Brookside Brookside

[Ome]

My comments about it were really expressing disappointment at this because I think the actor, character and audience all deserved some kind of closure

While it feels quite damp and insulting to both the actor and the viewers. It certainly fits in with how Brookie wanted to be different from the other soaps.

It certainly makes a difference from later in the years especially in the 90s when it felt like every character was given an explosive exit and now I think it’s traditional with all the current soaps to make a big story out of a character leaving.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Episodes 226 - 230
26 December 1984 - 8 January 1985
​

New Year and new baby with the arrival of the Grants’ - as yet unnamed - fourth child. As you’d expect from Sue Johnston, it was wonderfully done. I’ve never seen a woman going through labour pains or giving birth, but everything about this looked well-researched and grounded in reality. There were no histrionics or going OTT with panting and screaming, but everything she was experiencing was transmitted to the audience, including a brilliant surprised look on her face as she realised she wanted to push. Even her ending up giving birth at home felt completely credible and held on to every bit of its reality.

It was a nice touch that Barry was back for Christmas. He was smuggled back as a surprise by Matty and Teresa, the three of them dressed as the wise men - complete with a live donkey that promptly got loose and ended up being taken into the Jacksons’ living room by the twins. Marie’s face was a picture. I like that Brookie gives itself permission to delve into situational comedy. around Christmas. I recall a similar scenario with a live turkey a year or two later (with Bobby Grant singing “Paxo” at it).

The Free George Jackson campaign is in full swing, with Betty from Emmerdale supporting Marie so actively she’s driving Michelle up the wall (she's called Betty here as well, and I like to think it's somehow the same character before she moved across the border to Yorkshire. Michelle and Terry - despite the problems between them - are fleeing on holiday to Malta to get away from it all. Terry even smiled for the first time since 1983.

Betty’s nephew is writing a song - presumably the one that will end up being released In Real Life. But I’m too sad to think about this. George has lost 28 days probation because someone fought him and George ended up with the blame. And Marie is still thinking about moving to be closer. We’re heading towards the end of an era.

Paul Collins scoffs wonderfully about Marie’s campaign, telling Annabelle he’s going to start a parallel campaign to Free Paul Collins’s Shirt (the one that ended up inside with George). He’s scoffing an awful lot these days, in fact. It’s very much the Paul Collins I remember (not surprising since I came on board in 1985), and it seemed he literally began really pushing in this area as the New Year began. Perhaps it’s a resolution.

As well as scoffing at Annabelle’s catering business - he is justifiably irritated that his new garage is unusable because the old chest freezer she’s bought takes up just enough space to stop him getting his car inside - he’s scoffed at the idea of his wife taking up jogging.

There’s a great scene where the Collinses are preparing to entertain colleagues and he’s furious because she’s out jogging when she should be getting dinner ready, leaving him to start preparations himself (it turns out she’s jogged too far, got breathless and had to walk back, huffing, puffing and sweaty. He comes out to find and chastise her but has locked them out and they have to run to the back door when they see their guests arriving. During the evening, Paul starts to poke fun (“Oh, Annabelle’s taken up a new hobby…”). He’s pleased when his guests chortle, but not so pleased to learn it’s because they, too, enjoy jogging and asks if they jog as a couple leaving Annabelle to get the last laugh: “Paul think’s jogging’s silly”.

In another nice touch, Bobby was in Paul’s office, debating policy with him when he got the call about Sheila’s labour. After their butting heads over company policy, Bobby’s awkward look when Paul extended his hand to wish him luck rang very true. Seeing them switching hats in the space of a few seconds was fascinating.

Kevin’s told Harry and Edna he wants Ralph to move in to keep an eye on them to prevent Edna going off the rails again. Since Ralph was the one who encouraged Edna’s gambling, I don’t buy it. Ralph moving in just doesn’t work for me. It just seems too impractical with three of them in a small bungalow. To me, it feels very much like the writers shoehorning in Ray Dunbobbin, and I’m just left with the question: why?

One of the firms currently referenced in the series is something like Lynch & Woodward. I think it’s to do with the tenders at Paul Collinses workplace, though it could also be related to Heather’s work. What is certain is that it’s named after two of Brookie’s two most prominent writers at the moment.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

While it feels quite damp and insulting to both the actor and the viewers. It certainly fits in with how Brookie wanted to be different from the other soaps.

