Waterloo Road fans are astonished by how different show star Jack McMullen looks now that the much-loved series is set to make a return to screens.
The 30-year-old Liverpudlian shot to fame in 2012 as cheeky school lad Finn Sharkey – and he featured in 56 episodes of the TV drama.
While Jack bowed out of the show in 2012, Waterloo Road continued for a further three years before being cancelled by the BBC in 2015.
Jack has since gone on to enjoy phenomenal success following his soap roots – having featured in Brookside, Grange Hill, Casualty and Doctors before he joined the Waterloo Road cast as a 19-year-old.
Fans can currently see Jack playing a character named Connor Joyce on gritty dark comedy Screw on Channel 4 – and also had a role in prison drama Time last year, starring opposite Sean Bean.
Back in 2017, he featured in Little Boy Blue opposite Stephen Graham and prior to that he also had a part in BBC Three comedy Together in 2015.
Waterloo Road fans were stunned to see previously fresh-faced Jack appear in Time last year with a beard and a buzzcut.
One astonished fan tweeted at the time: “I'm sure he used to be in waterloo road too..” Only to be delighted when her theroy was right.
Now fans are hoping Jack will somehow return to Waterloo Road now that the BBC has announced they are resurrecting the school-set drama.
One fan tweeted the star directly when the revival was announced, asking: “will you be reprising your role as finn sharkey in the new waterloo rd?”
While the actor has remained silent on speculation and dreams he might return, the BBC have gushed about their decision to revive the drama – which first aired back in 2006 – as part of their commitment to create new shows across the UK.
Originally, Waterloo Road was set in the English town of Rochdale before the setting was moved to the Scottish town of Greenock from season four onwards.
The revival series is due to be set in Greater Manchester.
Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama, said: “Waterloo Road is the perfect lens through which to explore post-Covid Britain, from the perspective of those who have arguably been affected most: young people in education.
"We are thrilled to be returning to this brilliant format - its thrills and spills, unmissable characters and high drama - at a time when audiences across Britain need it most - and to be collaborating with the brilliant Cameron Roach and Wall To Wall on its return.”
Over the course of the original nine-year run, Waterloo Road featured a high calibre of established actors including Neil Morrissey and Denise Welch.
While the show also became something of a training ground for future huge UK stars with a number of cast members graduating from the series to enjoy huge success elsewhere.
Chelsee Healey moved on from Waterloo Road to Hollyoaks after securing a role on the Channel 4 soap after her time on the BBC show.
While Lucien Laviscount can now be seen on the Netflix smash Emily In Paris after featuring on the show in his youth, and Tom Payne went from playing a school boy on the series to playing a character called Jesus on hit Zombie horror show The Walking Dead.
