Maurice Bronson

Maurice Bronson was a French teacher and Deputy Headteacher at Grange Hill from 1985 to 1989, played by Michael Sheard.

Character History
Mr Bronson once spoke with fondness about motorcycling suggesting he did it in his youth. He arrived at Grange Hill when the school merged with Brookdale School and Rodney Bennet School, a merger he long struggled to come to terms with. He had taught Latin and French at Rodney Bennett where he acquired a fearsome reputation such that pupils nicknamed him "Charlie" after Charles Bronson and before he would enter each Latin lesson they would recite "Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant!" (Those who are about to die salute you.) One of his pupils, Julian Fairbrother, initially carried forward the tradition to Grange Hill. Mr Bronson is bald and wears a toupée that many find all too obvious, but he denies it.

Episode 1
Mr Bronson takes an immediate dislike to Zammo McGuire upon walking into N4 for his first tutorial. He opts against using the language laboratory to teach French and instead uses an empty classroom which leads to a clash with Mr Smart. Mr Bronson rapidly makes it clear he considers himself better than the English teacher.

Episode 2
Mr Bronson declares "There's no confusing Rodney Bennett with Grange Hill when I'm around," and that he still expects pupils to follow the standards of Rodney Bennett despite the merger. He continues to berate Zammo but is taken aback to discover Eric Wallace is deaf.

Episode 3
Mr Bronson has a lesson wasted by walking a class between the two school sites only to get stuck at a crossing with a broken traffic light. Later he is part of a delegation of teachers who speak to Mrs McClusky about a range of problems in the merged school but undermines the group's spokesperson, Mr Baxter, by interrupting to demand a bussing arrangement between the site and this leads to the meeting breaking down into a string of individual complaints. Subsequently in the staff room he continues to complain and blames the merger itself but all the other staff find excuses to leave immediately.

Episode 4
Mr Bronson collides with Precious Matthews in a corridor and stops to fiddle with his hair. In the staffroom he insists on using a particular chair that he says he has always sat in and Mr McCartney agrees to move some items placed on it.

Episode 5
Mr Bronson clashes with Mr Smart again, this time over parking spaces. He then complains to Mr Humphries about the damage to Rodney Bennett's record in languages and makes it clear that French exchange pupils will be coming over. At registration he berates Annette Firman for her clothes and when she is insolent he declares he could use the cane on her.

Episode 6
Mr Bronson takes especial offence when Zammo answers back "Keep your hair on!" Later Kevin Baylon tells Zammo there is a rumour Mr Bronson wears a wig. In the staff room Mr Bronson continues to bemoan the different attitudes of pupils from the pre merger Grange Hill contrasting them with those of ex Rodney Bennett pupils.

Episode 7
Mr Bronson oversees the arrival of a group of French exchange students. His hair becomes the subject of speculation amongst them and they believe he wears a toupée.

Episode 8
Mr Bronson has been coming down on other teachers for not contributing to the staffroom tea fund. He takes part in a consideration as to how a thief has been able to get into the room when the door is locked.

Episode 9
Mr Bronson taunts Mr Smart about the theft of his latest squash racquet. Later he discovers Zammo, Mandy Firth and Sarah Wilks in a school corridor during the lunch break and accuses them of stealing the racquet despite only flimsy circumstantial evidence. Zammo protests to Mrs McClusky that Mr Bronson has it in for him and after the pupils have left her office she repeats the charge to Mr Bronson who denies it.

Episode 10
Mr Bronson continues to berate other staff before going on road duty outside the school, a task he despises but later hides this view when chatting to Mrs McClusky. On the bus between the schools he discovers a cigarette is being smoked and automatically assumes it is Zammo.

Episode 12
Mr Bronson makes it clear to N4 that he does not like the latest change to the school timetable that is designed to reduce pupil transfers between the two school sites as it means his Wednesday afternoon class is without a room.

Episode 13
Mr Bronson complains about conditions in the staffroom with other teachers still taking "his" chair and smoking.

