Byker Grove Reboot in the Works With Ant & Dec

Classic British drama Byker Grove is being rebooted by the BBC.

The upcoming series is produced by original stars Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, who played PJ and Duncan during the show’s ‘90s run. “Byker Grove will always be very special to us as the show which gave us our break, so we are beyond excited,” said Donnelly. “We are looking forward to bringing this fresh incarnation to a whole new generation as well as those who remember it as fondly as we do.”

Let’s get ready to r̶h̶u̶m̶b̶l̶e̶ make a tv show… #Byker @Fulwell73 pic.twitter.com/hCXA6D11PU

— Mitre Studios (@mitrestudios) July 4, 2023

The new show is aimed at “a primetime audience” according to production company Fulwell 73, and will “engage with a new generation of teenagers navigating the different challenges faced by young adults today”.

Byker Grove was set in Byker, Newcastle and it’s essentially a coming-of-age drama that focuses on a youth club in the North East city. It’s unclear whether the new series will return to its iconic surroundings, the Grade II listed building The Mitre. However, Donnelly added that the new series will “help shine a spotlight on the North East and the talent the region has to offer both in front of the camera and behind it”.

Byker Grove originally ran from its debut episode in 1987 until 2006, with numerous British actors getting their first break on the show, including glamour model Francoise Boufhal as well as Pacific Rim star, Charlie Hunnam.

“We owe such a lot to Byker Grove and the North East so we can’t wait to start working to bring this iconic series back to life,” said Ant McPartlin. “Already talking characters and storylines has us all buzzing at the possibilities ahead.”

The series will be created by Fulwell 73 along with Ant and Dec’s own production company, Mitre Studios, and will be filmed across Newcastle and Sunderland. Producer Leo Pearlman also teased Byker Grove’s iconic theme tune “could do with a little update”.

Ant and Dec are known known primarily as the hosts of the British reality show, I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here as well as their Saturday night TV show, Saturday Night Takeaway.

Image credit: Fiona Hanson – PA Images / Getty Images

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.