Home TV News ‘The Demon Headmaster’ Returns With Nicholas Gleaves As Lead

‘The Demon Headmaster’ Returns With Nicholas Gleaves As Lead

by Dave Elliott

‘The Demon Headmaster’ Returns With Nicholas Gleaves As Lead

‘The Demon Headmaster’ is back, and has a new face, as ‘Bodyguard’ & ‘Coronation Street’ star Nicholas Gleaves lands the leading role.

The classic drama series was broadcast between 1996 and 1998 and originally starred Terrence Hardiman as the horrifying headmaster with hypnotic powers. Over 20 years later, children will enjoy the same terrifying twists as they watch a group of mismatched kids discover their headmaster is using hypnotism to gain ultimate control of their school. The new series sees Nicholas Gleaves take over the role for the modern age when the show returns to our screens later this year on CBBC.

“It is an absolute stroke of genius to bring back this iconic series and I feel incredibly lucky to play the role,” comments Gleaves on his new gig. “The Demon Headmaster is a dark magician and I’ve loved bringing the character to life. It’s always an actors dream to play extremes and he is the ultimate villain.”

Gillian Cross, the author of the books the original series was based on, has released a new novel which reveals the Demon Headmaster has become a ‘Super Head’ of an Academy.

“We all know how compelling and memorable the original Demon Headmaster series was and when we heard that Gillian Cross had created an updated version we thought it was too wonderful a creative opportunity to miss,” adds Cheryl Taylor, Head of Content, BBC Children’s Entertainment. “We’re sure that the fierce battle between the plucky pupils and our manipulative new Demon Head – Nicholas Gleaves – will prove just as hypnotic for all CBBC drama fans.”

The new version of ‘The Demon Headmaster’ will be written by Emma Reeves, who is no stranger to children’s drama. Her previous work includes serving as lead writer on ‘The Worst Witch’, lead writer and creator of ‘Eve’, and writing episodes of ‘Young Dracula’, ‘The Dumping Ground’, and ‘Tracy Beaker Returns’.

“I’m a huge fan of Gillian’s books and of the original 90s BBC show,” said Reeves. “Terrence Hardiman’s chilling charisma made the role of the Headmaster an unforgettable character. I’m thrilled that Nicholas Gleaves is playing the Headmaster in the new series, he’s a wonderful actor and he’s already terrifying everyone who’s been on set.”

‘The Demon Headmaster’ is produced for CBBC by Children’s In House Productions, with Spencer Campbell as Executive Producer. The ten 30-minutes episodes will be available to watch on CBBC and BBC iPlayer later in 2019.

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