I'm Sorry For Doing This To You Again.

[rionaleonhart]

If you've been reading my journal for a while, you may be aware that I tend to revisit the things I've enjoyed. I often go back to rewatch or replay my favourite canons.

If you've been reading my journal for a long while, you may be aware of my obsession with terrible BBC school drama Waterloo Road in my early twenties.

I realise that these two facts do not paint a promising picture.

I honestly didn't expect to watch Waterloo Road again. When the ill-advised urge hit me, I wasn't sure I'd be able to dig up my DVDs; I thought there was a chance I'd got rid of them in a moment of clearer thinking. But no; they were still at my parents' house. Still with the HMV price stickers on, as a terrible reminder of how much I spent on this ridiculous show.

I'm starting with series three, as I seem to recall that that's where the show hits its stride. Whether it's a good stride is a matter of debate, but it's the show's stride, and it's hit it. I don't have the first two series on disc, which may also be a relevant consideration, but I'd probably buy them if I thought they were worth watching. (None of Waterloo Road is worth watching.)

I'm three episodes into series three of Waterloo Road, and I'm enjoying it enormously. It's so stupid. There's always so much going on. In episode one, two sixteen-year-olds get married. By episode three, one of the newlywed teenagers is cheating on her brand new husband with her sister's boyfriend. These three episodes have also included an underground school fight club and an attempted murder, not to mention the other infidelity storyline going on. None of these characters waste any time; they are constantly going full throttle, making as many terrible decisions as they possibly can. I'm having a blast.

While I'm watching or playing things, I'll often take notes on my phone for later Dreamwidth entries. On checking my notes app today, I discovered I had made a note titled 'Waterloo Road' at 1.20 in the morning. It contained exactly one sentence: 'Brett Aspinall looks like a smug ghost.' Apparently I'd woken in the middle of the night, had this revelation and decided I had to record it immediately.

I'm troubled to realise that, in some aspects, Brett Aspinall reminds me a little of Light Yagami. I would pay so much money to see a version of Death Note where, when Ryuk first drops his notebook, it falls to the ground at Waterloo Road. Instant and guaranteed disaster.

Comments

[tellshannon815]

Speaking of Brett Aspinall, I was genuinely shocked recently to realise that he went on to become Jesus from The Walking Dead, I hadn't recognised him at all!

I do remember the Chlo/Donte/Brett love triangle, but who was the attempted murder?

(Are the old episodes on iPlayer? I have an idea some are, in which case you could have still rewatched anyway even if you had got rid of the DVDs ages ago.)

[rionaleonhart]

I haven't seen The Walking Dead, but I suspect I'd struggle to recognise the actor without Brett's distinctive hairstyle. (Unless Jesus looks particularly like a smug ghost.)

The attempted murder was just a one-off storyline about a kid stealing a kitchen knife from the school and trying to stab his abusive uncle. Absolutely textbook Waterloo Road.

(I think it's all on iPlayer, but, alas, we don't have a television licence! I can live without live television, but I do miss iPlayer occasionally.)

[wolfy_writing]

I remember you being into Waterloo Road! And yeah, given how many disasters they get up to on their own, I think throwing in a Death Note would be terrifying.

[rionaleonhart]

I feel that any character from that school picking up the Death Note would be a disaster in a different way.

[sonofgodzilla]

(None of Waterloo Road is worth watching.)

I loved this show! Yes. You're right.

I had a fever dream a few years back where I watched the whole show from start to finish, and I loved it. Complete trash! I'm here to encourage every absurd inclination you have regarding this show!

[rionaleonhart]

It's so compelling! And so awful! I wrote 26,000 words of fanfiction for it and I don't regret a thing.

[sonofgodzilla]

Riona! You! are! my! rolemodel!

This is amazing! hahahah!

[rionaleonhart]

If you're ever curious about the weird quantity of fanfiction I wrote about Josh Stevenson of Waterloo Road (not including the horrible fic we don't talk about), you can find it over here!

