The cast of the new BBC show explain how they have given hard-hitting content a fun, relatable and colourful spin to actively encourage teenagers to make good life choices

In a modern academy secondary school in a deprived part of Leeds, adults wrangle a group of children into their places and a hush descends, before a director calls “Action!”

It’s a Tuesday in May – but it is not a school day. The kids have come in during the holidays to be extras in a new BBC comedy drama, Crongton, set on a fictional housing estate.