Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Denise Welch talks Byker Grove reboot and whether she thinks it will be ‘PC’

Denise Welch says she hopes the reboot of Byker Grove will be a huge success (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Denise Welch says she hopes the reboot of Byker Grove will be a huge success (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Denise Welch has discussed the return of TV show Byker Grove and what the reboot might look like, considering “we’ve become so PC” now.

Byker Grove was a BBC teen drama that last broadcast 17 years ago and starred British TV personalities Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, as well as actress Welch.

McPartlin and Donnelly will serve as executive producers and creative consultants of the reboot, which will return under the name Byker.

Speaking on ITV’s Loose Women panel about what she thinks the reboot will be like, Welch said: “Obviously you have to move with the times, there are elements that, you know we’ve become so PC that it’s a little bit more tricky, and I just hope it retains the humour but it was a huge success.

Denise Welch
Denise Welch played Polly Bell in Byker Grove in 1990 and 1991 (Ian West/PA)

“I’m sure if Ant and Dec have got owt to do with it then it will be a big hit.”

During the show, the actress also recalled the moment McPartlin and Donnelly jokingly revealed to her that she had assisted their career as entertainers.

She said: “When I was in Coronation Street, I was very flattered to do This Is Your Life, remember, This Is Your Life (the biographical TV documentary) where and Ant and Dec came on and they said, well the reason that we’ve had to go on and become entertainers is because Denise used to teach us our maths so we failed everything.”

Welch has also starred in the teen drama Waterloo Road, which made a return to screens this year, after its original run ended in 2015.

Ant & Dec
Ant and Dec began their TV careers as PJ and Duncan on Byker Grove (Fiona Hanson/PA)

McPartlin and Donnelly are known for presenting Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!, among other TV shows.

The duo also had a stint in the music industry and became known for the phrase Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble, which was a song they released in 1994 under their Byker Grove character names PJ and Duncan.

Other actors to have appeared in Byker Grove include Charlie Hunnam, Jill Halfpenny, Charlie Hardwick, Donna Air and Hollyoaks star Andrew Hayden-Smith.