Tariq Siddiqui was a student at Waterloo Road from Series 7 to Series 8, as well as making a guest appearance in Series 9. He was portrayed by Naveed Choudhry.
Storylines[]
Series 7[]
Tariq joins Waterloo Road in the sixth form. He is the eldest child of immigrant parents. Despite being born after his parents moved to the UK, Tariq has a large chip on his shoulder about the ‘West’, accusing the UK of belittling and undermining his culture and religion. Tariq has always been a handful for his parents who themselves embraced UK life. Although smart, he’s mouthy, disrespectful and disruptive and occasionally uses his religion as an excuse for his behaviour. Following the death of his mother, Tariq’s behaviour worsened and saw him fall in with a gang, getting mixed up in petty crime which resulted in him spending long stretches of time inside a Young Offenders Institute.
The shame that Tariq has brought on his family has left deep scars within the family, who are now on the verge of giving up on him altogether as a lost cause. His younger sister Trudi is weary of the bad reputation he brings to the family name.
He joins Waterloo Road having been released from a Young Offenders Institute where he was doing time for ABH. He’s every teacher’s worst nightmare. Reluctant to integrate with his peers, disruptive with an unpredictable violent streak makes disciplining him a nightmare. Tariq knows this is his last chance, one more foot out of place and he’ll be back inside and lose his family forever.
The day of the Greenock move has arrived, and the students and teachers board the bus. Tariq arrives and Michael gives him a "clean slate". The group stop by the England Scotland border to pose for a picture. A horn is heard and a lorry goes ploughing straight in to the group.
Series 8[]
After the lorry crash Tariq has been left paralysed from the waist down and is now wheelchair bound. He lives in the school house and feels his life is over. People treat him differently and don't believe him to be capable of even basic tasks anymore. Sian visits him at the schoolhouse to inform him of the prosecution of the drunk lorry driver who left him paralysed and killed Denzil; she suggests that he should take up canoeing but he doesn't appear interested.
In Series 8 Episode 3, Tariq continues to become more hostile to those around him, especially Josh Stevenson who wants to come to Tariq's kayak trial to support him. Tom asks Tariq to fetch some books from his car and while he is outside he urinates himself due to being unable to control the lower half of his body properly; he throws the box of books to the floor and starts to cry. He records a video message of himself for Trudi who has since moved to Canada; he is deliberately vague in his wording but this is essentially his suicide note as he plans to drown himself at the kayak trial later on. After Phoenix tells Tariq that he wants to fight Gus for mocking him earlier, Tariq tells him he doesn't want him to and that "life's too short". When he hears that Scout, Josh and Phoenix want to come to the trial to support him, he changes his mind about the fight and tells Phoenix he should go; he later tells Gus that it won't just be Phoenix he has to fight and he should bring some backup.
Josh begins to grow suspicious that Tariq may be in trouble, he asks Chalky to hack in to Tariq's email account where they find his suicide video and Chalky immediately informs Michael who tries to call Tom.
Tariq tells Tom that he left his phone in the car in order to distract him. Tariq takes out Tom's phone and sees there is 4 missed calls, he leaves the phone on his wheelchair. Tariq paddles out in to lake and removes his life jacket. Michael soon arrives and goes to get help for Tariq. Michael returns with a boat driver as Tariq flips the kayak. In the boat, Michael reaches Tariq in time and is able to save him from drowning himself. Back on the shore, Michael is able to talk some sense in to Tariq and he insists he still wants to do the kayaking trial. They all return to school after the trial where Josh reminds Tariq about the fight; Tariq intervenes and him and Gus make up.
In Series 8 Episode 10 Tariq finds out that he has earned a place on the Paracanoeing World Championships team. He also proposes to his girlfriend Liberty Gordon but she rejects him but they agree to continue their relationship regardless. The school holds a celebration party for Tariq before he leaves the school.
Series 9[]
In Series 9 Episode 7 Tariq attends Grantly's funeral and helps Kacey with her boxing training. This marks his final appearance.
Trivia[]
- Actor Naveed Choudhry, before he played Tariq, appeared in Waterloo Road before in a few episodes of Series 3 and Series 4 as Shahid Kapoor.