A former EastEnders actor has been cast in the new kids' drama Phoenix RiseCamera crews have descended on Coventry to film a brand-new high school drama that is set to launch next year exclusively on BBC iPlayer. Filming has started this month on location in and around Coventry, including at former secondary school Woodlands Academy.
Viewers will see a diverse group of teens take their first tentative steps back into mainstream education after being excluded. Phoenix Rise is the opportunity for six misfit heroes to prove that sometimes being an outsider means belonging to the best club of all, as their unlikely friendships bond them and fuel their determination not to be side-lined.
Each episode will follow one of the characters as the optimism and fun of teen life are set against the challenges they face in and out of the classroom.
Former EastEnders actor Paul Nicholls has been cast in the new kids' drama which is currently being filmed across the city. Nicholls, who made his TV debut in the 1990s, will depict an absent father who failed to return from a lorry driving job in Europe, leaving his two kids Billy, 15, and Rihanna, 11, at home alone for months on end.
Helen Bullough, Head of Kids & Family Productions at BBC Studios, says: “We’re thrilled to have Paul joining the talented cast and crew on Phoenix Rise as this contemporary new school drama gets under way in its Coventry production base.”
Tyler Fayose, who has appeared in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Casualty, will take on the role of Jamie Stewart, the head teacher who fights to give the kids a second chance and integrate them back into school life. The young actors have been revealed as Alex Draper (as Billy), Orla McDonagh (as Rihanna), Luca Alves (as Darcy), Lauren Corah (as Summer), Tara Webb (as Rani), Krish Bassi (as Khaled) and Imogen Baker (as Leila).