posted
and he must have been fat, because all Janet ever said to him was, in a monotone, "Ro-land Ro-land why are you so fat Ro-land" with no punctuation.
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posted
dark mingeater's Grange Hill sketch has made me incredibly happy, just imagining it as a real event. People always say about bullies "Oh, well he was probably bullied himself", when the truth is the bully just knows how sweet it tastes when you take responsibility for the suffering of another human being.
-------------------- Now that you've called me by name? Posts: 2007
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Octavia
I hate Valentine's Day. Stupid commercialised crap
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lol at the utter improbability of nathan bleak as Gripper Dobson. I remember the glorious day Gripper got got by the PE teacher (whose name I can't remember). My dad came into the room to watch that one.
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quote:So who was this Gripper Stebson, and what made him so notorious? Well, basically a screwed-up individual never happy unless he was making someone else's life a misery. Initially he worked alone, but in series 5 gained two henchmen, Denny Rees and Georgie Smith. Gripper, played by Mark Savage, first appeared in episode 4 of Series 4, stealing a book from the local newsagents. Stewpot and Duane caught him in the act, and were warned off saying anything. Later in the series, Pogo was running a homework cash enterprise and Gripper forced Pogo to do his homework for free. A furious Pogo deliberately did the work wrong - and the pair rioted and smashed up the common room. Mrs McClusky suspended Gripper for the rest of the term.
In Series 5 (1982), Gripper found a new victim. He and Denny pursued Roland Browning, whom they cruelly called "Gutsy", extorting money from him and making Roland's life a misery when they discovered their victim was seeing an educational psychologist. So desperate to escape his torment was Roland that he constantly skipped school, and was later mown down by a car. But Gripper's evil interests extended beyond poor Roland. One night he sent henchmen to the school to steal the sports trophies. But Fay, Annette and Belinda were in the school overnight and disturbed the raiders. The girls trapped them in the basement and called the police!
Off-screen, Mark Savage found his on-screen persona a nightmare. Wherever Mark went, people challenged him to fights and at a football match supporters told him: "Oi Gripper, you're gonna get your 'ead kicked in!" To make matters worse, there was a wave of copycat bullying sweeping the nation. "It was open season on Gripper", Mark told Now magazine in 1998. "People really thought I was Gripper and pulled knives on me and all sorts."
Just when you thought Gripper couldn't get any worse, in Series 6 (1983) he excelled himself. Stebson turned to hardcore racism and picked fights with black and Asian pupils. In particular he'd delight in making life a misery for Randir Singh and made whites "swear allegience to the British People". Stewpot refused to comply. In Episode 12, Gripper incited a race riot which Messrs Hopwood, Baxter and Keating broke up. Gripper was suspended, but he would have one final fling which would become his downfall.
On his final day at Grange Hill, Gripper continued to harass Randir and attacked Claire Scott with a dirty mop, after she dared to speak her mind about him in an underground school magazine. At this point, Stewpot teamed up with Glenroy and ethnic pupils to "lynch" Gripper in the toilets at breaktime. However, Bullet Baxter got wind and stormed the toilets in time. "I'm sorry lads, I can't allow vigilantes," he proclaimed. "Doesn't matter how justified you may feel." With that, Gripper was told to "say goodbye to his friends" before being led away to Mrs McClusky to be formally expelled. The boys cheered as he walked off.
But was that the last of Gripper? Of course not. In 1984 he returned as a butcher's boy, on the day of the sponsored walk. Jimmy McClaren stole Gripper's bike so he could fix the outcome (he was running a book on it). For once, Gripper wasn't causing any trouble. But the following year, Gripper was exposed as the school thief after Gonch bugged the staffroom - recording Gripper and Denny as they stole equipment. Gripper's final stand came in the 1985 Christmas special, when he relished throwing a wet sponge at Mr Baxter.
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i remember the attack on claire with the dirty mop as being genuinely sinister. it was a little as if she had been tarred and feathered. dark stuff.
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posted
My parents were worried that if I watched it, I'd turn out twisted. They were quite strict on stuff like that - no 15-rated films until I was, like, 13, that kind of thing.
-------------------- Now that you've called me by name? Posts: 2007
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posted
Alright Rick? I asked you, a while ago, how your school reunion went. I even did it in rhyme. Can't remember what thread it was. Anyway you never replied. So how did it go?
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quote:Originally posted by Nathan Bleak: My parents were worried that if I watched it, I'd turn out twisted. They were quite strict on stuff like that - no 15-rated films until I was, like, 13, that kind of thing.
Without Grange Hill we would never have thought of annoying our teachers by all humming at the same time.
quote:Originally posted by mart: Alright Rick? I asked you, a while ago, how your school reunion went. I even did it in rhyme. Can't remember what thread it was. Anyway you never replied. So how did it go?
Ach, must have missed your post - could you post a link back to it? I must see the rhyme...
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