Waterloo Road

- Season 3

(2007)

Though given a bravery award Jack blames himself for Izzie's death,as does Tom. With Andrew gone Eddie Lawson is the new deputy whilst Steph,new head of pastoral care,courts controversy by admitting Karla,a pupil with Asperger's Syndrome who attacks Grantly. Faced with a staff walk-out Jack gets Davina to give Karla special tutoring. Two new teachers start work,nervous,newly-qualified Jasmine Koreshi and charismatic drama teacher Matt Wilding,who rashly promises to write a school musical. Tom feels frustrated when Chlo and Donte secretly marry but,advised by Janeece,...

Whilst Davina makes progress with Karla Jasmine is concerned that newly-orphaned pupil Paul Langley is being abused and makes her concerns known to Steph. However Steph is more concerned with being in the school musical,for which Jack reprimands her. Eddie steps in and discovers that Paul is being abused by his Uncle Dermot and manages to avoid a potentially lethal situation by disarming Paul,who has stolen a kitchen knife to stab Dermot. Brett agrees to give Chlo extra French lessons for her exams but she seems more interested in him than his tutoring.

Donte goes behind Chlo's back to put down a deposit on a dilapidated flat. Chlo is less than pleased and Tom persuades them to stay with him. Jasmine has trouble controlling an unruly class and puts half of them in detention. Unfortunately they comprise the girls' football team,due to play their debut match. Eddie persuades Jasmine to postpone the detention to facilitate the match but Jasmine herself saves the day by passing herself off as a pupil and playing in the match,scoring the necessary goals. Matt is annoyed that Steph is taking over the musical,giving the ...

When pupil Ben McNulty cuts himself Steph immediately rushes him to hospital and it transpires that she knows he is HIV+,due to his drug-taking birth mother but has kept the fact a secret. There is an immediate backlash by angry parents,as a result of which Ben decides to quit the school. However Jack's resolute championing of Ben and efforts to persuade him to stay impress Davina and they get engaged. Steph,who has high hopes after their spot of passion,turns to Matt for consolation,only to learn that he is gay and has a partner called Colin. Donte and Chlo return to...

After discovering Chlo with Brett Donte goes on the rampage,beating Brett up and vandalizing Eddie's car when he tries to stop him. Mika refuses to take part in the musical with home-wrecking Brett and drops out,allowing Aleesha to take her place. Everybody regards Chlo as a pariah for her actions and she goes on the run. Steph tells Jack he should tell Davina about their fling if his marriage is to start well. However,although he refuses,Davina finds out anyway and calls off the engagement.

With Chlo still missing Jack's problems increase as it is discovered that,having sacked his dodgy investors,he has been financing the school by offering the single parents of brighter pupils money from the Excellence In Cities grant fund in return for their attending Waterloo Road. Eddie is fully supportive of him but the board of governors calls for his resignation and,although the pupils hold a demonstration,he is forced to resign. Grantly has his troubles too - thanks to his gambling addiction which has brought the bailiffs calling.

Though expecting he will be appointed the new headmaster Eddie is displeased to find the governors have installed outsider Rachel Mason,who has plans to turn the school into a business enterprise college,as it has more chance of success than being academic based. The pupils warm to the idea and enjoy playing at being entrepreneurs though Mika,still upset at Chlo's disappearance,gets drunk and throws up in front of Rachel,who is surprisingly sympathetic. Tom finally locates Chlo,who is living with a couple who encourage her to steal,and brings her home.

Chlo reacts coolly when Donte requests a reconciliation and Rachel has to dissuade Brett from leaving due to guilt,since he is her star pupil. Rachel also gets involved in helping Sally Froggatt,whose single mother has gone on holiday leaving her to juggle her school attendance with minding her baby brother. After criticizing Matt's script for the school musical 'Park Side Story',Jasmine agrees to help him rewrite it whilst Eddie,having taken a group of boys on an outward bound weekend,ends up in a neck-brace,thanks to the feud between Grantly and bad lad Bolton ...

Aleesha is proving a nightmare as leading lady so Matt is glad to get the chance to fire her after she has been bullying Karla. He asks Mika to return. Mika herself thinks she might be pregnant by Brett,who is disappointed to learn that it is a false alarm. On an archaeological dig a baby's skeleton is found and the police called. Ultimately Maxine admits the child was hers by the now reformed Lewis Seddon,who is working in the school canteen. The incident brings them back together whilst Donte has a new love interest in pupil Celine. Rachel learns that Eddie's ...

Chlo and Donte decide to call it a day whilst Mika is uncomfortable about sharing romantic scenes with Brett in 'Park Side Story'. Matt panics when Rachel puts its performance forward a day to impress a V.I.P audience and matters are not helped when the aggrieved Aleesha sabotages the play by switching its sound effects. Tom and Karla save matters by playing the show as a deliberate comedy,offending Matt. Grantly's wife Fleur stands by him in his financial crisis and Eddie's ex-wife Alison comes to the school with their son Michael but Rachel sees a face from the past...

