| Season Number: | 5 |
| Bgcolour: |
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| Image Upright: | 1.15 |
| Num Episodes: | 20 |
| Network: | BBC One |
| Episode List: | List of Waterloo Road episodes |
The fifth series of the British television drama series Waterloo Road began broadcasting on 28 October 2009 and ended on 15 July 2010 on BBC One. The series follows the lives of the faculty and pupils of the Eponymous school, a failing inner-city comprehensive school. It consists of twenty episodes, divided into two half-series of ten episodes each and featured one of the biggest cast changes in the show's history.
Due to extensive news coverage on 11 May 2010, regarding UK Prime Minister David Cameron's election and the formation of a coalition government, EastEnders and Holby City were instead shown on 12 May, and Waterloo Road was postponed for two weeks, due to the already scheduled Holby City episode on 19 May. The final two episodes of the series were delayed by four weeks, due to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, airing on 14 and 15 July respectively. The fifth series achieved an average of 5.03 million viewers in the ratings.
The show follows the lives of the teachers and the pupils at the eponymous school of Waterloo Road, a failing inner-city comprehensive, tackling a wide range of issues often seen as taboo such as murder, binge drinking, child sexual abuse, suicide pacts, schizophrenia, bankruptcy, chemical burns, workplace bullying, hemangioma, bribery, clinical depression, prescription drug abuse and false accusations of rape.
See also: List of Waterloo Road episodes.
Three different box sets of the fifth series were released. The first ten episodes of the series were released on 14 June 2010,[2] and the back ten episodes were released on 27 September 2010.[3] All twenty episodes were later released together on 23 May 2011. They were released with a "12" British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) certificate (meaning it is unsuitable for viewing by those under the age of 12 years).[4]