This lively children’s series from BBC1 was written by award-winning children’s writer Roy Apps, and the show served as a fictional launchpad and real-world promotional vehicle for a new British boy band called North & South.
Combining music and comedy, episodes in the first series followed the trials and tribulations of Jimmy Osman (James Hurst), who had just moved with his family to Brighton and was having trouble making new friends, avoiding fierce bully Janis (Gemma McCluskie) and her gormless sidekick Carly (Jessica Meyer) and settling into his new school (the fictional Peabody School).
Jimmy and his new pal Greg Fuggle (Lee Otter) decided to form a boy band and take on the pop world, recruiting posh lads Miles Smith-Jones (Tom Lowe) and Giles Beamish (Sam Chapman) along the way.
The boys also tried desperately to recruit wealthy, beautiful private schoolgirls, Bonnie Langford-lookalike Jassy (Scarlett Strallen, who was actually Bonnie’s real-life niece) and Lucy (Keisha Atwell) into their band.
Jimmy’s overbearing, eccentric mother, Bev (Harriet Thorpe), was hopelessly obsessed with entering mail-in promotional competitions and was constantly winning useless prizes.
The show underwent a major shift in the second series, with the band members now playing fictionalised versions of themselves.
The plot followed them as they toured the UK in a broken-down camper van, while most of the original supporting cast was replaced.
New characters included Arial Soundbyte (Peter Blake), an eccentric, smooth-talking music-industry producer for Hype-TV (“made by the kids for the kids”) who crossed paths with the band during their travels, and the group’s shady, low-rent manager Mickey Freeman (David Cardy).
Viewers rejected the new format, and the show’s ratings plummeted compared to the first series. Record label BMG also cancelled the release of North & South’s completed debut album, and the group disbanded.
Tragically, actress Gemma McCluskie was murdered in 2012 by her brother, who dismembered her body and disposed of it in the Regents Park Canal in London.
Jimmy Osman/James Hurst
James Hurst Greg Fuggle/Lee Otter
Lee Otter Miles Smith-Jones/Tom Lowe
Tom Lowe Giles Beamish/Sam Chapman
Sam Chapman Jassy Pinkerton
Scarlett Strallen Lucy Shaw
Keisha Atwell Bev Osman
Harriet Thorpe Janis
Gemma McCluskie Carly
Jessica Meyer Arial Soundbyte
Peter Blake Mickey Freeman
David Cardy
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Combining music and comedy, episodes in the first series followed the trials and tribulations of Jimmy Osman (James Hurst), who had just moved with his family to Brighton and was having trouble making new friends, avoiding fierce bully Janis (Gemma McCluskie) and her gormless sidekick Carly (Jessica Meyer) and settling into his new school (the fictional Peabody School).
Jimmy’s overbearing, eccentric mother, Bev (Harriet Thorpe), was hopelessly obsessed with entering mail-in promotional competitions and was constantly winning useless prizes.
Viewers rejected the new format, and the show’s ratings plummeted compared to the first series. Record label BMG also cancelled the release of North & South’s completed debut album, and the group disbanded.
Tragically, actress Gemma McCluskie was murdered in 2012 by her brother, who dismembered her body and disposed of it in the Regents Park Canal in London.
Jimmy Osman/James Hurst
