Waterloo Road is one of the BBC’s popular shows. It currently spans 13 seasons over 18 years of airing. It’s particularly popular with teenage audiences. It has been seen as a more mature version of shows like Grange Hill.
Since the show has run for so many years, it has seen a multitude of actors enter the school and don the red and gold uniform with teachers struggling to teach them. It has given young actors their first major role and many have gone on to be successful in the UK and Hollywood. So, let’s celebrate by looking at some of the most famous actors to enroll at Waterloo Road.
10. Jack O’Connell – Dale Baxter
Starting this list is Jack O’Connell. Some of you may be thinking why O’Connell is so low on this list considering the career he has had. This is due to him only appearing in one episode in the second season of Waterloo Road, so it would be unfair to actors who had longer runs on the show.
O’Connell played Dale Baxter, a student who had a stressful home life because of his mother’s arrest and being put into care. Dale developed bladder problems during his only appearance which resulted in an embarrassing incident during one of his classes.
After Waterloo Road O’Connell went on to have an excellent acting career. He went on to star in a couple of seasons of Skins, another show that gave young actors their first main role. One of his co-stars was Kaya Scodelario. The biggest year of his career was 2014 when he starred in three hit films, ’71, 300: Rise of an Empire, and Unbroken which earned him the BAFTA Rising Star award in 2015.
O’Connell has still been getting strong roles. On TV he has appeared in three critically acclaimed series, Netflix’s Western Godless, the BBC/CBC historical drama The North Water, and the World War II series SAS: Rogue Heroes. O’Connell’s role in SAS: Rogue Heroes has led to speculation that he could be the next James Bond and I would support it.
9. Jodie Comer – Sarah Evans
Like Jack O’Connell, Jodie Comer appeared in one episode of Waterloo Road and has become a big star. Comer’s appearance was in the sixth season and she played Sarah Evans, a girl who was being pressured by her boyfriend to take the morning-after pill and got embarrassed when said boyfriend called her mother, pretending to be a teacher.
Comer has been praised throughout her career and justifiably so. She’s an undeniably talented actress who has mastered performing with accents. I first came across Comer in the BBC Three miniseries Thirteen where she played a young woman who had been held captive for 13 years. Whilst the miniseries had story issues, Comer was phenomenal.
Comer has found a lot of success in film, TV, and the stage. She’s best known for playing Villanelle, the sociopathic villain in Killing Eve, one of the most entertaining villains in recent times. Comer often elevates projects she’s involved in, like The Last Duel. Comer earned a lot of praise for her West End and Broadway debuts when she starred in the one-woman play Prima Facie: she even earned a Tony for Best Actress in a Play.
Comer has taken to producing her own projects. She acted as an executive producer on the critically acclaimed TV movie Help and the film adaptation of The End We Start From. She has also spoken out against classism in the entertainment industry.
8. Naomi Battrick – Gabriella Wark
Naomi Battrick appeared in the ninth and tenth seasons of Waterloo Road as Gabriella Wark. Gabriella became known as an attractive girl with an ugly personality since she was a mean and manipulative bully. Her first action on the show was to kiss a random boy so she could spite her father. Her worst action was trying to frame one of her teachers for rape. Since Gabriella came from a wealthy background, she had a snobby attitude towards her classmates which led to the sixth former being ostracised by her peers.
Before Waterloo Road Battrick appeared in various shows like The Bill, Doctors, and Casualty. Pretty standard for emerging British actors. Before appearing in Waterloo Road Battrick had a major role in the CBBC show My Almost Famous Family.
After Waterloo Road Battrick became a prolific TV actress. Her biggest role was in the Sky 1 historical drama Jamestown which was about the first English settlement in North America. It was a show that featured recognisable actors like Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders), Jason Flemyng, and Max Beesley (Hotel Babylon). Battrick’s other major credits were in The Serpent Queen and as Lyra’s Death in His Dark Materials. She did appear in the third season of the international crime drama Crossing Lines and appeared in Channel 4’s Partygate which had an ensemble cast.
