Class War?

Cultures collide in the new school drama Ackley Bridge.

- Victoria Wilson Alison Slade

Channel 4 has never shied away from gritty dramas and its new six-part series Ackley Bridge is certainly no exception.

Set in a Yorkshire mill town, it centres on a new school that has been created from two former comprehensives in a bid to stop the growing segregation of the town’s Asian and white communities.

Spearheading the new academy is head teacher Mandy Carter – played by former EastEnders star Jo Joyner – who’s married to PE teacher Steve Bell (Paul Nicholls).

‘As head teacher, Mandy is very career-driven and has spent the last year setting up the school,’ reveals Joyner. ‘As a consequence, she’s probably neglected her husband, Steve. She’s so organised in her career, but not at all in control of her personal life.’

The drama also stars Sunetra Sarker as formidable dinner lady Kaneez Paracha, Citizen Khan’s Adil Ray as the academy’s sponsor, Sadiq Nawaz, and Liz White as English teacher Emma Keane.