A BEARSDEN teenager has clinched a part in a BBC TV children's comedy drama, tipped to be the new Grange Hill.
Emma Gallacher (16) plays the role of schoolgirl Nikky in an episode of Half Moon Investigations which began screening on Monday afternoon on BBC1.
Emma, of Endrick Drive, successfully auditioned for the part through the Scottish Youth Theatre, wh
ere she has been a member for the past five years.
The new 13-part television series, based on the book of the same name by best-selling Irish author Eoin Colfer, revolves around schoolboy detective Fletcher Moon who is on a mission to stamp out bullying, fight crime and solve playground mysteries.
Emma, a former pupil at Atholl School in Milngavie and now at The Glasgow Academy, said: "It was such a great experience being on the set.
"My character's a bit overdramatic and was good fun to play.
"This was my first time behind a camera, but everyone involved was very nice and supportive.
"I found out just how many different people are involved in making a television programme. The scale of the whole thing was a bit overwhelming."
Filming took place in a former secondary school in Bellshill, which closed to pupils in the eighties. The series has been commissioned by the BBC in place of the long-running and hugely popular children's TV school drama Grange Hill which ended last year.
Emma appears in episode 12, A Kind of Magic, due to be screened on Monday, March 23. Her character has to pull out of a talent contest when her costume is sabotaged — but Moon is soon on the case.
