Robert Webb and Isy Suttie discuss the new comedy series, High Hoops - "A celebration of standing out"

BBC News

17-03-2025

Starring Peep Show's Robert Webb and Isy Suttie, High Hoops tells the story of a charmingly reckless high school basketball player and her chaotic pursuit of success, fame, love and the perfect hook shot.
The show features an amazing new children's cast including Darci Hull as lead character Aoife, Robert Webb plays headteacher Mr Holt, Isy Suttie plays Aoife's mum Bríd and Nigel Boyle (Line of Duty) plays the school basketball coach Jim.
Following the exploits of a failing school basketball team and the arrival of tall, gaffe-prone but unstoppable Aoife O'Neill, the show is about determination, finding your tribe, and being true to yourself.
Filmed in Halifax, West Yorkshire, High Hoops demonstrates the BBC's commitment to backing homegrown talent, creativity and storytelling.
Patricia Hidalgo, Director BBC Children's and Education says: 'Working with CanCan Productions, who are well-known for grown-up comedy, is a new venture for us in BBC Children's & Education and we're so confident that audiences will love High Hoops that we've already commissioned a second series. It has a stellar cast with Robert Webb, Isy Suttie and Nigel Boyle and the children's cast are also amazing. Darci Hull as Aoife is one to watch, she will go far!'
High Hoops follows Aoife and her family as they move to a new area and a new school. Aoife sees this as an opportunity to change her life but soon discovers that the only place she really fits in is the school 3x3 basketball team - only they're terrible. Can she turn them around?
Written and created by Sinéad Fagan a lifelong basketball player and coach, High Hoops is a sharp, witty, and aspirational comedy set in an urban comprehensive.
High Hoops brings young audiences into its main character's world as Aoife breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the audience. 'As a teenager, you're always having to present a face when you're actually thinking something else,' says writer and creator Sinéad Fagan. 'Aoife likes to big herself up a bit but then bring herself down.'
High Hoops is produced by West Yorkshire based CanCan Productions. International distribution is being handled by APC Kids. The producer is Dominique Molloy and the lead director is Ian Curtis. The show was commissioned by Patricia Hidalgo, Sarah Muller & Melissa Hardinge and Anita Burgess is Commissioning Executive for CBBC 7+ audience and family audience space.
Watch High Hoops from 6.25pm, Monday 17 March on CBBC and BBC iPlayer
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Interview with Robert Webb (Mr Holt) and Isy Suttie (Bríd)
Tell us about your characters?
Robert Webb: I play Mr Holt, who is the head teacher of the school. Mr Holt tends to be aggressive, competitive, angry. He's one of those teachers who is still using sarcasm as his main form of communication, probably as his teachers did to him in the 1980s. All of the excellent teacher training that happened between then and now seems to have just passed him by. He still speaks to the kids, particularly Aoife, really quite disrespectfully, which is lots of fun for me.
Isy Suttie: My character Bríd is a single parent, she's got two kids who are going through different things emotionally. Bríd really likes meditation and mindfulness, but she's also quite competitive, so she's often boasting about being the best one at mindfulness, which is a bit how I am in real life!
What attracted you to High Hoops?
Isy: When I read the scripts, I thought it was really funny, and I read it without knowing it was aimed at kids, and thought, this is a really great family sitcom, and then learnt it was going to be on CBBC. So for me, the comedy came first.
Rob: I thought it was really funny, and I thought the scripts were good, and I particularly liked Mr Holt because I just get to run around being angry, and I got to grow a moustache, which I've always wanted to.
Aoife wants to fit in but she finds she can't help but stand out. High Hoops is acelebration of standing out, is that theme important to you? Do you think it's important for children to see that depicted on screen, that it's ok to be yourself?
Rob: I like that Aoife realizes that she's come to a new school and she's sort of decided, I'm going to be cool now, it's not going to be like before. I'm going to be one of the cool girls. And then immediately she joins the basketball team, and they're all just sort of goofing around and falling over. I think goofing around and falling over is what people who are 14 should be doing.
Isy: I think it's nice to see girls playing sport as well, celebrating the fact that they all approach it in different ways.
Interview with Darci Hull (Aoife)
Tell us about your character in High Hoops?
Aoife is a tall, nerdy girl who sticks out, she's a bit geeky. She's always having a laugh and being crazy, and she falls over a lot. She's always on the floor! When Aoife arrives at her new school, she decides to jazz up the uniform and she makes herself very well known to everyone.
To prepare for the part of Aoife, I worked on my accent because obviously I'm not from up north, so I had to prepare a different accent and I had to do basketball training.
Tell us about the other characters?
Aoife clicks with The Vipers, the school's 3x3 basketball team, so that's Zara, Charlotte and Nyla, they all become really close.
And then there's Jessica, who Aoife doesn't really like. Aoife tries to be friends with her at the beginning but then realises she's actually the mean girl and so stays away from her.
There's Dylan, who's Aoife's love interest. She is head over heels for Dylan, she's crazy around him, and always ends up with either poo or rigatoni in her hair when she's with him!
Aoife has a brother, Conor. There's sibling rivalry but they do help each other out sometimes.
If you were going to describe your character in three emojis, what would they be?
I think Aoife would be the party emoji, the red love heart and the basketball emoji.
How have you found it, working with Robert Webb and Isy Suttie?
Mr. Holt is great, Rob is really cool and fun. He never fails to make me laugh on and off set, and he's really nice to work with. Isy's so lovely and kind and just really nice to work with.