Byker Grove cast now and brutal assault that left one main star unconscious

Any self-respecting nineties kid grew up on an after-school diet of Findus Crispy Pancakes (minced beef, not curry) and Byker Grove.

For 17 years from 1989, the antics of the kids down at the Newcastle youth club was essential viewing.

But it was pretty dark. Outside of the usual snogs and scuffles, the BBC One show covered drug addiction, child abuse, cancer, death and teenage pregnancy.

The show's most groundbreaking storyline came in 1994 when teenager Noddy Fishwick, played by Brett Adams, kissed his friend Gary Hendrix in the cinema.

And of course, who can forget the cautionary tale that was PJ's accidental paintball blinding at the hands of girlfriends Debbie Dobson and Amanda Bewick.

The horrifying scenes at the end of series four saw the girls aim and fire at Peter 'PJ' Jenkins (played by Ant McPartlin) as punishment for flirting with them both - but it just happened to be at the exact moment the lothario chose to take his goggles off.

His best mate Duncan Sperring (Declan Donnelly) screamed that famous line, “He cannae see man!”

But Dunc wasn't devastated for long, making a move on PJ's girlfriend Debbie when his sidekick left to go to a school for the blind.

But what happened to the rest of the big players down in Byker Grove?

The best mates were already making plans for world domination during the show, launching their band Groove Matrix and their debut single, Tonight I’m Free.

The track made it to number 62 in the charts, and while it was no Mr Blobby, it did lay the pathway for their post-Grove foray into music as the mic-wrecking PJ & Duncan.

After classics including If I Give You My Number and Eternal Love, the boys retired their musical alter-egos to focus on TV.

SM:TV, Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain's Got Talent and I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here made the lads two of the biggest stars in the UK, earning an estimated £30million between them in 2016.

Not bad for two teenagers who didn't even like each other to begin with.

"We didn't particularly like each other at first, I thought he was miserable," Dec, 44, previously revealed speaking on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in 2006.

"We've rowed a few times - we're quite competitive," Ant, also 44, added.

Part of the original cast, Lyndyann Barrass, 44, was just 12 when she joined the show as surly, hormonal teen Kirsty 'Spuggie' Campbell.

Despite being one of the Grove's biggest characters, she was written out to go and live with her brother Fraser, leaving Lyndyann devastated.

She struggled to find work as an actress, fearing she'd been typecast as "the redhead from ‘that Geordie show.’"

And after a failed stint with a band called Angel, she was subjected to a brutal assault that convinced her to turn her back on fame.

"I was beaten unconscious in the street by three strangers who recognised me as Spuggie," she told The Sun.

"Thankfully, I wasn’t badly injured, but it was the final straw. I decided to quit show business for good."

In 1999, the Sunderland-based star married husband Allan and had two kids with him before their split in 2012.

As a single mum, she took a job working in a call centre and calculated it would take her two years to earn what her former co-stars Ant and Dec make in just one day.

She told The Mirror in 2015: “I’m a newly single parent with two kids.

"I work in a bank call centre four mornings a week when the kids are in school – I probably earn just over half of their daily salary for a year.”

But Lyndyann remains on good terms with the duo, adding: “They haven’t changed. They’re still the two daftest.

"They are very grounded and lovely. They don’t forget their roots and where they come from.”

Most recognised by his epic lamb chops and moustache, youth club leader Geoff Keegan was beloved by all.

Geoff came a cropper when he died in an accidental gas explosion, but his emotional funeral reunited many of the show's big guns - including PJ and Duncan.

Actor Billy Fane, 74, is still very much alive and well, and went on to appear in panto and 2000 hit movie, Billy Elliot.

And he's still pals with the Grove kids and had a whole This Your Life style segment devoted to him on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.

When Ant entered rehab for an addiction to painkillers in 2017, Billy was one of the first to offer his support, describing Ant as a “lovely, hard- working lad."

“I was so sorry to hear of the ­problems and wish him a quick recovery,” said Billy.

Byker Grove became the first British children's drama to tackle sexuality and coming out when a confused Noddy misread the signs and kissed his best mate Gary on the cheek in groundbreaking scenes.

Gary was furious and marched out, but despite a public furore, actor Brett and the BBC rightly stood by the storyline.

"About a month or two after the episode had aired, I received a letter from a young lad about 15 or 16 saying he was going through the same [thing] as Noddy and if he hadn't watched that episode on that day then he would have continued to think he was the only one going through it," Brett told Attitude magazine in 2014.

"He said he honestly felt like committing suicide but after seeing the show and the helpline number on the end credits, he called, got advice and was now much happier. He'd told his parents and friends who supported him and he'd even managed to find a boyfriend.

"If my storyline upset 10,000 people but helped one person then I see it as a monumental success."

After leaving the show, Brett formed a band called Point Break with co-star David Oliver, who played Marcus.

Together with Declan Bennett, they achieved moderate success with hits including Stand Tough and Freakytime, but after that wrapped, Brett is believed to have quit showbiz and to work as a barman at the Haven Holiday Camp in Weymouth.

The actor has four children and according to Digital Spy, he now works as a manager at the town's Lakeside Bowling Alley.

Donna Air joined the show aged 10 and played ambitious budding journalist Charlie Charlton.

Like Ant and Dec, she formed a band with her co-stars, releasing single Love Your Sexy with Jayni Hoy and Vicky Taylor as Byker Groove.

She moved to London aged 15 and formed girlband Crush with Jayni but their 1996 singles Jellyhead and Luv'd Up failed to set the charts alight.

But they got her spotted by TV execs who landed presenting gigs for MTV, The Big Breakfast and Popstars: The Rivals Extra.

Geordie Donna struck up a party pal friendship with All Saints star Natalie Appleton, with the pair living next door to one another and cosying up for FHM.

But she rebranded at the ripe old age of 22 after meeting multi-millionaire Damian Aspinall, who was 19 years her senior.

Desperate to make it as a serious actress, she told the Evening Standard: "I don't think I ever was a ladette. I'm actually a bit of a nerd. I can't even have dinner in a low-cut top without feeling selfconscious. You try to be cool, but underneath it I was too much of a goody-goody.

"It took me five years to get a bad reputation - it's going to take me 20 to get rid of it. …

She and Damien had daughter Freya, 17, in 2003 but split in 2007 amid rumours he refused to marry her.

In 2013 she was touted for the Strictly Come Dancing line-up and later competed in Dancing On Ice.

Now 41, she dated Kate Middleton's brother James for four years, followed by property developer Ben Carrington.

She continues to act and recently starred in BBC One drama, The Split.

Played by Nicola Bell, Debbie was PJ's on-off girlfriend who eventually fell in love with his best mate Duncan.

Off screen, she was in a real-life romance with Ant which ended due to the pressure of Pj & Duncan's hectic tour schedule.

Ant told the Independent at the time: "When you're touring you can't have a relationship by phone. I'm terrible on the phone."

He went on to meet and marry Deuce star Lisa Armstrong while Nicola appeared in legal drama Kavanagh QC before becoming a flight attendant for Virgin Atlantic.

The mother-of-four from Tyne and Wear now works as a make-up artist and has remained good friends with her ex.

"We’re still in touch and still friends and I know that he’s doing OK," she said of his rehab stay in 2017.

“He’s had some lovely messages from people and a lot of support.”