The creators & stars of Phoenix Rise discuss BBC’s new coming-of-age drama at Coventry premiere

The creators of BBC’s new school drama Phoenix Rise have said they wanted to portray working class children from the Midlands in a positive light and to ‘give hope to the underdog’.

Perrie Balthazar and Matt Evans, the creators and writers of the West-Midlands school drama, discussed the inspiration for their new show at the premiere which was held at Finham Park school in Coventry on Tuesday afternoon (March 14).

Set and filmed in Coventry, the new BBC drama unearths themes of self-realisation, adolescence, and connection whilst showing the reality of life’s toughest social environment - the school. The show primarily follows the lives of six misfit teenagers as they get back into education after being excluded.

Phoenix Rise is all about being an outsider and the opportunity for growth etched into the underdog that doesn’t conform to the norm.

Lauren Corah, Alex Draper and Jayden Hanley, are amongst the up-and-coming cast largely sourced from the West Midlands.

‘The show is about hope’

The show’s writers Matt and Perrie are both from the West Midlands themselves.

Speaking to BirminghamWorld, co-creator Perrie said they wanted to share create stories of working class children based in local schools.

She said: “We want to show kids who are a bit different that they can enjoy that school experience which we all know can be a bit difficult. We also wanted to show how it’s possible to feel resilience and how important that is as you get older, and I think our characters definitely feel that through their storylines.”

Matt added: “Kids today are feeling a little bit lost, and with this show we always wanted them to feel that somewhere out there there is a group of friends that are going to turn your life around. In many ways we wanted a hopeful show.”

Watch our interviews with the show’s creators Perrie and Matt, as well as the cast members above.

When is the show available to watch?

Phoenix Rise premiers on BBC Three from 7pm on Friday, March 24. However, the series will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday 21 March.