Brookside Brookside

[James from London]

Only marginally less annoying (so far, at least) is Pat’s bloody song. Must we endure “I just can’t say nnngooooood mmmmmmmbye” in every one of his scenes?

God, the "nnngooooood mmmmmmmbye” is just so horrible.

I don’t recall this story, so I may well have blocked it out.

Whereas I have never ever been able to forgot the "nnngooooood mmmmmmmbye” in all these years.

Oh, Pat is now dating Malandra Burrows

Her accent and just general drippiness adding insult to injury in those scenes. When 80s Brookside's good, it soars like nothing else (all the stuff with the Grants and the Jacksons during this period); when it's bad, it's just excruciating ("nnngooooood mmmmmmmbye”).

At Number Eight, Gordon has hurriedly left for France after ransacking drawers and taking £40. It’s fallen to his old girlfriend Cathy to help Annabelle put the pieces together by telling her that she’d confessed to cheating on Gordon and he’d stormed off after a row. The story itself is so-so but again it’s the politics behind it that create interest for me. I find myself wondering why this didn’t simply occur back in November or December. Four months is a long time to keep a character present on the Close with nobody playing them and, as time passed, each mention of Gordon served as a reminder to the audience that we hadn’t actually seen him in yonks which only raises questions or makes it feel less realistic. Were they trying to work things out with Nigel Crowley? Or had they hoped to recast more quickly but realised they needed time? I feel I need background to this to satisfy my own curiosity.

I'd imagine it's a scripting issue. It's one thing writing around an actor's sudden absence by parcelling out his dialogue to other characters and making hasty excuses about why he's in the next room, all the while keeping existing scenes and storylines on the go; it's another to introduce a major new story to explain a more permanent absence, one that would bring other characters' lives to a screeching halt. And because soaps, Brookside admittedly less than the rest, are kind of a jigsaw with various storylines fitting together to create a bigger picture, and everything impacting everything else, it's all that more fiddly a process.

Perhaps best of all has been some bonding between Sheila and Marie. Sheila was at Number Ten when a brick was put through the window (a message either from McArdle or someone who’d read and believed the newspaper article), and the two ended up sitting on Marie’s sofa beneath a blanket in the aftermath. The irony of them ending up under a duvet together was laughed at, with a comment that neither of them would have believed it a year earlier. It’s incredible to think that their big argument was only a year before this. It’s left such an impact and informed so many of their scenes since this that it feels at least twice that. It still hovers over their scenes like a welcome ghost. With everything going on in each of their respective lives, I adore that they found a moment of peace and understanding with one another. When all is said and done, they get each other in a way that nobody else does.

Just a lovely, unique scene, in the midst of all of Sheila's anguish and all the violence and drama surrounding Marie's campaign. What struck me as so ironic this watch-around is that Sheila is able to make peace with her nemesis while still battling the one person closest to her: Bobby.

But what I couldn’t figure was where was Terry after Pat & Sandra, but before Jonathan….?

I think that's the lot -- he basically keeps moving into dead people's houses: the Jacksons after Petra's death, the nurses after Kate's and Jonathan's after Laura's. I think I've said this before, but Terry's a really good, believable character until he moves in with the nurses and then he gradually becomes as bland and cardboardy as they are.

 

[James from London]

Speaking of familiar actors, the bloke who had lost his decorating job for Damon's YTS placement to be created was Ron Brownlow from Crossroads. Which, of course, would have completely passed me by if I hadn't watched The Noele Gordon Collection last year. Ian Liston's Brookie episode doesn't even rate a mention on IMDb, but his profile does mention that he was born in Merseyside, so his appearance seems a good fit.

And he'll be back again in 1988 when he rides the same night bus as Sheila, Kath, Zack Dingle and ... Sonia!

 

[Ome]

Speaking of actors moving around. While The Bill had many young and new actors using it as a starting point in their career, it also had many well known actors make guest appearances.

Paul Usher was in it for about four years and his character had an affair with another Brookie actress Bernie Nolan. She played someone called Sheelagh and it was kinda weird watching Paul Usher say her name as a love interest while I’ve been watching him as Barry with a mum called Sheila. It’s probably a load of nothingness to everyone else, but it kept me amused. I know Barry was forever popping up in Brookie, but don’t know if he worked with Nolan.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I know Barry was forever popping up in Brookie, but don’t know if he worked with Nolan.

