The Lodge

***The Lodge*** is a British musical drama sitcom that premiered in the United Kingdom on Disney Channel on 23 September 2016 and in the United States on Disney Channel on 17 October 2016. The series is based on the Israeli series North Star and stars Sophie Simnett, Luke Newton, Thomas Doherty, Bethan Wright, Jayden Revri, Jade Alleyne, Joshua Sinclair-Evans, and Mia Jenkins.

## Plot

Fifteen-year-old Skye moves with her father from the big city to rural Northern Ireland, where they take over a local hotel called North Star Lodge, which is family owned and was previously managed by Skye's grandfather. At their new place, Skye tries to build a new life, but this new life is not free from complications as Skye must navigate through the everyday stresses of life as a teenager and tries to integrate into a group of teenagers who live and work in the hotel. However, she finds that some people have no good intentions, and when she discovers that her father is planning to sell the hotel, Skye becomes upset as she has developed an emotional attachment to and has many precious memories of it. Skye decides to convince her father not to sell the hotel, but only to discover that the man behind it is her friend's dad. Skye receives the support of her friends, but not everyone is interested in saving the hotel and Skye discovers some secrets over time that will affect not only Skye's life, but also the chances of the hotel being closed down.

## Cast and characters

### Main

* Sophie Simnett as Skye
* Luke Newton as Ben
* Thomas Doherty as Sean
* Bethan Wright as Danielle
* Jayden Revri as Noah
* Jade Alleyne as Kaylee
* Joshua Sinclair-Evans as Josh
* Mia Jenkins as Alex (Season 2)

### Recurring

* Marcus Garvey as Ed
* John Hopkins as SJ
* Geoffrey McGivern as Patrick
* Dan Richardson as Gil
* Ellie Taylor as Christina
* Laila Rouass as Olivia
* Dominic Harrison as Oz
* Tom Hudson as Kyle
* Martin Anzor as Aaron
* Sarah Nauta as Lori
* Clara Rugaard as Ana
* Cameron King as Ethan
* Emma Campbell-Jones as Ella

## Production

In July 2015, the British Disney Channel gave the green light for the production of the series The Lodge, which had the working title of North Star. For the first season, 13 episodes were originally announced, each with a running time of 22 minutes, though the amount was later reduced to 10 episodes. The main character, Skye, was originally named Maia, like in the Israeli Disney Channel original series North Star. The series The Lodge, filmed in Northern Ireland, takes place in the county of County Down. Most of the scenes are filmed in Montalto Estate and at The Carriage Rooms, which are in Ballynahinch.

On 13 December 2016, it was announced that the series was renewed for a second season, which will premiere in 2017. On 21 February 2017, it was announced that production had begun on the second season and it would consist of 15 episodes.

## Broadcast

The premiere episode of *The Lodge*, "The New Girl", was released online in the UK on 8 September 2016, more than two weeks before its television premiere. The series premiered in the United States on Disney Channel on 17 October 2016. At the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017, the series will be released in 108 additional countries within the EMEA region.