7. Katie McGlynn – Jodie “Scout” Allen
Many Waterloo Road actors have gone on to appear in other British soaps. Adam Thomas appeared in Emmerdale, Zaraah Abrahams replaced Tiana Benjamin as Chelsea Fox in Eastenders, and Chelsee Healey has been in Causality and Hollyoaks. However, the most successful Waterloo Road actor turned soap actor is Katie McGlynn.
McGlynn played Jodie “Scout” Allen, a smart and witty girl who had a troubled home life. Scout was raised by a dysfunctional single mother and lived in poverty. She used her wit and insults as a defence mechanism. Most of Scout’s storylines involved her issues with her mother, including having to care for her three-year-old brother and being put into care.
McGlynn’s other soap roles were in Coronation Street and Hollyoaks. She had a long stint in Coronation Street since she played Sinead Tinker for seven years. Sinead’s storylines in Coronation Street involved her relationships with Chesney and Daniel Osbourne and being temporarily paralysed after a bus accident. McGlynn’s time on Hollyoaks was shorter, she was on the soap for six months where her character fuelled Diane Hutchinson’s germophobia, had a relationship with a teenager, and became known as a nutty conspiracy theorist.
Outside of soaps, McGlynn appeared in the fourth season of The Syndicate and was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.
6. Sophie McShera – Ros McCain
Sophie McShera had a one-season stint in Waterloo Road. She played Ros McCain, a part of the contingent of John Fosters students who joined Waterloo Road. Unlike her peers from the private school, Ros wasn’t interested in gang warfare and just wanted to get her head down, study, and get into a top university. Ros’ storylines involved her relationships, first with Philip Ryan before realising she was gay when she kissed a teacher.
McShera is most famous for playing Daisy Robinson in Downton Abbey. She appeared in all seasons of the hit British series and both films. Daisy was notable for being a kind but timid and naïve woman who worked in the Downton Abbey kitchen. Her other major role was in the BBC Two historical crime series The Gallows Pole which showed how a band of counterfeits nearly crashed the British economy in the 18th Century. Disney fans may recognise McShera as one of Cinderella’s step-sisters in the Lily James-led remake.
5. Lucien Laviscount – Jonah Kirby
Lucien Laviscount has appeared in several British TV institutions, including Waterloo Road. Before his role in Waterloo Road, Laviscount was in a season of Grange Hill and appeared in Coronation Street for a year.
Laviscount appeared in the sixth season as Jonah Kirby, a sixth former who was homeschooled before attending Waterloo Road. Jonah wanted to have a normal school experience and during his time on Waterloo Road he had two relationships. The first was with Jess Fisher, the headmistress’ daughter and he got into a fight with Mr. Mead after he found the teacher had a one-night stand with Jess before the start of term. Jonah had his own affair with a teacher when he had an affair with the Spanish teacher Francesca “Cesca” Montoya. After Cesca got pregnant the pair attempted to run away to Scotland so they could get married.
Lavinscount had plenty of TV roles, appearing in Casualty, Shameless, and Skins. His career took off when he moved to America and was cast as one of the main characters in Scream Queens and Katy Keene. He also appeared in the TV adaptation of Snatch which featured Rupert Grint, Marc Warren, Dougray Scott, and another Waterloo Road alumnus.
Lavinscourt is currently in the Netflix rom-com series Emily in Paris. He plays Alfie, an English banker in Paris, and acts as one of Emily’s love interests.
4. Tom Payne – Brett Aspinall
Like many other actors on this list, Tom Payne got his first major role in Waterloo Road. Before Waterloo Road Payne had one-off appearances in Casualty and Skins.
Payne played Brett Aspinall in the second and third seasons of Waterloo Road. Brett was a sixth-former who moved to Waterloo Road from a private school because he wanted to experience ‘real life.’ Brett was notable for having a relationship with Mika Grainger, but that got complicated when he slept with her younger sister.
Payne ended up having plenty of roles on British and American television. He earned a supporting role on the HBO horse-racing drama Luck, but it only lasted one season because of the poor treatment of the animals. He also appeared in the Channel 4 historical drama New World.
Payne’s biggest role was in The Walking Dead where he played Paul “Jesus” Monroe. He was a guest star in Season Six and promoted to a main cast member for Season Seven. Payne lasted in the show for two more seasons. Jesus was notable for being a charming and resourceful ally to Rick Grimes and his band, even if he did make a bad first impression.
