Going to school at Waterloo Road was almost an endurance challenge in itself and made Grange Hill look like nursery school.
It upped the ante on the dramas of its CBBC predecessor and storylines included sex attacks, drug addiction, teachers being stabbed, students being shot, teacher and pupil affairs, brain tumour deaths, skeletal remains of babies - it was a pretty bleak place.
The school itself, which eventually moved from Rochdale to Scotland, had a torrid time as it was blown up by a gas explosion and ripped apart by a digger.
The show became known for its incredibly high turnover of characters, with a staggering 48 main characters, including six headteachers tearing their hair out, during its run from 2006 to 2015.
After a whopping 200 episodes, the doors to Waterloo Road finally slammed shut for good.
The final episode aired on 9 March 2015, exactly nine years after we were treated to the very first helping. But what became of the ensemble cast? Some of the pupils look unrecognisable now as adults.
Many have gone on to have incredible careers, while others have not been as lucky. Here is a look, via The Mirror, at what some of the Waterloo Road cast are doing now.
Janeece Bryant - Chelsee Healey
One of Waterloo Road's most iconic characters, gobby Janeece was always getting into trouble.
She was left heartbroken by the death of best pal Maxine and left Waterloo Road in series four.
However, pregnant Janice returned in series 6 as the school's secretary and named her baby Cheryl after the Girls Aloud singer.
She grew close to nerdy teacher Daniel Chalk and they had a brief fling, but Janeece wanted a change in life and left Waterloo Road for Ibiza with Cheryl.
Actress Chelsee Healey was runner-up in the 2011 series of Strictly with Pasha Kovalev.
After two years in Casualty as Honey Wright she was cast as feisty Goldie McQueen in Hollyoaks and has been there ever since.
She had a short break from the show to give birth to adorable baby daughter Coco in July 2017.
Scout Allen - Katie McGlynn
Jodie Allen, better known as Scout, was a rough kid who lived in a squalid flat with her mum and brother.
She was forced to provide by stealing and dealing drugs, but proved herself to be an intelligent pupil and got a makeover.
The character was played by Katie McGlynn, who of course is famous for playing Sinead Tinker in Corrie.
She was on the soap for seven years until Sinead's tragic death from cancer - where she left behind husband Daniel and baby Bertie.
It was one of the saddest storylines in soap history and Katie won Best Serial Drama Performance at the NTAs in 2020.
Lorna Hutchinson - Laura Aikman
Deputy head Lorna joined class in the 10th and final series of Waterloo Rd in 2015.
She starts off well by being punched in the face and igniting a feud with her predecessor.
After her term at Waterloo Road ended Laura went on to star in Bluestone 42, Netflix's Lovesick and most recently she appeared on the 2019 Gavin & Stacey Christmas special as Smithy's girlfriend, Sonia.
Tom Clarkson - Jason Done
Tom Clarkson was the lovable teacher we all wish we had.
The English teacher became head of department and then deputy head teacher and was a constant source of support for the kids.
After the death of Izzie he looked after her daughters, Chlo and Mika, then was hit by the bombshell arrival of his son Josh.
After eight series, Tom meta devastating end when he tried to stop Kyle from taking his own life by jumping off the school roof.
It ended in tragedy as Tom was unintentionally flung off the roof and fell to his death.
Since the show, actor Jason Done has appeared in Casualty, Vera and Netflix original The Innocents.
Grantly Budgen - Philip Martin Brown
Grantly Budgen was the grumpy Head of English who quickly became our favourite character.
He famously turned up to cover for a week and ended up staying for 29 years.
The sarcastic teacher, who frequently fell asleep in class, would often insult the kids to much amusement.
The longest-serving character, Grantly appeared from the first episode until series nine when he developed kidney failure.
Grantly found out he had an organ donor, but died in his chair during an assembly.
The man behind the character, Philip Martin Brown went on to star in big budget films Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Darkest Hour.
He was also Steve McDonald's therapist in two episodes of Coronation Street in 2015.
Mika & Chlo Grainger - Lauren Drummond and Katie Griffiths
The sisters were main characters in the first few series.
Chlo married Donte at the age of 16 then had an affair with her sister's boyfriend.
She was looked after by Tom following her mum's sad death and had a teenage pregnancy.
When she finished school, Chloe moved to Manchester with Donte and their daughter to study at university.
Actress Katie Griffiths went on to appear in Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips.
She has also appeared as three separate characters in Casualty and most recently on Doctors this year.
Mika seemed like the calmer sister but turned out to be more fiery and opionated.
She suffered the agony of her mother's death and the turmoil of finding out Chlo slept with her boyfriend.
But she forgave Chlo and made up with Brett before going off to university.
In the real world, actress Laura Drummond had made multiple appearances in Doctors and Holby City, eventually getting a regular role in the hospital series as Chantelle Lane.
She has also appeared in Silent Witness and Coronation Street in 2019.
Donte Charles - Adam Thomas
Donte started off as a bit of a bad boy but realised he had to change after his reckless behaviour caused the death f best friend Adam.
He married Chloe, who then cheated on him with her sister's boyfriend, but they got back together and had a baby.
After finishing school they moved to Manchester so Chloe could study. He left the show in 2009 before joining Emmerdale. He then spent nine years playing Adam Barton in the Dales before leaving in 2018.
He then took on three days a week of work at a property management company owned by a businessman friend and became a property executive for Kamani Property.
But earlier this year her was back on telly with his brothers for Absolutely India: Mancs in Mumbai.