I don’t think they crossed paths on Brookside. Diane was killed off when the helicopter crashed, which is a year before Barry reappeared for the finale. Prior to that, it was the late 90’s when he last appeared in the main show (there may have been video specials in between) and the Murrays were a 00’s addition. I remember quite liking Bernie Nolan on the show but the Murray husband was a bit of a wet blanket if I remember correctly. Although, from vague memory, they were better than the Gordons that came after them (possibly the last family unit to be added to the show).

 

[Ome]

. I remember quite liking Bernie Nolan on the show but the Murray husband was a bit of a wet blanket if I remember correctly. Although, from vague memory, they were better than the Gordons that came after them

I can’t remember when I gave up on the show, but I remember some things like Ray Quinn killing a school bully. Ron shooting a burglar, I have seen a few families mentioned, but don’t know who they were.


With this chance of rewatching all that I loved about the show, I’m undecided on whether to do all of it. Part of me is curious about what I don’t know, part of me is thinking that, if I can enjoy the OTT stories in the 3 main UK soaps, then it might not be as bad as i remembered.


That could wishful thinking…..

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

part of me is thinking that, if I can enjoy the OTT stories in the 3 main UK soaps, then it might not be as bad as i remembered.

I’m open to being corrected here but I don’t think Brookside’s sensationalism in the 90’s is any worse than what we’ve seen on the current soaps. If anything, it’s quite tame in comparison. I only came to the show in the 90’s and at that, I was an intermittent viewer as it wasn’t one of the soaps that my mother would watch regularly. From what I’ve gleaned on here, (one of) the main issues was that a show that had been so unique in its writing and grit during the 80’s, became just like the rest of the soaps with its merry go round of affairs and entanglements with everyone being involved in everyone else’s lives. I’ve also seen criticism levelled at the show for focusing too much on Jimmy Corkhill & family. While I liked them, I believe there were times when the show focused too much on just them, to the detriment of other characters. But in terms of the outlandish elements that the show got slated for, we’re currently seeing the umpteenth redo of their body under the patio plot on EE, there have been multiple catastrophes involving transport including trams, trains & helicopters on other soaps since they dropped a helicopter on Diane Murray’s head. So, you could nearly argue that Brookside was ahead and of its time when it came to flashy stunts.

 

[Whovian]

I missed Brookside the first time round as I was a young kid when it got cancelled. I'm considering watching purely for it's reputation for OTT sensationalist storylines as I love a good ridiculous soap plot. However from the tone of the first episode it just seems like any other soap if a tad trying to be more 'real'. The comment above feeds into this as well, was it just seen as sensationalist because it was more sensationalist at the time - i.e for someone who has the Hillman storyline in Corrie as one of their earliest soap memories will Brookside be a bit of a let down?

 

[AndyB2008]

Ref the enquiry about Anna Keaveney on Emmerdale, she played the mother of Tony Pitts's character Archie Brooks.

 

[AndyB2008]

Speaking of actors moving around. While The Bill had many young and new actors using it as a starting point in their career, it also had many well known actors make guest appearances.

Paul Usher was in it for about four years and his character had an affair with another Brookie actress Bernie Nolan. She played someone called Sheelagh and it was kinda weird watching Paul Usher say her name as a love interest while I’ve been watching him as Barry with a mum called Sheila. It’s probably a load of nothingness to everyone else, but it kept me amused. I know Barry was forever popping up in Brookie, but don’t know if he worked with Nolan.

I recall Barry in that Lost Weekend special.

There's a Spice Girls soundalike act that Barry is watching in the Sing Like A Star show as Lindsey is kidnapped in her Cher outfit.

The Spice Girls act don't sing though. I guess Mersey TV couldn't clear the rights to Who Do You Think You Are, or the rights were expensive.

Phil Redmond was dealing already with Rudy Clark and the publishers ref Claire Sweeney singing Shoop Shoop Song.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I missed Brookside the first time round as I was a young kid when it got cancelled. I'm considering watching purely for it's reputation for OTT sensationalist storylines as I love a good ridiculous soap plot. However from the tone of the first episode it just seems like any other soap if a tad trying to be more 'real'. The comment above feeds into this as well, was it just seen as sensationalist because it was more sensationalist at the time - i.e for someone who has the Hillman storyline in Corrie as one of their earliest soap memories will Brookside be a bit of a let down?