It certainly makes a difference from later in the years especially in the 90s when it felt like every character was given an explosive exit and now I think it’s traditional with all the current soaps to make a big story out of a character leaving.

Yes. I suppose soap has conditioned me to need that departure storyline, and it feels anti-climactic when it doesn't come.

Gordon's absence feels particularly odd because he's ostensibly still there. Annabelle and Paul have mentioned him just this week as being unhappy about something one of them is doing. So he's there but not there. It feels akin to Tracy Barlow being in her room playing her tapes.

Did viewers at the time notice, I wonder. I'm watching with some of the bigger picture, but it seems such a long time to drag out the absence. It makes me feel the whole thing was unplanned.

I remember Bobby's low-key departure feeling the same for me, but I knew that Ricky had quit suddenly and it was being written around. With Gordon it's all guesswork. It's made me think about how the backstage stuff can overlap with what's onscreen to enhance or add layers to what's seen. And when that behind-the-scenes stuff isn't known, it feels as though there's an absence.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Episodes 231 - 240
14 January - 12 February 1985
​

The Free George Jackson campaign is giving Brookside a feeling of event at the moment. Locations for this storyline during these episodes have included the centre of Liverpool, the top of St John’s Beacon (as was, before it was named after a radio station), Speke Airport (as was, before it was named after a Beatle), a moving train and even Downing Street.

The direction has been as bold as the writing, with arty aerial shots from a moving helicopter (and, presumably, some which were taken from the beacon of Marie some 450 feet below.

In terms of scale, this is almost certainly Brookie’s biggest storyline to date. It’s certainly a far cry from the days when the biggest mission a character had was Roger’s quest to find out what newspaper his neighbours read. From time to time as I watch, I’ll suddenly remember that there was a cynical marketing campaign attached to this arc and feel a little sad. But the presentation still feels perfectly Brookside.

Fictional characters crusade to make the nation aware of key goings on in Brookside Close, and to make everyone understand why this should be important to them. In turn, this forms part of a real-life campaign for Phil Redmond and The Powers That Be to do the exact same thing. It’s not the first time a TV storyline had been capitalised (with Who Shot JR? the benchmark by which others were marked even then), but unlike other marketing campaigns, Free George Jackson feels like a rare early example of soap metafiction. It’s as though the characters have become aware of the viewer and are trying to reach out to them with prominent banners and daubed messages at real-life landmarks. Anyone with a sense of social or civic responsibility ignores these as their peril. And this is over three and a half decades before WandaVision.

For all its spectacle, though, the heart of the story remains Anna Keaveney’s Marie. She broods while chain smoking; she looks reflectively at her children (there was a terrific switch from fury at learning the boys had sold their bikes to broken hearted pride upon learning they’d done so to get money to fund the campaign); she hatches plots with Betty; she goes about her daily life; she bellows at the injustice and refuses to go unheard.

The last of these has drawn Tommy McArdle shaped trouble. After scaring off Betty’s sons, McArdle has shown up on Marie’s doorstep, inviting himself into the house where he intimidates Terry into making him hot chocolate in a pan while making threats to Marie about her children.

And he appears to have followed through with this: the latest episode even introduced (of a fashion) a Who Shot George? storyline when George Jr. was fired upon by an unseen assailant in the woods surrounding the house. The drama unfolding as he was taken in an ambulance contrasted perfectly with the unsuspecting Marie on the train home from London, relieved and filled with a quiet optimism having hand delivered the petition to Number Ten. It’s a moment that, sadly, would not work today since Marie and Betty’s mobiles would be lighting up as soon as it happened. Communication moving more slowly was a luxury in so many ways, and it’s played to perfection here.

Of course, I’m curious to know more about the logistics behind Marie’s visit to Number Ten. In many ways, the series feels as though it was born out of frustration at Thatcher’s Government. It’s spent almost two-and-a-half years shining a light on the impact of that Government’s stranglehold on Britain, with unemployment, disgruntlement, austerity and crime more visible and transparent than in any other series. It feels quite unlikely that the same Government would welcome the Brookside crew to their doorstep and provide a springboard for that series’ publicity.

Even though the barrier scene was clearly on the edge of Downing Street itself, we only saw the door of Number Ten in closeup when Marie appeared. I wonder if it was a different house standing in for the real Number Ten.

