Tragedy strikes Waterloo Road in devastating food allergy story for popular student

Waterloo Road has confirmed a storyline will air in the latest series that shines a spotlight on the life-threatening risks of severe food allergies.

The drama will broadcast a plot that sees young student Hope Drake (Savannah Kunyo) experience anaphylaxis at the school as a result of consuming dairy.

As the granddaughter of Stella Drake (Lindsey Coulson), the headteacher, the situation hits painfully close to home for the school’s leadership. It also forces both the staff and families to confront the realities of food allergy awareness, and the need for a prompt emergency response.

The BBC school based drama is renowned for highlighting issues that impact both young teens, as well as families and schools.

Waterloo Road has worked with The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation for this storyline, to ensure it was reflective of the issues of food allergy management in schools, and the fatal risks of anaphylaxis.

Cameron Roache, Founder of Rope Ladder Fiction and Executive Producer of Waterloo Road said:

‘We’re so grateful for the support and guidance from the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation as we wrote the storylines around raising awareness of food allergies in the school environment.

‘As with many stories in Waterloo Road, the show can be an amazing vehicle to raise issues that young people and families face.’

Founder of The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation Tanya Ednan-Laperouse OBE, whose daughter died at 15 from a food allergy, added: ‘The growing number of children with diagnosed food allergies in schools means that food allergies are a significant issue in the classroom.

‘We are delighted that Waterloo Road chose to highlight the issues and challenges around keeping pupils with food allergies safe in school. We hope this storyline will help raise awareness that food allergies are not a lifestyle choice but a serious medical condition.’

Discussing the arrival of Stella’s grandchildren, Lindsey Coulson said: ‘I think she’s trying to do things with her grandchildren that she maybe didn’t do with her daughter, and I think some of that is haunting her a little bit because I think she was very work-oriented.

‘Stella’s finding it difficult to navigate. She feels an emotional pull towards them and she’s a great stickler for the school rules.’

‘I think me and Hope think alike because we’re really wannabe performers and singers and we love being in front of a camera,’ Savannah added, painting the picture of a very outgoing new pupil.

‘I think she believes she can do that because she’s only been given good feedback. Obviously her nan’s the head of the school so she’s got a lot of privileges that other people won’t have.’

Also this series, Jon Richardson will arrive as Darius Donovan, the new media studies teacher.

If you’re expecting comedian Jon to be playing a friendly character, then it sounds as though you will be in for a big shock, as Jon has teased that the character is ‘incredibly evil’!

‘I would describe him probably as a womanising sociopath,’ Jon admitted, adding: ‘I certainly played him as someone who makes a mistake early doors and ends up chasing his own tail a bit trying to cover it up.

‘Something really bad happens that he’s not exactly responsible for but he didn’t mean it to end as badly as it does. It’s trying to cover that up that gets him into the worst trouble, I think.’

Series 16 of Waterloo Road is available to watch on BBC iPlayer right now. The storyline featuring Hope will air next Tuesday on BBC One at 10:40pm.

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