You have about ten years worth of episodes to watch before you hit the start of the sensationalism and even at that, the body under the patio seems almost run of the mill now as it’s been redone multiple times since then. After that, I remember the mystery virus, the incest plot, Lindsey Corkhill becoming a gun toting mafioso queen, the bomb at the Millennium Club and the helicopter crash all being cited as the show jumping the shark but plots like these are two a penny on the soaps now. As I said, I think it was more jarring for long term viewers to see their show being turned into a copy of other soaps whereas viewers of current soaps will just enjoy the ride.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

While i have very little knowledge of Crossroads, I really enjoy learning about actors jumping across the UK soaps.

I'd seen barely any Crossroads until a year ago, so I can relate. It's similar with me and Emmerdale. I've never watched it, but I have a rough idea of the setup and some of the better-known characters and storylines, so I'm always interested to see who's been appearing in it (like Brookie's Madge the conwoman and Debbie McGrath).

Similar when I saw actors from PCBH appearing in Neighbours or Home & Away.

Oh, the Aussie soaps are the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to spotting familiar faces popping up. I believe the acting community is very small (or certainly was during the Seventies and Eighties) so all these terrific character actors would just rotate from one to another.

Her accent and just general drippiness adding insult to injury in those scenes. When 80s Brookside's good, it soars like nothing else (all the stuff with the Grants and the Jacksons during this period); when it's bad, it's just excruciating ("nnngooooood mmmmmmmbye”).

So true. Mercifully, Malandra seems to have been a flash in the pan. She appeared in one or two episodes then was never seen or heard from again. But now Pat and Sandra are making eyes at one another, and it feels we're on the cusp of another example of "when it's bad" territory. It's a soapy cliche for housemates to fall for one another. That doesn't mean it couldn't work, but the crime is that it feels like a soapy cliche even as I watch.

What struck me as so ironic this watch-around is that Sheila is able to make peace with her nemesis while still battling the one person closest to her: Bobby.

Oh yes. And that feels very truthful. It is said that it's the people closest who usually bear the brunt.

he basically keeps moving into dead people's houses: the Jacksons after Petra's death, the nurses after Kate's and Jonathan's after Laura's.

Terry's a really good, believable character until he moves in with the nurses and then he gradually becomes as bland and cardboardy as they are.

I fear this is coming. Michelle's currently having her affair with the dancing brickie, so he can't stay at Number Ten much longer.

And he'll be back again in 1988 when he rides the same night bus as Sheila, Kath, Zack Dingle and ... Sonia!

Oh wow. This I can't wait to see.

I can’t remember when I gave up on the show,

It's the same for me. I may have said this before, but I thought I'd checked out in the mid-Nineties when actually I remember stuff from beyond then, so I must have drifted away.

With this chance of rewatching all that I loved about the show, I’m undecided on whether to do all of it. P

I'd been minded to follow James's lead and quit when we get to the latter part of 1990, but I may feel differently when I get there.

From what I’ve gleaned on here, (one of) the main issues was that a show that had been so unique in its writing and grit during the 80’s, became just like the rest of the soaps with its merry go round of affairs and entanglements with everyone being involved in everyone else’s lives.

As far as I remember, Brookside "going soft", "selling out" or becoming too mainstream were criticisms levelled at it even during the Eighties. I remember hearing stuff like that somewhere around 1987 from people who'd been watching it from the beginning, and I'm sure there'd be articles or stuff in books from those times as well.

It's all relative, I suppose, and as you've observed depends very much on where you come on board. I began watching in 1985 and loved it. But reaching this point now when rewatching the whole series from the beginning and there is a sense that the series has indeed become more conventional and arguably lost some of the edge it had in the earliest days.

However from the tone of the first episode it just seems like any other soap if a tad trying to be more 'real'.

That's pretty much what it was. It was intended in large part to be to the Eighties what Corrie had been in the Sixties.

By 1982 Corrie didn't represent the same world in the same way it once had and had become a bit lost in time, in a cosy little bubble. The same was true of Crossroads and probably Emmerdale Farm. Before Channel 4's launch on the night Brookside began, there were only three channels and viewers had very little choice but to watch and accept what they were given.

Brookside wasn't just trying to be more real, it was more real. It's the only show of its kind that was filmed entirely on location. There were no sets used at all, which was hugely ambitious and gave it a tone that set it apart.

for someone who has the Hillman storyline in Corrie as one of their earliest soap memories will Brookside be a bit of a let down?

You have about ten years worth of episodes to watch before you hit the start of the sensationalism

Yes. Someone who watches early Brookside hoping for the more outlandish storylines for which (sadly) it only seems to be remembered certainly won't get what they came for, but there's plenty of gold to be mined for those who appreciate a more nuanced vision.