Still, even camera trickery and members of the public (in those days) being able to get within a reasonable proximity, it’s difficult to imagine the filming taking place without at least some permission involved. And it’s certainly to the series’ credit that I’m still unsure if it was the real house or not. Even more, the scene with Betty hurling critical comments (“Scargill fridges. Scargill cars. Perks o’ t’job”) at a silently scowling policeman on the other side of a barrier felt to me as though it could well have been done for real.

Betty and Marie make for a fascinating little team, and Betty can be enjoyably frustrating with expressing her views at the wrong time, such as the interview (pre-recorded, thankfully), where Betty was asked if she thought Thatcher would help them and replied with “No” before going on to list her track record with real wives and mothers. And sometimes Betty’s just plain enjoyable. One of the Liverpool centre scenes saw them stopped from demonstrating by a policeman (who Marie - in full glorious flight- called a “pimply little prat”). When the PC began leaning on one of Betty’s sons, Betty ordered him off, telling him that the only person to keep her sons in line is her… before turning round and proving her point by giving her son a casual backhanded wallop to the face.

continued​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Episodes 231 - 240
14 January - 12 February 1985

continued​

On the subject of wallops, the “all in” philosophy still holds true at Number Five, and it’s not just scenes involving Bobby. Some lighthearted sibling teasing banter between Damon and Karen resulted in her chucking a hardback book across the room with some force, straight into Damon’s head. Typically, he barely seemed to notice, rolling his eyes and checking his hair wasn’t out of place before carrying on as though nothing had happened. I love these moments.

When it comes to eye-rolling, though, Karen can do this for Liverpool. She’s been brilliant in these episodes, looking with disdain as people fawn over the baby, giving Sinbad the sharp end of her tongue for the time he ran off with Barry’s ladder and scoffing at his attempts to flog a shoddy watch to her, and dismissing Andrew for his insecurities over her friendship with Pat and her considering going away to university (and, ultimately, for being soft enough to buy the very same watch from Sinbad and paying twice as much as she’d turned it down at).

Sheila, meanwhile, is dealing with post-natal depression. Because it’s Brookside and Sue Johnson it’s pitched perfectly, with my one complaint being that it seemed to just come from nowhere. We didn’t see Sheila for a good few episodes and then suddenly she’s feeling resentment towards her baby and full of paranoia about Bobby. But then, perhaps this is how it really happens. I’d guess the hormonal changes are pretty fast-moving.

Lynch & Woodward (or is it Woodward & Lynch?) are still getting regular name-checks, with Paul in trouble for accepting that festive hamper from them at the time of their tender. And there’s just as much interest coming from Annabelle getting into jogging. She’s still a little out of shape and scowling at other joggers as they breeze effortlessly past her without breaking a sweat while she stands trying to get her breath back. It’s really a nothing storyline, but it gives us oodles of character which is the backbone of this series.

It feels as though we hardly ever see Heather at home these days. We see far more of her at work, which feels a little curious for a series named after the Close. But then Heather is married to her career, so it makes a kind of sense. Her boss is being very coy and protective of her own home life. Reading between the lines it’s fairly obvious she’s a lesbian with a crush on Heather, but then this series has led me down the wrong path before so who’s to say I’m right.

Harry and Edna’s return after a little break was welcome, but immediately it was “Ralph, Ralph, Ralph”. I’m still struggling to get why this “temporary” visitor is suddenly so crucial to them that his brief absence was causing such concern. And I still struggle with the character of Ralph whose sole characteristic seems to be oozing sincerity (to the point of feeling fake). But I’m slowly reconciling myself to the fact that, for better or worse, he’s going to be a part of the landscape for the rest of the decade.

Sandra’s been another struggle for me, but my frustration with her feels more like a response to a character who is well-written and played for real. She’s meant to be frustrating because, frankly, she’s so self-involved and heavily into the drama and dysfunctional relationships. My frustrations are shared by other characters who, admittedly, are more tolerant with her than I would be (simply put, I don’t have time for people like Sandra and would no doubt actively avoid interacting with someone who thrives on big emotional moments that are almost entirely unnecessary and self-created. But then, if they were real, I’d probably avoid most soap characters for the same reason).

