In addition to the school-centric plots, writers also explored attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the cost of living crisis in the UK, bulimia nervosa, amongst other stories.

[12] On the drama's revival, Roach commented, "Waterloo Road will continue its reputation for kickstarting, supporting and enabling careers both in front of and behind the camera, in a truly inclusive way, from our base in Greater Manchester.

[14] Angela Griffin, one of the show's leading cast members, felt the revival would maintain some of the qualities of the original Waterloo Road, but it would be more relevant to modern day.

[15] Actor Vincent Jerome also thought this and observed that "the fun, energy, excitement and telling of real world stories" would continue into the revival, but with more representation through its cast.

[17] Young actor Adam Ali felt that the characters were "reflections of society" and provided an opportunity to see "people from different walks of life coming together and dealing with the world".

[19] Cast member Adam Thomas echoed this thought and believed that the show's revival would open the door for conversations surrounding some of its "difficult subjects".

[20] He hoped to continue some of the core values of the original series: the "larger than life", "big hearted, quick witted and iconic" characters and stories.

[31] Thomas' return was confirmed on 24 January 2022, alongside that of original cast members Angela Griffin and Katie Griffiths, in their respective roles as Kim Campbell and Chloe Charles.

Rachel Leskovac portrays Coral Walker, the head of English, and Katherine Pearce will appear in the role of Amy Spratt, an early careers teacher (ECT).

[22] Other actors portraying the student characters include: Adam Abbou (Danny Lewis); Priyasasha Kumari (Samia Choudhry); Adam Ali (Kai Sharif); Alicia Forde (Kelly Jo Rafferty); Francesco Piacentini-Smith (Dean Weever); Liam Scholes (Noel McManus); Lucy Eleanor Begg (Caz Williams); Ava Flannery (Verity King); Thapelo Ray (Dwanye Jackson); Inathi Rozani (Zayne Jackson); and Chiamaka "ChiChi" Ulebor (Shola Aku).

[46] He also told Alice Penwill from Inside Soap that Tom Payne (who played Brett Aspinall in the original series) was interested in filming "a couple of episodes".

[58] She told the show's press team that she hoped the story would make her character "more humanised", having initially been portrayed as "complex" and "controlling" before Chlo's death.

[80] The show's cast attended the premiere, with Griffin, Adam Thomas, Griffiths and executive producer Roach taking part in an interview panel, led by radio presenter Natalie O'Leary.

[84] The decision to upload the full series on BBC iPlayer as a box set was met with criticism from viewers, who felt that some twists were spoiled in advance.

[88] Actors who had appeared in previous series praised the decision; Shane O'Meara opined that it provided a "platform" for young performers that is "rarely matched in British television".

[98] Dan Seddon of Digital Spy opined that the series was "eagerly anticipated",[78] while his colleague Jade Brown wrote, "We look forward to seeing what the reboot brings.

[103] Following criticism about show reboots, Charlotte Moore, the chief content officer at BBC, defended the revival of Waterloo Road at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

[113] He thought that the "attempts to crowbar heavy social issues into a soapy setting are jarring", especially in contrast to the more natural scenes of characters such as Donte and Chloe.

[113] The series received a 3-star review from Poppie Platt of The Telegraph, criticising the use of "problematic, woke" language and the show's large main cast, which she felt left themes underdeveloped.

[114] In the conclusion of her review, Platt opined that Waterloo Road presented a chance to raise awareness of issues faced by schools and young people, but wished, "If only they could do it with fewer cloying buzzwords.

She also likened the plot to a story from Ackley Bridge, where lead character Missy Booth (Poppy Lee Friar) was killed off suddenly, remarking that it is "almost identical".

[116] Kia-Elise Green from i newspaper defended the show against negative reviews, opining that it was "fulfilling its duty of tackling social and political talking points, that have often fallen through the cracks, in an accessible way".

[124] Writing for the Radio Times, Eleanor Noyce labelled the revival "a contemporary take on the original" and praised its ability to create "a sizeable dollop of nostalgia for its long-time fans".

"[125] Reflecting on the entire series, his colleague Sue Haasler later wrote, "Whether you waited patiently for episodes to air on a Tuesday evening or binge-watched them the minute they dropped on BBC iPlayer, the revival of Waterloo Road to our TV screens this year was a massive hit.

"[126] Of the series' tone, Inside Soap's Alice Penwill wrote, "The first few episodes may have been full of heartbreak for the Charles family, but they've also had some great comedic moments in the corridors.

"[58] Harriet Mitchell, writing for Digital Spy, noted that "things took an unexpected turn on tonight's (February 7) episode of Waterloo Road" with the kiss between Preston and Kai.

The Tab's Hannah Van De Peer found the decision to kill Chlo off "so sudden" and "random", believing it to be more so than the death of Denzil Kelly (Reece Douglas) in series 7.

[125] Brown (Radio Times) called the character's death "an attention-grabbing move", but felt it was justified by the exploration of Donte's grief, which he believed writers had "done a grand job" portraying.

[130] Van De Peer (The Tab) observed that viewer reception to Chlo's death was poor, writing, "It's probably an understatement to say the fan reaction hasn't been superb.

[3] Concluding their piece on the story, Noyce wrote: "By choosing to explore the subject in a sensitive, informed way, Waterloo Road is banging the drum for ADHD diversity representation on screen, demanding better from those who continue to peddle damaging myths, and calling on teachers and authority figures to educate themselves and offer a vital helping hand to those who need one.