This trailer captures some of it... and there's not an exploding helicopter or a dead body in sight.

"Anyone want tea?"​

 

[Whovian]

So decided based on the above to start watching through these with the aim of catching up.

Up to Episode 15. It's very watchable and easy just to burn through a few episodes at a time before you've noticed how many you've watched. I'm interested to find out who stabbed Barry - that's if we do find out - it being Duane seems a bit too obvious so will see how that goes. I'm liking most of the characters and most of the storylines so far.

I am however finding Lucy Collins bullying storyline insufferable - I get teenagers like her probably did (and still do) exist and would be bullied for sticking out - but damn does she take it to extremes; she has a right to be peed off about Gordon still going to private school - but her complete snobbery towards everybody around her including her own family is very quickly becoming tiresome - hopefully at some point she comes to terms with the real world. I could take or leave the strike story but I guess it's representative of what was going on at the time and obviously helps build Bobby Grant as the central character - even though the politics is a bit heavy handed at times. I really like the way they gradually introduce new families rather than the place coming as a fully formed place like EE and CS when they started. Having seen some of early 80s Corrie, I can see how this would have went down well with those who wanted a grittier, less cosy and more realistic take on the soap format.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

So decided based on the above to start watching through these with the aim of catching up.

Up to Episode 15. It's very watchable and easy just to burn through a few episodes at a time before you've noticed how many you've watched.

Oh - wonderful! I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts.

Like you, I had quite a bundle of episodes to catch up on when I first joined in, and it took a lot less time than I'd have expected. Now that I've caught up and am rationed to five new episodes per week I envy you having all those episodes ahead of you.

I'm liking most of the characters and most of the storylines so far.

Great. One thing Brookside isn't short of is terrific characters. I'm sure you're starting to get to know most already, but you've got some fantastic stuff ahead of you.

I could take or leave the strike story but I guess it's representative of what was going on at the time and obviously helps build Bobby Grant as the central character - even though the politics is a bit heavy handed at times.

There is a political vein that runs through the series and that aspect doesn't go away anytime soon. In some ways it's a fascinating little time capsule of an era when a lot of significant things were happening, Some of the union stuff initially began to lose me at times but because it's important to the characters, it's become more meaningful to me.

I really like the way they gradually introduce new families rather than the place coming as a fully formed place like EE and CS when they started.

Yes - setting it on a newly-built housing development really gives this series a USP because we see the community coming together, with pretty much all the homes like separate little islands to begin.

The new arrivals are deliberately paced to a realistic level for the time, and I commented as I watched that it was fascinating to see the change to the dynamics each time someone new arrived.

Having seen some of early 80s Corrie, I can see how this would have went down well with those who wanted a grittier, less cosy and more realistic take on the soap format.

Yes - it really set the precedent and I think raised the game for soap from that point on.



Enjoy your next batch of episodes. It'll be good to follow your journey.

 

[James from London]

Marie’s breaking voice as she threw a little “thanks” in Sheila’s direction got me good.

These two are really the series’ star-crossed platonic couple for me. Kept apart by fate and circumstances, but the ones whose chemistry is so incredibly tangible it's impossible for me to do anything but root for them to get it together. Even their scenes of connection have had a sense of physical distance and a recognition that they’ll never be BFFs,

Aw, beautiful ending. And beautifully put, Mel!

I’d (probably understandably) forgotten this storyline, and was here in blissful ignorance thinking Clive Gibbons had done it first, but this preceded this by almost a year (on Neighbours’ home turf. Probably two and a half years by UK transmission). The parallels between the two are a little uncanny, since Damon, like Danny Ramsay, is the younger son of the series’ key working class family.

Oh, interesting parallel!

Doubly tying this in with Eighties Neighbours, Pat’s service includes stripograms, but here it’s (again) politicised, with Kate and Sandra’s reproaches both coming from a feminist standpoint, but with different perspectives. Kate doesn’t approve, but makes the “naughty nurse” uniform for a colleague because, with Pat not profiting, the only beneficiary will be a woman. Sandra, meanwhile, takes a stance that what has happened fuels the objectification of women in general and female nurses in particular. Adding another dimension, the unapologetic female colleague who has taken the job rebuts Sandra’s arguments by saying that she has more in common with the men on her estate who - like her - are desperate for cash than she has with most women.