Episode 15
Mr Bronson is held up getting into school by a protest about the lack of a pelican crossing outside the school. He considers the whole campaign futile and complains to Mrs McClusky about this and the slow refurbishment of the school. He is invited to attend a meeting with the builders only to find they have gone early and Mrs McClusky is completely supportive of their other work in building bridges with the community which has slowed them down. Subsequently he goes for a swim. Gonch Gardner and Hollo Holloway come into the pool and discover for definite that Mr Bronson is bald and wears a toupée which Goch takes and hides in a bin where it gets dirty.

Episode 16
Mr Bronson turns up to Grange Hill wearing a noticeably different toupée. The other teachers and the pupils all find it hilarious. He takes advantage of Roland Browning's trip to France to miss an emergency staff meeting.

Episode 17
Mr Bronson has been to Dover to meet Roland on his return from France and was annoyed to discover that Mr Browning and Janet St. Clair had gone without informing the school. He tells Janet off at registration.

Mr Smart has come into possession of Mr Bronson's main toupée and takes great delight in returning it whilst refusing to disclose who gave it to him. However Mr Baxter later tells him he has discovered who the culprits are. Mr Bronson confronts Gonch and Hollo at the end of their French exam and declares he will attend Mr Smart's meeting with their parents to offer suggestions on how to bring them into line.

Episode 18
Mr Bronson discovers Gonch and Hollo with a stink bomb and confronts them about their use of videos at school. Subsequently he tells them he is aware of their pirating of videos and makes it clear they must stop but shows some leniency as "My old eyes and ears get a bit tired by the end of the school year... But next term I shall be fighting fit." He gives Vince Savage the task of recording sound effects from the film Death Race 2000 for the school musical Brighton Rock. When Banksy Banks brings a group of motorcyclists with real bikes to the school to enhance the show Mr Bronson proves surprisingly supportive of the idea and takes charge of the bikes' entry to make it works. He continues to pretend to Mr Smart that his hair is real.

Episode 19
Mr Bronson catches Hollo by the school's crib display and declares it is "A timely reminder that we are still above all a Christian nation." He then gives Roland a detention for being late. Later he discovers the crib has had scarves and masks added to it and declares it to be desecration though other staff are not so outraged. Subsequently he finds Harriet the Donkey at the crib and is somewhat taken with her.

Episode 1
Mr Bronson is now the form tutor for G3. At the first tutorial of the year he makes clear that he has made it his business to know who his class are and that there will be no favouritism towards any pupil regardless of their background, highlighting both that Julia Glover is the daughter of Mr Glover, the school governor who has donated a sculpture outside the school building, and Laura Reagan is the daughter of Mrs Reagan, the games mistress. He says he is a strict disciplinarian but also fair. Immediately after this Ant Jones arrives late because he was detained by Mr Baxter but is given a week's detention. Ant protests this as he was detained by another teacher. When Mr Baxter discovers this he goes to Mr Bronson to explain and object leading to a argument about whether a teacher's decision should ever be appealed, with Mr Bronson likening the situation to a referee on the pitch. Mr Baxter argues back, "Insisting you're right when you're wrong won't get you respect, it'll get you resentment."

Episode 2
Following the death of Mr Humphries in a car crash, Mr Bronson is blunt about the way other members staff are acting as though they are chasing promotion. He is very dismissive of Mrs McClusky's choice of Mr Baxter as acting deputy head, feeling the post should have gone to someone with an "academic grounding" but denies Miss Booth's suggestion that he is after the post himself.

Episode 3
A plaster on Mr Bronson's neck is the source of speculation amongst the pupils. In the staff room he talks with Miss Partridge about how teachers starting out have ambitions to rise to the top but says he no longer desires it and doesn't envy Mrs McClusky's job of running the school. He is opposed to smoking in the school by both pupils and teachers. In the staff room he makes a point of opening the window to get the smell out. When a fire alarm goes off his class doesn't leave the room until he dismisses them.

