Looking for a way to escape the scorching temperatures across the UK this weekend? Look no further, as Byker Grove is now available to stream for the first time ever.
Temperatures are set to soar to 30° in parts of the country, which will be welcome to some after the chaos Storm Floris caused earlier in the week.
But for those who prefer to cool off indoors, legendary 90s series Byker may be your saviour.
The children’s soap opera, which originally aired between 1989 and 2006, was added to STV Player earlier this month.
It’s just the latest in a long line of cult series that have been added to the Scottish streamer, joining Brookside, Take The High Road and New Zealand hit Shortland Street.
Byker launched the careers of some of telly’s biggest names including Ant and Dec and Jill Halfpenny, as well as Hollywood star Charlie Hunnam.
The show follows the daily exploits of the children and staff who frequent a fictional youth club in the Byker district of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Groundbreaking for the time, storylines included teenage pregnancy, homelessness, drug abuse and the first gay kiss on children’s television.
The scene, which saw Noddy Fishwick (Brett Adams) peck Gary Hendrix (George Trotter) on the cheek, saw calls for executive producer Matthew Robinson to lose his job.
It’s without a doubt that the best remembered episode concerns Ant McPartlin’s character PJ being blinded in both eyes with a paintball gun.
Now, viewers have flocked to social media to share their delight at the Grove’s return to our screens, with one saying they were going to binge the episodes across a weekend.
Emma said she was ‘going to watch them all’ after losing track when she reached adulthood.
‘Has anyone else let their kids watch it yet? I let my son (13) watch this morning for the first time, he has fallen in love with it,’ asked Lee.
In response, Raymond said: ‘My kids are 12 and 16 and they love it. I live in Newcastle so I like to look at how things have changed from when I was young.’
Superfan Zoe, who travelled seven hours to visit the show’s filming location – a former tower house and pub which is now an Islamic school – added: ‘Sadly, my kids just think it’s really lame and old fashioned.’
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Despite that, she might’ve made a breakthrough: ‘Since I’ve started re-watching Byker Grove, my youngest has asked when we’re going back to Newcastle.’
‘Watching this as an adult brings a whole different perspective,’ she continued, reflecting on a story that saw siblings Spuggie (Lyndann Barrass) and Fraser Campbell (John Jefferson) in care.
‘Back then I thought the adults were being unreasonable.’
Iain agreed: ‘The storyline about Fraser’s family life was really hard hitting. Never appreciated this at the time I watched it originally.
‘Suppose that’s what made it a really good programme as it didn’t shy away from those issues.’
The entire run of Byker Grove, series 1-18, is available to stream on STV Player now.
This article was originally published on 31st July 2025.
