Fun and lighthearted musical drama (Britannia High)

Member Name: ld75454

Product:	Britannia High
Date:	15/12/08 (320 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great songs, Adam Garcia!

Disadvantages: Not as good as expectations led to believe

Britannia High is a teen musical drama co-produced by ITV and Globe productions. It is based on an original idea by Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips and theatre producer David Ian. The show follows 6 teenage drama/dance students and their teachers at their drama school. It has been created following the popularity that High School Musical has created. This is aired on ITV1 on Sunday at 7pm for an hour, including breaks and has been running from October through to December. The show is a series consisting of 9 episodes, the last of which is a combination of live and recorded scenes. There have been a variety of celebrity appearances from Boyzone, Girls Aloud and Matt Willis. Each episode of the show is character centric. Britannia High is produced by Brian Grant and Steven McGreal and sponsored by playtq. I wanted to watch the programme as soon as I realised that Gary Barlow was the director of music. And to be fair, he didn't let me down.

Characters

Lauren Walters - Georgina Hagen: Lauren is a shy, quiet girl who you can tell initially feels totally out of her depth at this dance school. She fights with Claudine for the affection of Danny throughout the series. I like Lauren as she comes across as a normal girl, who you could relate to in real life. Her strength is singing, and is not a particularly strong dancer.

Lola Jonze - Rana Roy: Lola is thought of as the best dancer out of the three girls. She is extremely naïve and gullible, often laughed at by her friends because of this. She loves her pink and is very sweet. I like Lola, as she often breaks up the tension between Lauren and Claudine. In the series, she falls in love with Stephan, the dance teacher, although who wouldn't. She is a complete daydreamer that just wants to be famous.

Claudine Cameron - Sapphire Elia: Claudine is obsessed with making the big time. She is predominantly selfish and determined to become famous at anybody's expense, however you see at times, she has a heart. She fights with Lauren throughout the episodes for Danny's attention. As much as you want to hate Claudine, you do feel sorry for her. You can understand why she is the way she is due to the mental abuse she was subject to by her mum when she was younger. She is the ultimate triple threat.

Jez Tyler - Matthew James Thomas: Jez is an intelligent, gay young man. His ultimate talent lies in song-writing. He comes from a very wealthy background which he initially hides from his friends, as he does not want them to treat him differently because of money. He pretended to his father that he was a business student until his father finally sees his immense talent.

Danny Miller - Mitch Hewer: Danny is an easy-going, sincere young guy who thoroughly enjoys any sort of performing. He is torn in a love triangle between two beautiful girls, Lauren and Claudine. The final show will determine who is the one for him. He suffers from dyslexia which is picked up on by one of his music teachers when he acts as a jack-the-lad in her classes.

BB - Marcquelle Ward: He has had a tough start to life, after being brought up by his brother Julius from the age of 8 when his parents died. He then loses Julius in episode 5 and shows his maturity when he doesn't seek revenge. He is probably my favourite of all the characters as he is so likable. He gets along with everyone and has strong morals that he sticks to.

Ronnie Nuttal - Sophie Powles: A very sweet girl who works in the canteen after failing to get into Britannia High. In episode 8 she is completely embarrassed when she auditions for the end of year performance but is definitely not up to scratch.

Stefan - Adam Garcia: Stefan is the fit dance choreographer of Britannia High. He quits his job after getting close to Lola throughout the series.

Mr Nugent - Mark Benton: He is the head of Britannia High and will do anything for any of his students. You can see that he is passionate about drama, singing and dancing and is always looking out for the best interests of his students.

Mrs Troy - Michele Austin: Mrs Troy is the landlady of five of the teenagers that attend Britannia High. She is a very small part in the show and you only really know that she isn't very could at the sculptures she attempts to make.


Episodes

Episode 1: Let's Dance - Lauren centric
Episode 2: Behind The Mask - Danny centric
Episode 3: Who Are You? - Jez centric
Episode 4: Fame - Lola centric
Episode 5: Go Your Own Way - BB centric
Episode 6: Miss Independent - Claudine centric
Episode 7: Don't Stand So Close To Me - Lola and Stefan centric
Episode 8: With A Little Help From My Friends - Lauren and Ronnie centric
Episode 9: Finale - All cast members

To be honest, the best thing about the show is the dance teacher Adam Garcia, who was in the film Coyote Ugly. He is gorgeous. If there is one reason I am not going to miss the show, there it is. Britannia High is fun and light-hearted, whilst covering a series of important topics. If I am being totally straight, I don't think that it lives up to the hype, but it is certainly something great to watch whilst you are doing something at the same time (like for me tidying your room).

The cast of Britannia High are supporting Girls Aloud in their 2009 tour, so if you want to see more from the cast, you know where to find it. You can also buy the Britannia High soundtrack from places like amazon or play. It features 19 of the songs from the show.

For further information about the show visit www.itv.com/britanniahigh.

Summary: A good teenage musical drama. Not unmissable though.