Phoenix Rise might not be out for general viewers until next week but an exclusive screening was held in Coventry this week. The first episode of the new school drama, filmed in Coventry and starring talented young actors from the region, was screened at Finham Park 2 in Tile Hill earlier this week.
The creators of the show spoke about how Phoenix Rise was inspired by their own childhoods and CoventryLive also spoke to some of the young stars about their experience during filming and the themes that arise in the series.
When I started watching, my first initial thoughts were that there was a lot of diversity in the casting of the characters which I really love to see as you feel as though a part of you is represented when you are watching. As it went on there didn't seem to be anything too different about the show and it reminded me of just a normal typical school drama where some kids get into trouble and their friends look out for each other.
Read more: All you need to know about Coventry-filmed drama series Phoenix Rise
I am not normally the type of person who would watch this type of show as I feel more hooked when watching shows about documentaries or people's real life, but I did start to get more invested in the characters as I watched.
However, I noticed that some of the approaches to the way that the teachers were talking to the students were portrayed in a different way which was quite surprising as it genuinely seemed like there were on their level and wanted to help them as best as they could.
For example, in the show, there was a boy who was bullying a character called Khaled, but when the teacher spoke to the bully he didn't shout or scream he used a gentler approach to try and make him understand
In the first episode, I noticed that the main themes were bullying and friendship but as the series goes on I think we will be seeing this expanded in different ways. When I spoke to some people after the screening they told me that they could relate to the characters they had seen on the screen. One girl told me: ''I could relate to some of the characters, as I have suffered with anxieties too''.
Overall I think I would give the first episode a 6/10 as I thought the diversity and proactive approaches were very well told in the story.
Phoenix Rise is available on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday, March 21 and will be shown on Friday, March 24 at 7pm on BBC Three.
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