This segues into discussion of two equality strands - race and sex - when Sandra asks Kate if she’d have been so quick to help make a golliwog costume (this line, presumably, contributing heavily to this episode being the first I’ve noticed to carry a specific warning about “racial attitudes”), and Kate has a passionate spiel about being noticed and judged for her race first and foremost, and for her sex second. It’s a pleasingly meaty series of heated discussions that’s come out of an ostensibly silly “filler” storyline.

I'm pretty sure these scenes were Jimmy McGovern's handiwork. It seems to be speciality of his -- uncovering different layers and perspectives of an issue, often coming from characters you'd least expect to hold those views (e.g. Kate ultimately siding with the "naughty" nurse over Sandra). It's something that will later fuel Cracker, arguably still McGovern's masterwork, where the central character is a criminal psychologist who frequently says the unsayable as way of making people admit to thinking the unthinkable. What's particularly interesting here is that, because Pat and Sandra are such crudely drawn characters, the dramatic contrivances leading up to the heart of the argument, i.e. the stuff that McGovern really wants to explore, feel quite exposed. So it's fascinating stuff, but also kind of polemical: the characters are clearly mouthpieces for different points of view. It's a bit like reading an early draft of something McGovern will perfect later in his career.

Other themes that recur throughout McGovern's work: compulsive gambling (Edna in Brookie, Fitz in Cracker, the main character in The Lakes played by John Simm, a suicidal woman in Broken); stammering (Sizzler the gangster in late '80s Brookie, a young lad in The Lakes); Catholic priests who, while blessed with great faith, aren't so good at the celibacy side of things (Priest, where the title character played by Linus Roache falls for Robert Carlyle, and The Lakes, which includes an ongoing affair between a priest and a staunchly Catholic housewife, a storyline McGovern had originally intended for Sheila in Brookside) . Parents confronted by the death of a child also crop up a lot in his work -- with the Grants in Brookside, in Cracker, and both The Lakes and Hillsborough open with large-scale tragedies in which several children are lost. So does rape --Sheila obviously, then as a huge storyline in Cracker, and again in The Lakes.

It’s interesting to see her with Tom in particular because, just like Heather, he’s essentially another Type-A who needs to be in control. They share many traits from being cool-headed and assertive to dynamic, go-getting and often brutally frank. But in this situation it’s leading to a power-struggle and currently Heather is losing. The less interested he seems, the harder she tries. The harder she tries, the less interested he becomes. I’m really interested to see where this goes, even though it’s bringing out some very unattractive colours in Heather and I’m sure it won’t end well.

Love Tom. He's kind of the Mark Graison of the Wirral. An '80s self-made millionaire with control issues, he could easily be obnoxious, but the actor has a real Scouse Paul McCartney-ish charm about him. I've never been a big "shipper" (not that that term existed back then), but I was always kind of rooting for him and Heather.

 

[AndyB2008]

Aw, beautiful ending. And beautifully put, Mel!

Oh, interesting parallel!

I'm pretty sure these scenes were Jimmy McGovern's handiwork. It seems to be speciality of his -- uncovering different layers and perspectives of an issue, often coming from characters you'd least expect to hold those views (e.g. Kate ultimately siding with the "naughty" nurse over Sandra). It's something that will later fuel Cracker, arguably still McGovern's masterwork, where the central character is a criminal psychologist who frequently says the unsayable as way of making people admit to thinking the unthinkable. What's particularly interesting here is that, because Pat and Sandra are such crudely drawn characters, the dramatic contrivances leading up to the heart of the argument, i.e. the stuff that McGovern really wants to explore, feel quite exposed. So it's fascinating stuff, but also kind of polemical: the characters are clearly mouthpieces for different points of view. It's a bit like reading an early draft of something McGovern will perfect later in his career.

Other themes that recur throughout McGovern's work: compulsive gambling (Edna in Brookie, Fitz in Cracker, the main character in The Lakes played by John Simm, a suicidal woman in Broken); stammering (Sizzler the gangster in late '80s Brookie, a young lad in The Lakes); Catholic priests who, while blessed with great faith, aren't so good at the celibacy side of things (Priest, where the title character played by Linus Roache falls for Robert Carlyle, and The Lakes, which includes an ongoing affair between a priest and a staunchly Catholic housewife, a storyline McGovern had originally intended for Sheila in Brookside) . Parents confronted by the death of a child also crop up a lot in his work -- with the Grants in Brookside, in Cracker, and both The Lakes and Hillsborough open with large-scale tragedies in which several children are lost. So does rape --Sheila obviously, then as a huge storyline in Cracker, and again in The Lakes.