After his time on The Walking Dead, he earned the leading role in Fox’s police procedural Prodigal Son where he played the son of a serial killer working as a criminal profiler for the NYPD.
3. Phoebe Dynevor – Siobhan Mailey
Phoebe Dynevor is an actress who comes from a family who have a long history working in British TV. Her grandfather, Gerard Dynevor was a TV director, her grandmother, Shirley Dynevor was an actress, and her father, Tim was a screenwriter on Emmerdale. Most famously, her mother, Sally has been playing Sally Webster on Coronation Street whilst her sister, Hattie made her screen debut in Waterloo Road’s thirteenth season.
Waterloo Road gave Dynevor her first acting role. She played Siobhan Mailey, in the fifth season. Siobhan was a part of the contingent of students who joined Waterloo Road after her old school merged with the comprehensive. Since Siobhan went to a private school, she had a snobby attitude towards her new school and she became part of the John Fosters girl gang. However, she was a more impressionable student than some of her peers. Dynevor was only in one season of Waterloo Road.
After Waterloo Road Dynevor became a regular actor on British TV. She appeared in shows in Prisoners’ Wives, Dickensian, and Snatch. The role that propelled Dynevor into stardom as Daphne Bridgerton was Bridgerton. Bridgeton was a big hit for Netflix and Dynevor played one of the main two characters in the first season. Daphne fakes a relationship with the Duke of Hastings but eventually falls for her fake partner.
Dynevor was in Bridgerton for two seasons and has moved on to the world of feature films. Her feature film debut was in the biopic The Colour Room for Sky Cinema, and she has been in the Netflix films Bank of Dave and Fair Play. Both films were critically praised and Fair Play was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Dynevor was nominated for the 2024 BAFTA Rising Star Award.
2. Regé-Jean Page – Guy Braxton
Earning the silver medal and beating out his Bridgeton co-star is Regé-Jean Page. Waterloo Road gave Page his first main role having appeared in small TV roles and regional theatre. Page appeared in the tenth season of Waterloo Road, a newly qualified teacher who’s hired by the school. Page time on the show saw him struggling financially, getting into a rivalry with another NQT, and being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with one of his students. Page’s time at Waterloo Road ended when the show was originally cancelled in 2015.
After Waterloo Road, Page had small and supporting roles in Roots, Mortal Engines, and For the People. His breakout role was in Bridgeton where he played Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings. His character was the most eligible bachelor in London but faked a relationship with Daphne Bridgeton so he could keep his freedom. Bridgeton made Page into an overnight star, became a sex symbol, and was seen as a potential Bond. Page took the bold step to leave Bridgeton after one season.
Page’s post-Bridgeton career has seen him appear in two major films. The first was in Netflix’s big-budget action-thriller The Gray Man where he was in a part of an ensemble cast. His more notable appearance was in Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves where he showed up everyone in Chris Pine’s party as Xenk Yendar, the badass paladin.
1. Jenna Coleman – Lindsay James
Topping this list is Jenna Coleman. Waterloo Road gave Coleman her second major role, having had a four-year stint on Emmerdale. Coleman appeared in the fifth season of Waterloo Road as Lindsay James. Coleman only appeared in nine episodes but she made an impression. Lindsay was a sixth-form student who entered into a feud with Michaela White and led the new students from John Fosters in their gang war against Waterloo Road’s student body. Lindsay was a damaged character since she was the victim of sexual abuse which led to her murdering her father.
Coleman is most famous for playing Clara Oswald, the companion of the Eleventh and Twelve Doctors. Clara made an impression as a spunky character in her first two appearances and she was generally a fun presence who could lift emotional weights when required. Playing the companion has helped boost the careers of actors: Billie Piper and Karen Gillan who benefited a lot from being in Doctor Who.
Coleman has become a mainstay on British TV. Her first major role after Doctor Who was the ITV historical drama Victoria where she played one of Britain’s most famous monarchs. She also led the BBC shows The Cry and The Serpent and the Amazon Prime miniseries Wilderness. Like Jodie Comer, Jenna Coleman has started acting as an executive producer on her projects. She’s going to act as an executive producer on the upcoming series The Jetty and The War Room.