Episode 4
Following the fire that renders the Upper School site unusable, Mr Bronson does not take well to the new arrangements to teach the whole school on the Lower School site. Not normally a supporter of industrial action, he suggests it is necessary to get the local authority to realise the inadequacy of the situation. During break he admits to Julia and Laura that his neck plaster is because he was attacked by his sister's Macaw parrot.

Episode 5
The Lower School hall is used for several different lessons simultaneously and Mr Bronson wanders from class to class. G3 have a history lesson with Miss Partridge and Mr Bronson hovers behind them as first Danny Kendall and then Ant Jones say they can't hear. He tries to discipline Ant but Miss Partridge shows the pupil is blameless. Later she comments to Mrs Reagan "I wouldn't mind but he didn't interfere with Peter King's class" and they agree about the sexism in multiple parts of the school.

Episode 6
Mr Bronson is frustrated at having to move his car for the imminent arrival of portacabin classrooms.

Episode 7
The portacabins have failed to arrive, only paving stones to form their base, so tempers fray in an overcrowded staffroom and Mr Bronson continues to demand industrial action over the conditions. He assumes that Mr Baxter is abusing his position as deputy headmaster to ensure scarce funds are going to the sports department and goes to confront him in the gym. Mr Baxter furiously explains how he has secured the use of the leisure centre swimming pool for free and is personally paying for the teams' bus fares. Subsequently Mr Bronson wins a confrontation with Mr King over use of a classroom but is bluntly told by a passing Mrs McClusky that such situations require "Maturity, co-operation and patience". When Ant Jones arrives seven minutes late to the class and once again attributes his lateness to Mr Baxter, Mr Bronson explodes at this repeated reason and determines to settle it. In the gym after school the two teachers confront one another and Mr Baxter suggests this is nothing to do with Ant and instead part of Mr Bronson's general attitude but declines to elaborate.

Episode 8
Mr Bronson makes Roland Browning read out a romantic letter from Fabienne in class, first in French and then in English.

Episode 9
Before a staff meeting formally begins Mr Bronson has a lengthy critical rant about the administration of the school but none of the other staff are particularly interested. Later in the meeting Mrs Reagan takes some exception to his sexist presumptions.

Episode 10
The portacabins have arrived and Mr Bronson's car is parked in the way so he has to rush to move it. Like Mr Baxter he is is taken aback to discover the crane driver is a woman.

Episode 11
Mr Bronson finds Ant Jones and Georgina Hayes embracing on a bench and physically pulls Ant up who pushes the teacher to the ground. Accusing Ant of assault, he takes both pupils to Mrs McClusky's office. The headmistress suggests the situation got out of control and can be settled with Ant apologising but he refuses, accusing Mr Bronson of having victimised him all year. Mr Bronson denies the charge.

Episode 12
Mr Bronson considers the competition to design a new school logo to be a "ridiculous idea". He encounters Danny Kendall by a noticeboard and upon learning that the boy has been told to go to Mr Baxter by Mrs Reagan for insolence, Mr Bronson opts to walk the pupil to the office because of his "tendency to veer off course... like a defective supermarket trolley." Mr Bronson is suffering a cold. He subsequently discovers Ziggy Greaves and Robbie Wright searching his draws for chalk and hears that they have received a letter from the Duke of Edinburgh asking them to collect chalk for him. He sees the letter and instantly recognises it as a forgery. Ant has agreed to apologise to Mr Bronson.

Episode 15
Mr Bronson continues to be annoyed about other staff smoking in the staffroom but is also angry about the new school magazine campaigning for a ban on smoking across the whole school including the staffroom as he believes it will mean pupils dictating to teachers and it is the thin end of the wedge. Later he enters a cloakroom to discover Ant Jones with a lit cigarette and berates the lad for smoking, not realising he was just holding it for Danny Kendall.