As Mika continues to reject Brett the school sits its mock exams with Eddie challenging the teachers to sit the papers. Rachel and Matt take four troublesome pupils,including loud-mouthed Bolton Smilie,on a salutary visit to a prison. Smilie brags about his father in jail and is happy to smuggle out some drugs for an inmate but gets caught. Afterwards Rachel shows him that he has been had and the whole was an exercise in scaring the boys straight. Rachel herself is still being followed whilst Davina is surprised when Darren Briggs,Sr,asks her out as a reward for ...

Mika and Brett get back together but Davina is pursued by the disturbingly amorous Darren Briggs,who,on hearing that she is dating Tom,locks her in his house and only sees reason and releases her after his son's intervention. Rachel is approached by developer Stuart Hordley for the tender to build the school's new training centre - it is less an approach than an offer she cannot refuse. Not only does he give Bolton a job with him as part of the deal,he also threatens to expose the fact that she changed her name by deed poll to cover up something in her past. He gets ...

It is Work Experience Week. Janeece is thrilled to be working at a museum but falls out with the curator and ends up at a retirement home. Initially resentful she begins to bond with one of the elderly ladies - after first getting drunk with her - but eventually warms to her task and is well-regarded by the matron. After defending Davina against Grantly Tom consoles her and ends up in bed with her,where they are caught by Mika. Rachel breathes a sigh of relief as the governors accept Hordley's tender.

Rachel is angry that Steph,on a supposed fund-raiser in France,ran up huge expenses and gives Tom her job as head of pastoral studies. Steph is further annoyed when Grantly,who amazes everybody at his skill on the dance floor whilst teaching ballroom,asks her to partner him at the over-45s dance championships. Tom and Davina continue to get close whilst Mika asks Brett to prove his love for her and help her save the planet by persuading Eddie to get rid of his new gas-guzzling 4X4. Jasmine is set up by bullies and tells Eddie she is resigning. As a former bully ...

Matt is horrified to learn that his mother,to whom he has never confessed his homosexuality,is coming to visit and asks boyfriend Colin to move out of the flat during her stay. Not only is Colin enraged,dumping him,but Maxine overhears,outing Matt to the school. Reactions are mixed but there is as much support as homophobia and Matt is moved when pupil Dominic tells him that he is gay as well. Matt patches things up with Colin but is surprised to learn his mother knew about him all along. Eddie campaigns on Jasmine's behalf, exposing the bullies' lies,and she is ...

Eddie learns that Rachel is a former prostitute and accuses her of sleeping with Hordley for the contract,which she denies. He urges her to resign but when she refuses stuns her by resigning himself. Janeece declares that she and supply teacher Wilson Bingham are in love,and he secretly returns her affection whilst asking her to tell nobody else. However after he has had sex with her in a hotel he dumps her and it turns out that he is an impostor who preys on young girls and who assumed the real Wilson's identity to claim his latest conquest.

Mika and Brett stage a protest to save a tree by climbing onto the roof of the training centre. They are soon joined by eco-warriors who have heard of them from the Internet,along with pupils anxious to skip lessons. Rachel wants to call the police but Eddie talks them down though Tom is injured and Mika is devastated. Tom decides he should spend more time with his step-daughters,declining a date with Davina. Eddie retracts his resignation but,after a cheque from Hordley bounces,insists Rachel report the builder to the council. However,she only pretends to make the ...

Immigration officers arrive at the school,looking for Shaman Azizi,whose family is in a detention centre awaiting deportation back to Iran. Rachel hides Shaman in the school and contacts the local MP,leading a campaign to allow Shaman to stay and complete her education as her mother wishes,as she is an outstanding pupil. However Shaman ultimately decides to go back with her family.Tom is annoyed that Davina is supporting Chlo's mobile hair-dressing business as he feels his stepdaughter should stay on at school and get a better job afterwards,thus leading to a further ...

Ex-headmaster Jack returns to town and asks Davina if she will join him in Dubai,where he has a well-paid job as head of an international school. Chlo and Mika come to see at last that Davina should be with Tom,not Jack,and hatch a plan to get them back together. It goes wrong but all the same Davina chooses to stay with Tom. Jasmine discovers that pupils are cheating in exams by getting answers from the Internet from an existing exam. She tells Grantly,who keeps quiet about it,as does Steph,who finds out from Maxine. Steph is in no position to help Rachel,who still ...

The cheating is exposed,leading to the suspension of Grantly,who kept quiet about it. Thanks to Karla Waterloo Road wins a spelling bee with a rival school but Rachel's victory is short-lived as Hordley stands up to expose her past as a prostitute. Rachel however gives an impassioned speech,regretting her past and winning the support of staff and pupils alike. A beaten Hordley,about to leave,accidentally causes a fire with a discarded cigarette. Almost everybody is rescued from the resultant blaze - except Rachel and Hordley,who are still in the collapsing building.