 1989 to 2006 and featured teen-centric storylines that were largely set in a youth club. Issues such as abortion, drugs, sexuality, and bullying were featured in plotlines that were ahead of their time.
Ant and Dec played best friends PJ and Duncan in the original series before turning their attention to a music career and then presenting. And they are teaming up once more for the Byker Grove comeback, which will again be set in Newcastle.
This is all we know so far about Byker Grove 2.0.
Byker grove is coming back! 😄 pic.twitter.com/Rx4KFTVnxz
— Newcastle Fans TV (@NewcastleFansTV) July 4, 2023
The series will have a new name
For a start, the next episodes will be broadcast under the name Byker — and just Byker, the ‘Grove’ has been dropped.
It will be produced by Mitre Studios — the company run by Ant and Dec (Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly to the uninitiated!), which is named after a filming location for the programme — as well as Fulwell 73.
It will be broadcast in 2024. Donnelly has said storylines are at an “early stage” but did not rule out a potential cameo for PJ and Duncan.
Byker will air at a later time in the day
While the original ran as part of the late afternoon children’s CBBC slot on BBC 1, the reboot will be a prime time slot.
“[We want to] engage with a new generation of teenagers navigating the different challenges faced by young adults today,” Fulwell 73 said.
It is not known, yet, which channel the Byker Grove reeboot will be on
Nor do we know when filming will begin. Donna Air, Jill Halfpenny, Andrew Hayden-Smith, and Charlie Hunnam all also had their careers launched off the show but it has not been said if they will be back or who else will be cast.
Fulwell 73 has said they will try to cast from the North-East as much as possible.
Byker will still be in Newcastle
It wouldn’t be right if the show had been anywhere else. Dec said: “[It will] help shine a spotlight on the North-East and the talent the region has to offer both in front of the camera and behind it.
“Byker Grove will always be very special to us as the show which gave us our break, so we are beyond excited.
“We are looking forward to bringing this fresh incarnation to a whole new generation as well as those who remember it as fondly as we do.”
Benwell Towers was used as the original filming location but is now a school.
Byker could be getting a new theme tune
The Kane Gang recorded the famous theme for the series when it began in the late 1980s, but it sounds a little dated by modern production standards.
Leo Pearlman, from Fulwell 73, said: “[It] could do with a little update.”
In an interview with 5Live, he added: “The whole creative industry is so much stronger when it is geographically diverse, culturally, socially diverse and I think the North-East has been left behind in that regard for a number of years.”