Ronan Burley - Ben Ryan Davies
Ronan was an Alan Sugar wannabe who always had a scheme to make money.
His father was a big time gangster played by Martin Kemp - and he grassed his own dad up to the police.
Ronan got engaged to Vicki but discovered she was pregnant with best mate Aiden's baby.
He supported her through a miscarriage but she started to physically abuse him so he broke off their relationship.
Actor Ben has appeared in Vera and Casualty, but his biggest role came as Nick Savage in Hollyoaks.
Nick went back with a drunken Ellie during Freshers Week and had sex with her when she had drunkenly fallen asleep.
Ellie was horrified the next morning and reported Nick to the police, but they dropped the charges and he went on to rape Holly.
Ben left the soap when his character was sentenced to seven years in prison - with the actor heavily praised for his portrayal and raising awareness.
Jonah Kirby - Lucien Laviscount
Home-schooled lad Jonah let loose when he attended Waterloo Road and got into a relationship with Jess Fisher.
They broke up when he realised she had slept with teacher Chris Mead.
Jonah's love life took a dark twist when he started an affair with Spanish teacher Francesca Montoya.
When she got pregnant they ran away to get married in Gretna Green but she was arrested as they left the registry office.
Hunky actor Lucien went on to star in Shameless, Skins and the TV version of British gangster film Snatch with Rupert Grint.
He finished fifth in Celebrity Big Brother 2011 and released a single, 'Dance With You' in 2012.
Josh Stevenson - Will Rush
Josh made a bombshell arrival in series 5 as the son of Tom Clarkson, believing his dad had abandoned him at birth.
He eventually built a strong relationship with his dad and started to question his sexuality - starting a relationship with boyfriend Nate.
Josh was diagnosed with schizophrenia after becoming addicted to cannabis, but returned to finish his exams.
Actor Will went on to have roles in Casualty and Coronation Street as Ian in 2014.
His big break nearly came in 2016 when he stunned the X Factor judges with his incredible voice.
He made it well through the competition, but missed out on judges' houses after a car crash performance that failed to impress.
Simon called time on the audition, telling Will: "That was self-indulgent crap. And it was such a boring song."
After Will walked off the stage, Nicole said: "How can anyone sing along to that? I know these guys are better than this."
While Sharon added: "What on earth just happened?"
Josh later took to Twitter to claim it was 12am by the time he sang, the audience had all gone home and it wasn't his first choice song.
Bex Fisher - Tina O'Brien
Bex was initially missing when her family first joined, but made a shocking return at the start of series six.
Her return caused a lot of tension as her family demanded answers - with it being revealed she was abused in the porn idustry.
Tina O'Brien is known to everyone as Sarah Platt from Coronation Street.
The actress appeared in Strictly Come Dancing in 2010 before returning to Corrie in early 2015.
Since then, Sarah has been attacked by evil Callum, discovered her daughter was the victim of a sex gang and given birth to baby Harry.
Simon Lowsley - Richard Mylan
Joining at the end of series right, Welsh actor Richard Mylan was familiar with audiences from Coupling, Doctors and Grown Ups.
His character Simon was deputy head teacher had plenty of dramas including hitting his wife's lover with a baseball bat, saving Lenny Brown from drowning and clashes with Christine Mulgrew.
Since leaving he's appeared in Hidden, Canaries, Agatha Raisin amongst others and in 2017 and 2019 he and son Jaco made documentaries about Jaco's journey through autism.
Lindsay James - Jenna-Louise Coleman
Lindsay arrived with a bang when Waterloo Road merged with John Foster Private School - leading the violent clashes between the rivals.
Worried Lindsay was hiding a big secret, that her dad has been killed by her mum.
But there was a twist when Lindsay confessed she actually murdered her abusive father to protect her mother and sister.
She was jailed for murder then ran away after she was released from jail - and was never seen again.
One of the biggest stars on this list, Jenna's biggest role has been Doctor Who assistant Clara Oswald.
She has appeared in the West End and currently plays the lead role of Queen Victoria in ITV series Victoria.
Kyle Stack - George Sampson
Britain's Got Talent winner George Sampson made a surprise turn to acting in 2011 - with his first role as nasty Kyle on Waterloo Road.
Kyle was expelled after he punched Miss Boston in the face then tried to kill Finn Sharkey, accidentally shooting Josh with a crossbow, then he was sentenced to two years in prison.
When Kyle was freed he was reluctantly admitted back into the school, but tried to kill himself after realising people would also see him as a convict.
Just at the last second Tom managed to pull him back from the edge but in a tragic twist of fate they switched places and he fell to his death.
After the tragedy, Kyle left the school because he blamed himself for Tom's demise.
The BGT winner starred in film StreetDance 2 as Eddie and also appeared in Sky One comedy drama Mount Pleasant.
He also had a recurring role in Emmerdale as Ryan Harred in 2016.
In 2017, George bravely opened up about going under the knife for a hair transplant at the age of 23.
Last year, he competed in the Britain's Got Talent Champions series.
Sambuca Kelly - Holly Kenny
Sambuca didn't have much chance after being named after her mum's favourite alcoholic beverage.
The troubled teen joined in series four alongside the rest of her wayward family, but she seemed to be the most compassionate.
The feisty teenager met a tragic end in series seven after being diagnosed with a brain tumour - and died in the arms of her mum and Tom while boyfriend Finn held the ring she gave him.
In real life, actress Holly Kenny went on to star in BBC pregnancy drama In the Club and Channel 4 period drama The Mill - both in 2014.