Love Tom. He's kind of the Mark Graison of the Wirral. An '80s self-made millionaire with control issues, he could easily be obnoxious, but the actor has a real Scouse Paul McCartney-ish charm about him. I've never been a big "shipper" (not that that term existed back then), but I was always kind of rooting for him and Heather.

The priest in The Lakes for a bit more trivia was played by Robert Pugh, who played John Clarke in Brookside (the guy who held Sandra, Pat and Kate hostage)

 

[Ome]

So, you could nearly argue that Brookside was ahead and of its time when it came to flashy stunts.

That’s a new way to think about it and the more I digest your thoughts, the more I think i will probably enjoy the OTT storylines. The only thing that I find off putting is the transformation of Lindsey from working a bar to big time gangster.

i.e for someone who has the Hillman storyline in Corrie as one of their earliest soap memories will Brookside be a bit of a let down?

Based on Hillman’s story, I don’t think you will be disappointed with the 90s Brookie.

Lost Weekend

I remember feeling very excited when this was released all because Shiela returned. I hope they show this again when the time comes.

Up to Episode 15. It's very watchable and easy just to burn through a few episodes at a time before you've noticed how many you've watched

Brilliant, I hope you jot down your thoughts as you continue to watch, especially as most of the stories will be brand new to you.

Robert Pugh,

He has appeared in so many of the shows I’ve watched over the years always playing great characters.

 

[Whovian]

So another much longer than anticipated watching session (the cliff-hangers are well done on these early episode of Brookside) take me up to Episode 30.

Was there a non-story reason for Gavin's sudden death like the actor quitting? It seems an odd choice to kill the character off when they've only just been established although I guess that gives it more shock value and a bit more meaning. The aftermath with Barry and Roger is really well done - and I can believe Petra crying on Barry's shoulder - the affection could be read as overdone but it seemed far more grounded to me - she'd have probably cried on anyone's shoulder, as much as Roger's come across as a bit of a pratt up to this point using his professional background to be a voice of calm and pragmatism while everybody else is either distraught or trying to comfort Petra really helps solidify his character. I also like the showing of Heather's uncomfortable and confused reaction to Roger dumping grieving Petra on her and just wanting to get away - rather than the Classic Corrie approach of solving every persons grief with a cup of tea and chat.

The Lucy Collins school story-line is really dragging the show down a bit for me though, to the point of thinking of fast-forwarding through her latest scenes with the other kids from school in that group where she starts to stir things up. I just can't get into the story or care about the character at all due to the writing of her as an excessively snobby spoiled brat, I'm having a similar issue with Gordon but he's on screen far less so it doesn't seem as big an issue. The lack of empathy from the kids towards their parents financial situation just feels unreal (Gordon joking about a final demand - you'd think most parents would give their kids a ringing out for that at the least) even from teenagers you'd expect more sympathy and understanding that their issues aren't that significant compared to their parents . However to counterbalance that I am enjoying the storyline with Annabel and Paul and the obvious tension between them as a result of Paul's unemployment - Paul clearly showing some signs of depression and Annabel not coping with it and how it's affecting her - the scene of them together discussing her not wanting to end up mothering Paul is a high point of that story.

I'm looking forward to seeing where the Barry and Duane story goes - knowing only that Barry Grant becomes known as a hardman and very little else - I take it this is the start of establishing that - we've already seen him go round and have a pop at Duane in an earlier episode after he tried to rape Karen and obviously it now looks like he stabbed Barry although that's not confirmed - so it would make sense that Barry would want to get back at him for it despite being warned off it by Roger at the new years eve party (a nice episode actually, although it's unusually for a soap party in that it isn't the build up to some great revelation; I guess they just wanted to get the cast in the same room to make them more connected for easier writing in the future). The other Grant family storylines - Damon's truancy and Karen and the contraceptives are engaging. Was patient confidentially less strict in the 80s or is the doctor risking her job; because these days the Doctor would be fired for giving out that information regardless of the kids age!!

 

[Ome]

The Lucy Collins school story-line is really dragging the show down a bit for me though, to the point of thinking of fast-forwarding through her latest scenes with the other kids from school in that group where she starts to stir things up.

I never cared for Lucy or Gordon when I watched this as a teenager, but was pleasantly surprised to find myself getting into their stories and enjoying them.