Obviously there's absolutely no obligation to read any of this; I'm just linking in case you're wondering what sort of thing I was writing (not including the horrible fic we don't talk about). I knew very well that I was catering solely to myself when I decided to cross Waterloo Road over with Silent Hill or The Hunger Games or His Dark Materials or Pokémon.

[sonofgodzilla]

Oh my goodness, you are genius. I just had a quick read of the Pokemon one and it is tonally perfect, the most beautiful thing ever. You got the characters down so perfectly and yet still made it weird and off-kilter... yet normal? I literally take my hat off to you. Teach me your ways!

[rionaleonhart]

Thank you so much! It was a lot of fun to think about how the ridiculous drama at Waterloo Road would be different in a world with Pokémon.

[apiphile]

Oh hohohohoho. Hahahahha. *rubs hands*

[rionaleonhart]

If you sort by hits, our crime against the fandom is the second-most-read Waterloo Road fic on AO3. There's an audience out there, even if they'd prefer not to admit it!

[apiphile]

If nothing else, grim curiosity! Although I do think two sets of in-built audiences in the form of fans of your writing and whatever fans of mine I had back then might've been a factor too.

[dracothelizard]

"None of these characters waste any time; they are constantly going full throttle, making as many terrible decisions as they possibly can."

Okay, but that sums up several canons that you've been into, so that fits.

[rionaleonhart]

Very true! And very much including Top Gear, come to think of it.

[dracothelizard]

Yes, that was my first thought.

[solarbird]

This is a very attractive summary.

[rionaleonhart]

Don't fall for it! My weakness for characters making terrible decisions has led me to make some terrible decisions of my own, e.g. watching Waterloo Road and Glee.

[nomelon]

I'm still not really sure what it is, but I immediately remembered you talking a great deal about Waterloo Road. ... We've been here a really long time, haven't we?

[rionaleonhart]

I don't remember the username you had before you were nomelon (I think you changed it at some point?), so I can't trace our acquaintance all the way back, but I can tell you we've known each other for over sixteen years!

[nomelon]

Oh yes! I had that mad panic when my sister discovered my old username. She's since written a bunch of fic herself so the fear has dulled.

Now I'm remembering teeny!Sam! The best of times.

[i_wish_to_remain_nameless]

By some strange coincidence, I had been going your old Waterloo Road posts recently. I have no interest in it myself (and in fact have never heard of it outside of your journal) but it's fun to watch you get so excited about it. I hope that doesn't sound too weird but a lot the reason I like reading your journal is that you sound like you have such a good time with the media you enjoy and it comes through in your posts.

[rionaleonhart]

Not weird at all; this made me smile! I always like seeing people talk about things they love, so it's good to know my own enthusiasm can be enjoyable to see in turn. For all of Waterloo Road's faults, I can't help loving it; it's a great show if you like characters making terrible mistakes and having a lot of feelings.

[(Anonymous)]

I saw that they'd started a new series of Waterloo Road and thought of you and whether you were ever going to watch it presumably without the hook of your most loved characters.

I guess the results of this rewatch will be the answer.

-timydamonkey

[rionaleonhart]

Ha, we'll see! I originally ended up dropping the show after series eight, when the school moved away from Rochdale and Josh left. I'm currently just planning to watch up to the end of series six, then skip to the last third of series seven, then stop watching. I have no idea whether this plan will actually hold. We'll see if I manage to resist the rest of it.

[tiger_moran]

I remember your Waterloo Road phase!

[rionaleonhart]

I remember you were one of the few commenters who'd already heard of it! It was good to have confirmation that I wasn't just making the show up.

[lokifan]

This sounds incredible. (Using a Pretty Little Liars icon, in tribute to nonsense shows about teenagers having affairs with their teachers and murdering people.)

[rionaleonhart]

I've enjoyed what I've seen of Pretty Little Liars as well! Definitely a similarly ludicrous show. I don't know how it managed to make a teacher/student affair so dull, though.