It’s perhaps telling that Sandra is Brookside’s second regular smoker. In this series it seems to go hand-in-hand with confrontational, don’t give a crap type characters. I know there are people who smoke with consideration about where they spark up and where they dispose of their butt, etc., but there’s no such creature in this series. Sandra, in many ways, is less considerate than Marie due to living with two people who are uncomfortable with her smoking in communal areas. She kind of agrees not to do it, but she then goes ahead and does it anyway. And when she’s asked to keep it to her own space, it’s always “For God’s sake, not now. Can’t you see I’m in the middle of [X crisis]” as though they're the inconsiderate ones.

This pretty much epitomises Sandra as a character. She’s simultaneously aggressive and avoidant. If there’s a heavy scene with the emphasis on angst, she’s there like one big exposed raw nerve. But if there’s any danger of change or a bargain that requires her to consider someone else it’s dismissed out of hand. For all its frustrations, it’s a psychology that shows some promise of being fascinating to watch.

It also feels like a statement that Sandra is involved in a profession fraught with stresses. If Phil Redmond was going to relent and allow another character to smoke, it makes perfect sense that it will be one who works for the NHS, and these characters have already given the series much opportunity to provide a commentary on financial cuts and the impact this has on staff and patients both.

 

[Ome]

Sandra’s been another struggle for me

Yes, I’m kinda finding it hard to sympathise with her this time. Her refusal in getting divorced feels over done. I understand her feelings behind this because of what she experienced, but having had the conversation with a woman desperately trying to marry her ex to stay in the country showed Sandra as a real hard and uncaring person, which feels even more so because she is a nurse. I know I’m reacting like this now as I am much older and feel that humanity is lacking in many ways today. Maybe that’s why I’m struggling with this particular part of the story.


It’s interesting what you say about the smoking too. I find any scenes that involve smoking to be somewhat strange because today’s TV has basically wiped out any kind of smoking, even reality shows are hiding away the smokers off camera. All this makes watching both Marie and Sandra kinda odd because they make it look natural and I find myself thinking would we have noticed those scenes back in the day. When smoking was everywhere and promoted all over.


Another fascinating scenes was what you picked up on with Downing St. I remember when all they had was a few barriers and a few cops. I couldn’t tell, but would they have been armed back then?


I don’t know why my phone decided to throw in a cop smiley, but seeing as it’s Christmas, I’ll not bother editing it out.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Yes, I’m kinda finding it hard to sympathise with her this time. Her refusal in getting divorced feels over done. I understand her feelings behind this because of what she experienced, but having had the conversation with a woman desperately trying to marry her ex to stay in the country showed Sandra as a real hard and uncaring person, which feels even more so because she is a nurse.

I feel really torn with Sandra's unsympathetic nature. I suppose I believe it because I feels truthful, and I'm trying to understand that she's coming out of a volatile and dysfunctional relationship and her messed up belief system is kind of a hangover from that. But at the same time it's so ugly it's difficult to watch, and I feel sure if I knew a real-life Sandra I'd be crossing the road to avoid her.

It's also interesting that she's somewhat aware of it as well. She's said that people view her as a "hard-nosed bitch", but then went on to blame everyone else for it.

I find any scenes that involve smoking to be somewhat strange because today’s TV has basically wiped out any kind of smoking, even reality shows are hiding away the smokers off camera. All this makes watching both Marie and Sandra kinda odd because they make it look natural and I find myself thinking would we have noticed those scenes back in the day. When smoking was everywhere and promoted all over.

I'm especially fascinated because I still have in my mind the comments that you and James made back on page 2:

Marie has finally arrived and watching her light a cig made me realise that right now there are no smokers on the close. I wonder if it was intentional to have so many none smokers back then. Definitely something different to Corrie during the 80s.

The story goes that Phil Redmond was very anti-smoking and when the actress who played Marie came in to interview for the part and lit up without asking, he realised that Marie should be not just a smoker but a very forthright, confrontational character, which would help provide more opportunities for the various households on the close to interact.

Because of this, if someone on Brookie smokes, I feel like it's really meaningful and done for a very specific reason.

I couldn’t tell, but would they have been armed back then?

Oh... I'm thinking probably not, but perhaps that's me being naïve because I couldn't have imagined it at the time. I'm sure there were police who used firearms, but I can't remember ever seeing such a thing - even on the news - until much more recently.

don’t know why my phone decided to throw in a cop smiley, but seeing as it’s Christmas, I’ll not bother editing it out.

