Murder, drugs, brain tumours – and the first gay kiss: how Byker Grove redefined kids’ TV

Sun, 16 Nov 2025

The after-school TV series ran from 1989 to 2006, launched the careers of Ant and Dec and was like nothing else on TV. As ITVX streams every single episode, we look back at its highlights

Very quietly, ITVX is making a case for itself as one of the best streaming services around. All of Lost is there. All of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is there. It’s the only place in the UK to watch every episode of Documentary Now, which is quite possibly the best show streaming anywhere. As of last month, you can even use ITVX to watch Space Live – 4K footage of Earth seen from the International Space Station, a spectacle exactly as stunning as it sounds.

And, if that wasn’t enough, now there’s Byker Grove too. Last month it was announced that ITV had secured the rights to the show, which originally aired on BBC One, and as of Sunday it will host all 18 series. If you’re as old and creaky as I am, it will provide you with a near fatal dose of nostalgia.