The BBC has confirmed that school-based drama Waterloo Road is to make a comeback after a six-year absence.
The revived series - to be filmed in Manchester - will effectively be a replacement for Holby City, which is coming to an end next March after 23 years as part of the BBC One schedules.
Cameron Roach, one of the executive producers on the original run, will oversee the new Waterloo Road, which will reflect problems encountered by parents, pupils and teachers in a post-pandemic world.
"Waterloo Road is the perfect lens through which to explore post-COVID Britain, from the perspective of those who have arguably been affected most: young people in education," said the BBC's director of drama Piers Wenger.
"We are thrilled to be returning to this brilliant format - its thrills and spills, unmissable characters and high drama - at a time when audiences across Britain need it most."
Waterloo Road is one of two new long-form dramas to be made outside of London in the wake of Holby's demise, with the other to be announced in the coming months.
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