Damn - I can't see it.

 

[Ome]

I'm especially fascinated because I still have in my mind the comments that you and James made back on page 2:

Yes! That chat keeps coming back to me too. I even wondered if it was intentional to have the more hardened characters smoke. If it’s going to be a nurse, make sure it’s hard Sandra and not sweet Kate or dreamy Pat.

Then Marie as opposed to Sheila, Heather and Annabelle.

And of course villainous Tommy.

Oh... I'm thinking probably not, but perhaps that's me being naïve because I couldn't have imagined it at the time

I’m very much thinking the same. I think my first exposure to seeing armed police was probably in an airport in the 90s.

Damn - I can't see it

Oddly enough it’s gone.


Thinking back I believe it’s a typical smiley the iPhone creates when a world is typed and probably the forum dismissed it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I even wondered if it was intentional to have the more hardened characters smoke. If it’s going to be a nurse, make sure it’s hard Sandra and not sweet Kate or dreamy Pat.

Then Marie as opposed to Sheila, Heather and Annabelle.

With Marie, I've loved how the smoking has been used to tell us more about her character without her having to say a word. Like that scene in late 1984 where she lights up in front of the school truancy officer without so much as a mention:





It felt very much like a territorial thing, which is so very Marie. She's the lioness protecting her cubs and defending her family's reputation, and this is an effective way for her to remind her opponent she's strayed onto Marie's turf.

I think my first exposure to seeing armed police was probably in an airport in the 90s.

It's still a shock to me whenever I see it, and never a reassuring sight, even though it's probably meant to be. I feel even less comfortable with tasers since I suspect they involve less training than firearms.

 

[James from London]

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Episodes 241 - 250
18 February - 19 March 1985​

These episodes leave no doubt at all about one single fact: Ralph is just a terrible friend. He’s a terrible friend to Harry, colluding with Edna with endless bitching behind his back, and knowing looks, smiles and winks to one another when Harry is present. And he’s a terrible friend to Edna, enabling her gambling addiction and causing stress within the marital home simply because their shared interest gets him one up over Harry. Then there’s the agreement with the Crosses’ son Kevin, who has bought Ralph’s cheery, amiable front enough to insist on Ralph living with them.

This does raise questions. Harry is clearly unhappy with Ralph being there, and especially with the damage Ralph is doing to Edna by encouraging the gambling. Why, then, doesn’t Harry simply report this to Kevin? As I write, I’ve realised the most likely reason is because Ralph being there prevents Kevin from further interfering either by looking into some kind of sheltered accommodation or insisting on them moving closer to him. Ralph may, in Harry’s eyes (and mine) be the unwelcome house guest who won’t leave, but he’s the devil Harry knows.

The Ralph/Edna combo is the most frustrating combination on this series at the moment. Edna’s irresponsible child-woman thing does my box in.

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? Poor Kate may have done the wrong thing by covering up for the racist doorman who wouldn’t let her into the club, but her protest to Pat that his song was silly and he was making a fool of himself certainly rang true (even if she didn’t mean it). Oh, Pat is now dating Malandra Burrows, last seen as a school peer of Lucy Collins.

Incidentally, a scene where Pat was pretty much walking round the close one morning chirpily saying hello to everyone made me realise that perhaps he was intended as a partial replacement for Alan Partridge. Alan got a mention on Shrove Tuesday, with Bobby and Sheila remembering the previous year (their memory is better than mine) and Bobby speculating that Alan was probably now “teaching the Arabs to toss pancakes using a computer programme”.

This isn’t the only time Bobby has made me smile. During a conversation when a paranoid Sheila asked him what he’d been up to, he replied “Not a lot” in a falsetto tone that mimicked Paul Daniels. It was a tiny little moment, but one that added a welcome bit of balance to the intense postnatal depression storyline that has probably taken a lot of both actors.

And they really have both been fantastic through it, with Sue Johnston giving us some scenes showing Sheila on a knife edge from a combination of depression, insomnia and a feeling she is not being supported. Some of the scenes have had me concerned for the baby playing Claire as Sheila and Bobby have spoken in angry, raised voices, with Sheila wailing and crying. I do find myself wondering how much of this stuff is absorbed, while at the same time applauding the grit and reality of these scenes.