Was patient confidentially less strict in the 80s

One of the many reasons for watching this again is looking back at what life was like back in the 80s. I have my own memories from growing up in the 70s and 80s, however Brookie is opening doors I had long forgotten about which enhances my experience this time around.

Aside from the great characters, stories and onscreen chemistry that oozes out of the soap, I’m fascinated by the fashion, the home decor, the way people approached life and dialogue that you wouldn’t see on today’s shows.

That itself feels like an education in how we used to live.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I'm pretty sure these scenes were Jimmy McGovern's handiwork. It seems to be speciality of his -- uncovering different layers and perspectives of an issue, often coming from characters you'd least expect to hold those views (e.g. Kate ultimately siding with the "naughty" nurse over Sandra). It's something that will later fuel Cracker, arguably still McGovern's masterwork

Other themes that recur throughout McGovern's work: compulsive gambling (Edna in Brookie, Fitz in Cracker, the main character in The Lakes played by John Simm, a suicidal woman in Broken); stammering (Sizzler the gangster in late '80s Brookie, a young lad in The Lakes); Catholic priests who, while blessed with great faith, aren't so good at the celibacy side of things (Priest, where the title character played by Linus Roache falls for Robert Carlyle, and The Lakes, which includes an ongoing affair between a priest and a staunchly Catholic housewife, a storyline McGovern had originally intended for Sheila in Brookside) . Parents confronted by the death of a child also crop up a lot in his work -- with the Grants in Brookside, in Cracker, and both The Lakes and Hillsborough open with large-scale tragedies in which several children are lost. So does rape --Sheila obviously, then as a huge storyline in Cracker, and again in The Lakes.

Jimmy McG's work on Brookie always leaps off the page at me. His writing really is in a league of its own and seems to bring out the best in the series (the Grants especially, but obviously not exclusively).

I really do need to watch some of his other work. I don't think I've watched more than the odd scene of Cracker, if that (if memory serves, back in the day I had trouble getting my head round the idea of Robbie Coltrane in a non-comedy role).

Coincidentally, I was reminded of Priest a few days ago when I looked up the young actress playing the character who punched Damon then kneed him in the balls. Going on character names, she appears to play the wife of Robert Pugh's character in that series.

Love Tom. He's kind of the Mark Graison of the Wirral.

Ooh yes. Now you mention it, he is.

An '80s self-made millionaire with control issues, he could easily be obnoxious, but the actor has a real Scouse Paul McCartney-ish charm about him.

He certainly does. Brian L. Stephens has such a familiar face and presence. Looking at IMDb I don't think I've watched him in much, but I think he reminds me very much of another actor: Tom Conti keeps springing to mind, but I could be thinking of someone else,.

I've never been a big "shipper" (not that that term existed back then), but I was always kind of rooting for him and Heather.

It feels very doomed to me, but at the same time I'd really like him to remain part of the fabric of the series for some time even though that might be difficult to pull off since Heather is his only connection to the Close. I don't remember the character so I'm invested enough to want to know where this goes.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

up to Episode 30

Oh my. If you keep up this pace you'll have caught up completely in about three weeks (assuming you don't get Brookie Burnout before then).

Was there a non-story reason for Gavin's sudden death like the actor quitting? It seems an odd choice to kill the character off when they've only just been established although I guess that gives it more shock value and a bit more meaning.

Do you know, I can't remember if I even know the answer to this. It does seem a terrible shame to have lost Danny Webb so early on, and Gav was a great character.

To me it feels so organic I suppose I've just believed it was planned in from the start. Subliminally for me, it helped that this has also echoes of Corrie, where a character died of a brain haemorrhage in its opening weeks. The parallels between the series' first on-screen deaths for me cements Brookie's place as the spiritual successor to early Corrie.

I can't find anything in the Brookside Companion or Phil Redmond's book to suggest (though he did say about "the early departure of Danny Webb which brought on Gavin Taylor's fictional death), which suggests the actor had left.

You're right about the shock value and meaning. Here's what I said about it when I watched recently:

Gavin’s body being on-screen for so long added to the grim reality of the situation. The scene, for example, when Roger went back into the bedroom alone to retrieve Petra’s address book, gave me a great sense of unease because there’s that part of me that could buy into the idea of it being a practical joke, with Gavin springing up to scare his adversary. And I suppose that’s how it genuinely feels to be around a dead body. Culturally, we’re just not used to it, so I suppose the episode in some way began to challenge Brits’ sometimes unhealthy attitude towards mortality.

