Under-funded, overcrowded, graffiti-scarred
and sliding off the Government scale.
That's Bromwell High, a South London school
of ill repute. Skimming the surface
of this educational mire are Keisha, Latrina
and Natella - three girls with attitude,
if precious-little aptitude. They rule
the corridors of power, whilst the teachers
barricade themselves in the staff room
to exchange insult and injury. Which
is just as likely to come from the school's
eccentric headmaster, Iqbal Kandallah.
Iqbal is as squalid, sordid, underhand
and conniving as the school he
supposedly governs!
Keisha Marie is the girls' sassy ringleader, with Latrina her
white wannabee
sidekick. Clever Natella is the savvy
one. She's also the youngest. Their
school teachers include stressed-out maths
teacher Martin Jackson and
his affroed teacher wife Carol. Gavin Beale
is a "right on" Christian, Melanie
Dickson an Aussie intern, and Mr Philips teaches
PE - presumably because
he's too brainless to teach anything else.
As for Jenny Gosby, she appears
to be a man in women's clothing, or is that
the other way round?
Presiding over all is the headmaster Iqbal,
who apparently won the school in
a bet. He's more gangsta than teacher. He's
as streetwise as the kids and takes
every misdemeanor and misadventure in
his stride. Indeed, he's quite likely to
better it, in his own perverse way.
This late-night toon comes from Brit-comedy
experts Hat Trick Productions,
working in tandem with Decode of Canada.
It's Hat Trick's first foray into
animated territory, and creatively-speaking,
they've not strayed far down the
cartoon lane. With its posturing school kids
and maladjusted adults, "Bromwell
High" wants to be a British "South
Park" - "Grange Hill" with swearing, if you
will. The three lead girls must also contend
with comedienne Catherine Tate,
whose "Am I bovvered?" school sketch
is currently making comedy headlines
on the BBC. And there's something of Ali
G in Iqbal's lunacy. But don't let any
of these facts deter you, because Hat
Trick's comedy pedigree still shines
through. "Bromwell High" is funny, with
some sharp remarks, and plenty of
quotable exchanges to take away from each episode.
David Whittle's series
design is also spot-on. He's captured
the streetwise stylings of the school
kids very well indeed...

» Due
to it's co-production nature, the show aired firstly in Canada
in April
2005. It reached Channel
4 screens four moths later, on 19th August, 2005.
» When
it was first announced in September 2003, the show was known
as "Streatham Hill".
Presumably, this was a bit to near the knuckle for
some, so the name was
changed...
» "Bromwell
High" has drawn protests from folks such as Mediawatch-uk.
who are concerned about
the dereliction it depicts. So it must be doing
something right?
» The
staff member not previously identified above is the fetishistic
geography
teacher Roger Bibby. Mr.
Bibby is voiced by comedian Graeme Garden,
of "Goodies" fame,
who already has a throne in the cartoon firmament for
being the voice behind the
mask of Bananaman!

In
the news
The
Hound: April 2005
Bromwell High arrives in Canada...
The
Hound: January 2005
Streatham Hill = Bromwell
High...
The
Hound: September 2003
Streatham Hill at Cartoon
Forum...
Bromwell High episodes
Baby
Boom
Prefect
Sweets
Sack Race
Keisha's in Love
No More teachers

Bromwell
High on DVD
Bromwell
High
Regon
2 / Channel 4 video / September 2005
a Hat Trick / Decode co-production
with the assistance of
RBC Financial Group
series director: Pete
Bishop
producer:
Beth Stevenson
series producer: Anil
Gupta
exec producers: Neil
Court, Steven Denure,
Jimmy
Mulville, Mario Stylianides,
Cheryl
Taylor
line producers: Elana
Adair, Louisa Shepherd
writers: Richard
Osman, Richard Pinto,
Sharat
Sardana
designer: David
Whittle
Passion
Pictures Ltd
music: Andy
Britton, David Goldsmith
animation: Collideascope
Digital
Pictures
anim producers: Steve
Comeau, Jennifer Comeau,
M
A Kuttner
anim director: James
Boyd
sup director: Kevin
Currie
sup anim: Leo
Corcoran, Jason Hickman
design sup:
Travis Shipley
b'ground des:
Mike Cosford
location des:
Kent Larson
st'board sup: Justin
Nieuwland
st'board art: Greg
Lidstone, James Sarson,
Ian
Westory
sound editor:
John Whitehall
sound eng: Dave
Peacock
audio
post-prod: Scott
McCrorie, Chris Harris
sup editor: Clem
Hobbs
prod co-ords: Joanna
Blake, Sandra Paolucci
head of prod: Jessica
Sharkey
legal & bus
affairs: Hilary
Strong, Joan R Fisher
voices: Gina
Yashere (Keisha Marie)
Graeme
Garden (Mr Bibby)
Nina
Conti
Simon
Greenall
Doon
Mackichan
Stephen
Mangan
Stephen
Merchant
Tracy-Ann
Oberman
Stefano
Paolini
Jo
Wyatt
On
the web
Bromwell
High
The official site...
David
Whittle
Series designer David Whittle has his
very own site for our perusal...
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