Damon was brought nicely into things in one of those sequences that gives collusion between one character and the viewer, with a secret that they alone know. Damon had taken Claire’s pram for his moneymaking scheme selling bin liners door-to-door. The pram was nicked from outside a house where he’d left it while he was inside losing his virginity to a predatory older woman. Sheila, not knowing he’d taken it, doubted her own sanity. It was a view Bobby seemed to share, and Damon walked back in on the confusion to be quickly assured by Bobby that he would solve it by replacing it. This left Damon to see the fallout while being powerless to do anything himself to make it right. It’s almost painful to watch.

Meanwhile, Karen and her friend pretended to be French at a nightclub to make themselves more attractive to guys. It worked, and the funniest moment of this run was when Karen’s friend reverted to Scouse - with an accent as thick as Mersey fog - and said she could’t stand it anymore. The scene had definite shades of those seen when Barry’s girlfriend Val first arrived.

Two characters who haven’t been seen on air for months are driving a couple of storylines.

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.

Christopher Duncan’s mother has now approached Annabelle with the news that her son has confessed to her that he had a relationship with Gordon before Cathy came between them. Which makes me wonder if Gordon was supposed to be on-screen for this reveal but the actor baulked at the storyline.

Meanwhile, at Number Ten, George - on hearing the news of Little George’s shooting - absconded from Haverigg and travelled the 100 or so miles to the eye hospital at Liverpool where he was picked up after Marie had been persuaded to help police to “help” George.

Marie has been an absolute gem this week, reading the riot act first to her journalist “friend” who wrote the article about the airgun shooting (complete with a misleading headline suggesting she was a neglectful mother, leading to her getting hate letters) and then to Terry’s parasitic father Jack for his clumsy pass at her (calling him a “great gormless get” as only Marie can). There was also a nice funny drunk scene where she and Jack return home drunk and giggly after a night out.

But Marie’s also had the wind taken out of her sails repeatedly. In addition to helping the police recapture George, she’s faced the boys’ suspension from school (for beating up a new first year student because his surname was McArdle). At the end of this run she discovered that George had lost his remission and will have to serve his full sentence - another year. Anna Keaveney continues to be one of the jewels in Brookside’s crown and it feels sad that current storylines are paving the way for her departure.

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.

 

[Ome]

Episodes 241 - 250
18 February - 19 March 1985

I’m quite a few episodes behind, so will catch up with your thoughts when I get there. Is the 19 March the latest episode or are there more released? I read somewhere that they were releasing 10 episodes Christmas week, but haven’t looked myself to see if that happened?



I’m about to start episode 244 - 26th February.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Is the 19 March the latest episode or are there more released?

Yep. Episode #250 is the latest, sot looks like there were just 5 released on Wednesday.

Weirdly, though, the tab for it on the STV website says Episodes 241-260. Perhaps they'll treat us to 10 this coming week.

 

[Ome]

I’ve seen they have dropped 10 episodes today. I wonder what that means to outlet regular Wednesday slot tomorrow.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I’ve seen they have dropped 10 episodes today.

Oh wow. Anxiety about how I'm going to fit all these in with the other series I'm juggling can be filed under: Nicer Problems To Have.

I wonder what that means to outlet regular Wednesday slot tomorrow.

Yes - it seems strange they've dropped a day early. Now I'm curious to see if another five come along tomorrow.

 

[Ome]

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

Oh boy, it’s so awful and I hope this is a quick passing phase. I don’t recall this story, so I may well have blocked it out.

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.

You raise some good points and it’s probably very close to the truth. It makes sense that they were holding off writing Gordon out. Over on Corrie, I think months passed with no Tracey Barlow, so maybe it wasn’t a problem for the younger characters to be in hiding.

I know Gordon comes back with Christopher, I did not know it was the same Christopher.

There was also a nice funny drunk scene where she and Jack return home drunk and giggly after a night out.

I cracked up when Marie went over and all we saw were her feet. Something that resembles many a moment for our favourite sitcoms of the 70s.

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.

There is so much greatness in all the scenes these two incredibly brilliant characters share together and while I couldn’t get enough of their spats, their scenes where they started to bond really pulled me in. It’s sad to think in a few more weeks/episode, we say goodbye to Marie.

Oh wow. Anxiety about how I'm going to fit all these in with the other series I'm juggling can be filed under

I’ve been on a mission today catching up.

outlet regular Wednesday

OUR regular Wednesday episodes!!!

