On Monday, 1 October kykNET & kie premieres a new 156-episode Afrikaans telenovela Arendsvlei.
It's going to air Mondays to Wednesdays at 20h00 until September 2019 and features a line-up of South African TV stars with a crop of newcomers.
The series is produced by Penguin Films (Home Affairs, Ring of Lies) and it's been filmed in Cape Town, which serves as a backdrop to the show's fictional town of Arendsvlei.
The action centres round Arendsvlei High School and a brother and sister team who co-own the school with the intention of making a difference to the community.
Of course there wouldn't be a show if things went smoothly for them, which is where the story begins.
The school is struck by a shooting that changes everything.
This is what the show promises to deliver: Forbidden love. Guilt. Scandal. Drama. Love triangles. Passion. Murder. Families. Dreams.
These are the main characters:
Beatrice Abrahams
Played by Jolene Martin
Vice-principal of Arendsvlei High School. She co-founded the school with her brother Thys and she's married to the school's principal David.
She desperately wants to bring about change in the Arendsvlei community but it's a challenge because of a sadness that she hides behind closed doors.
David Abrahams
Played by Oscar Petersen
The troubled principal of Arendsvlei High School, obsessed with status and power to make up for a deep internal insecurity.
Samantha Abrahams
Played by Maria Valente De Almeida
Beatrice and David's daughter. Daddy’s little girl, the out-going head girl of Arendsvlei and the source of all her mother’s sleepless nights.
Thys Cupido
Played by Sherman Pharo
The co-founder of the school, mathematics teacher and loving, devoted husband and father. Brother to Beatrice. Never seen without a smile at school or a guitar on his patio where he loves to braai a chop.
Janice Cupido
Played by Crystal-Donna Roberts
The bitter, hardworking, passionate mother and wife, who will stop at nothing to take her family to the next level. She craves acceptance and status in the community, but will this craving ultimately destroy her marriage to Thys?
Aunty Gertie Cupido
Played by Celeste Matthews
The matriarch of the Cupido family. Thys and Beatrice's mother. Always ready to lead her children and grandchildren in the right direction and now finally ready to find love again.
Claudia Cupido
Played by Ann Juries
Ambitious, smart and funny grade 11 learner. The fixer, who wants to make everyone’s lives better, just like her grandmother. Daughter to Janice and Thys.
Wendy Newman
Played by Rehane Abrahams
Arendsvlei's key antagonist. Loan shark and owner of the local restaurant, The WendyHouse. She harbours a deep secret about her past and will stop at nothing to get her revenge.
Debra Newman
Played by Kay Smith
The hardworking, popular, tell-it-like-it-is grade 11 learner and Wendy's daughter.
Ronel Foster
Played by Melanie Du Bois
The supportive mother, teacher and aspiring actress/playwright who moves her son Lee-Roy to Arendsvlei High School to get away from bullies. She’s friends with Beatrice.
Lee-Roy Foster
Played by Roberto Kyle
The very outspoken, smart and loving young man who gets bullied at his school in Clanwilliam and ultimately moves to Arendsvlei with his mother. However Lee-Roy faces a new set of challenges at Arendsvlei High School that also involves a love interest.
Lionel Foster
Played by Jody Abrahams
The biker with a love for beer, women and the open road. He moves from Clanwilliam to be with his family in Arendsvlei, but he has a few other sinister motives as well.
Christopher February
Played by Ernest St Clair
Hunky school secretary who has a crush on a staff member that could eventually cause him to lose his job.
Vernon Booysen
Played by Dillon Windvogel
Matric learner. The dreamer, the next Wayde van Niekerk whose dreams may be shattered after an injury.
Emile February
Played by Christian Bennett
Gardener and handyman at The WendyHouse restaurant who sometimes carries a gun in his tool belt.
Wesley Rossouw
Played by Craig Adriaanse
Grade 11 learner, raised by a single father. A boy in search of acceptance with a secret that he believes could make him lose all his friends and the only parent he has left.