Episode 16
Mr Bronson enters one of the temporary classrooms to discover Ant Jones and Laura Reagan putting up a poster and telling Mr Griffiths the caretaker to stop smoking. Mr Bronson is horrified at the way the pupils are taking over. The next day Mr Baxter hosts a meeting with Mr Bronson and Ant about the latter's attitude which descends into argument. After Ant has left Mr Baxter tells Mr Bronson to cut back on hammering him and that "you're old enough and experienced to know that you are over the top". Mr Bronson leaves fuming in silence. Despite Mr Baxter's words he later confronts Ant in a corridor and gives him five hundred lines for smoking despite the pupil's protests that he does not smoke.

Episode 18
Mr Bronson has contributed to a third year collection to buy sympathy flowers for Louise and Cheryl Webb after the death of their father. He is unhappy with the large number of late arrivals and absences in G3s weekly tutorial and when Louise and Laura Reagan arrive late he gives them detentions. Ant Jones protests that Mr Bronson is insensitive to Louise's circumstances leading to another confrontation between the two and both threatening to report the other to Mrs McCluskey. Mr Bronson defers Louise's detention and takes Ant to the headmistress's office where the pupil is sent home to cool off before a meeting with his parents.

Episode 19
The fifth years have their French O-Level oral exam. Roland Browning has overslept and arrives late and panicky because his alarm clock has been stolen but Mr Bronson calms him down and successfully convinces the examiner to grant the exam. All this delays Mr Bronson from arriving for a meeting with Mrs McClusky, Mr Baxter and Ant Jones's parents, Mr Jones and Mrs Jones. Upon arriving he discovers that Ant is in the room and firmly and successfully objects to the pupil's presence. After this Mr Bronson firmly denies he is carrying on a vendetta against Ant but the boy's parents are not convinced. After the meeting finishes Mr Bronson is approached by the French oral examiner who praises both Roland's performance and his teacher's concern for the welfare of his pupils, inadvertently within earshot of Mr Jones.

Episode 20
Mr Bronson explains to Mr King that he will never use a language laboratory for teaching despite the technology being there. Later he encounters Miss Booth with Danny Kendall and upon hearing that the mural in the playground has been reprieved he takes great pleasure in telling them that Mr Griffiths has already gone to whitewash it.

Episode 21
Mr Bronson is late for a meeting with Ant Jones about his options form. The teacher is determined to stay calm as he explains it is not possible in the timetable to take both Chemistry and German and Ant must select one of History, Geography, Religious Education or Social Studies. Ant leaves dissatisfied. Later Julia Glover brings her option form but Mr Bronson is expecting an urgent phone call and doesn't spot she has the same clash before the call comes. This leads Julia to assume her combination is acceptable and when Ant hears there was no problem with her form he storms off annoyed. The phone call is from Mr Glover on the subject of rumours about Miss Partridge and Mr King's separate private lives and at an emergency meeting of the Board of Governors Mr Bronson sides with him in seeking both teachers' heads. After the meeting Ant approaches them in front of Mrs McClusky and Mr Baxter and furiously accuses Mr Bronson of nepotism in favour of the daughter of the Chair of the Board of Governors and both him and Mr Glover of being hypocrites in calling a meeting about others' behaviour when they (he assumes) have been fixing things up. He refuses to apologise and storms out.

Episode 22
Ant Jones has run away from home and Mr Bronson attends a meeting about this with Mr Jones, Mrs McClusky, Mr Baxter and Georgina Hayes. Georgina recounts how Ant got upset with the perception that Mr Bronson had approved Julia's options but not his and took it as the last straw. Mr Jones notes the number of misunderstandings involving Ant and Mr Bronson and declines the teacher's offer of help.

Episode 23
Mr Bronson praises Mrs McClusky's earlier help with handling Danny Kendall which results in Mr Baxter responding, "Is this another one you've got your knife into. You've already driven one lad away from the school. How many more have to go before you realise what you're doing?" Mr Bronson is left discomforted.

Episode 24
At the school fun run Mr Bronson dresses up in a yellow blazer and straw boater but when he reaches the relevant stage he finds his bicycle missing and has to do a lap of the track on a child's tricycle. He sees the returned Ant Jones and approaches in a conciliatory mood to tell him he is glad the boy has returned from running away but is sorry to hear he will be going to another school next year as he will be a loss to the language department.