The aftermath with Barry and Roger is really well done - and I can believe Petra crying on Barry's shoulder

I also like the showing of Heather's uncomfortable and confused reaction to Roger dumping grieving Petra on her and just wanting to get away - rather than the Classic Corrie approach of solving every persons grief with a cup of tea and chat.

Absolutely. We were of very similar minds here:

Once again, the neighbours’ often uncomfortable responses to the interactions Gav’s death has necessitated have been enjoyable. Heather encapsulated this wonderfully, with Roger bringing Petra for her for support, and Heather whispering that she doesn’t know what to say and then jumping on the first opportunity to leave the house. It’s such a refreshing change from the soap matriarch who always knows just how to fix a situation or person. And as Petra told Barry, she was glad Heather had gone because she’s “not like us” and doesn’t get them.

I’m not sure how I feel about the chemistry between Barry and Petra. It certainly seems in character for him to feel OK about physically comforting a woman whose husband is still in bed next door (recent episodes have seen him shagging the wife of his football team’s manager), but it all feels indecently quick. But then the Close is a hotbed of dysfunction, so perhaps it’s organic enough.

The Lucy Collins school story-line is really dragging the show down a bit for me though,

I'm having a similar issue with Gordon

Oh, that's a shame. I know how it can dampen things when characters don't click with us.


If it helps, here's what James and I were chatting about Lucy and Gordon when I was up to episode 24 this time round:

The Collins children are proving more watchable than I’d expected.

Lucy most definitely has a mind of her own, a stubborn will and a resentment about the situation she now finds herself in both at home and school. Her rebelliousness is really kicking in now, with her dating a Hooray Henry from her old stomping ground, and it’s great fun to watch. I particularly loved the scene where Annabelle appeared to have persuaded Paul to simply leave Lucy alone to reap what she’s sowing. Seconds later, he overhears the tail end of a conversation between Lucy and Gordon, misunderstands and goes charging from the kitchen to the living room to confront her. Anything that gets Paul’s blood pressure up is a winner with me. Lucy’s far more spiky and forthright than I remembered, and there’s something of a young Rosalyn Landor to Katrin Cartlidge. It’s made me interested to see more of her work, and I see there are some Mike Leigh films among them which has intrigued me all the more.

Gordon speaks very little but says an awful lot with just a look. Something about him feels rather Australian to me. He has the softly spoken voice of the original Scott Robinson, while the red-headed, introverted younger son and his interest in computers makes him an amalgam of the two O’Brien kids (though mercifully without the whining, shrieking or mumbling). I find his geeky side completely endearing, and it’s interesting to have a school-aged kid who isn’t causing trouble or rebelling but simply going about his business. Damon, Ducksie and Gizzmo flicking food at him and laughing during the New Year’s Eve party while Gordon simply took it spoke volumes.

Lucy's probably as highly strung and wrong-headed and impulsive as any other soap teen, but there's a fierce intelligence behind everything she does that makes her totally credible -- a brilliant combination of writing and acting. Off the top of my head, Katrin Cartlidge probably had the most intriguing post-soap career of any actor in the UK I can think of: Mike Leigh's Naked and Career Girls, Lars Von Trier's Breaking the Waves, a bunch of European art house films and a random one-off episode of Enders as a copper during the Who Killed Eddie Royle? era, to name but a few.

Only 80s Brookside would bother to treat such a shy, quiet, non-dynamic freckly geeky kid as an equal to anyone else on the close. Any other soap would make him a caricature but the series never laughs at him, even if the other characters do (and I did occasionally, especially in his classic "Can I have a pint of bitter beer?" scene). I'm not sure whether you'll have reached it yet, Mel, but I love the fact that almost an entire half an episode is taken up by a sequence where Paul is driving Gordon home from school and gently asking him questions about ... well, nothing at all really in terms of plot, but everything in terms of character.

However to counterbalance that I am enjoying the storyline with Annabel and Paul and the obvious tension between them as a result of Paul's unemployment - Paul clearly showing some signs of depression and Annabel not coping with it and how it's affecting her - the scene of them together discussing her not wanting to end up mothering Paul is a high point of that story.

Oh great. Paul is a longtime favourite of mine, while Annabel - a character I was ambivalent about when I was young - has impressed me very much this time round. I very much enjoy watching them.

The other Grant family storylines - Damon's truancy and Karen and the contraceptives are engaging.

Not wanting to oversell, but the Grants are absolute gems. I'm glad you're finding them engaging in these storylines. There's plenty more great stuff to come.