Bloody iPhone!

 

[James from London]

Playing catch-up here with posts from a few months ago. First, The One Where Alan Marries Sam:

The episode ended with an extremely dramatically-staged tragedy as Karen’s latest boyfriend zoomed too quickly into the Close on his motorbike, colliding with pregnant Sheila. On the one hand, it felt rather unnecessary and stereotypically soapy, but allowing the audience to be part of the street party also allowed the moment to have maximum emotional impact because it was so at odds with the chilled, character-driven minutiae of the gathering.

That was one of those moments that felt all the more shocking for being juxtaposed by the mundanity leading up to it. Everyone's chatting and laughing and then there's a close-up of Sheila looking abruptly towards the entrance of the close, almost like she's got a sixth sense that something is about to happen. (It's a bit like the moment a few years later when she's cleaning her front window and sees a police car pulling into the close and instinctively knows something terrible has happened, or those strange stares she'll give Billy months before either of them really understand what's happening between them.) Then there's that disorientating, split-second, out of nowhere shot of Andrew and Karen racing along on his bike where you're not even sure how or even if it's connected to what's going on in the close ... I can't remember the exact order of things after that, expect for the freeze frame of Andrew and Karen at the end of the ep, possibly accompanied by an echoing scream from Karen. It's highly-stylised in a way that you'd never have seen on supposedly less realistic soaps of the time, Coronation Street or Crossroads, but which nonetheless captures a kind of emotional realism, or surrealism, that feels very real.

Marie has effectively been shown to be someone experiencing a kind of isolation and a sense of exclusion in general. Immediately following the look between Marie and Sheila, Sam came out and acknowledged them, but Marie - further away and so limited to exchanging a friendly wave - felt excluded when Sam ended up in conversation with Sheila, excitedly telling her about her reunion with and impending marriage to Alan, while Marie was left to shuffle back inside alone. This is reinforced further when Marie learns about the wedding from Edna, who has heard it first hand from Alan. Edna persuades Alan to tell Marie himself, but during the conversation Marie realises he has only come because Edna asked him (in a brilliantly real piece of writing, Alan doesn’t realise this significance, so Marie remains alone in her disappointment over the situation even as she tells him how happy she is for him)

Ah, those tiny tiny moments that make up our lives that we barely even register, much less expect to see reflected back at us from a TV series.

Headmaster Mr Hume, by the way, was played by John Burgess, later to return as David Crosbie. He’s note-perfect in these episodes so it’s easy to see why he’d be asked back, albeit some eight years later.

I associate the Crosbies with Brookie Gone Bad, but I've been intermittently watching Together, a 1980-ish daytime soap available on the Talking Pictures site that has familiar names like Phil Redmond and Adele Rose on its writing credits. It's a bit like watching paint dry at the scene of a horrific car accident: incredibly boring but you can't look away. Anyway, it took me ages to realise that one of the main characters is played by David Crosbie. He's about as different from his Brookside role as you can get while still conforming to the tropes of an amiably weary soap husband. And only last night, my Enders re-re-watch reached the episode where he shows up in a fairly minor but really interesting role as Kathy's biological daughter's adoptive father.

 

[Ome]

I couldn’t sleep last night and I started thinking about what stories and new characters we have coming during 1985. Then I started to think about the houses Terry lived in. So far I have this.

He stays in the Jackson house until the siege and I remember Pat & Sandra staying with him. Then he moved in with Pat & Sandra when the Corkhills arrive.

I remember a female moving in, could be named Cheryl and one episode I recall they were playing ‘I Spy’ when a word starting with ‘S’ pretty much dominated the conversation until the end of the episode when it was revealed as ‘Ceiling’ there may have been another character involved.

I can’t remember how Pat and Sandra were written out, only that the Choi’s moved in.

I know Terry moves into Heather’s house when Jonathan Gordon Davis is widowed.

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

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Over on Corrie, I think months passed with no Tracey Barlow, so maybe it wasn’t a problem for the younger characters to be in hiding.

Yes - it's not unusual for Damon or Karen to be offscreen for weeks at a time. Perhaps stretching it for four months is particularly noticeable in Brookie, though, because of how well it incorporates its young characters into things. They're all key players and essential pieces of the Brookside scene, so I felt it went on too long with Gordon before there was any kind of explanation.

I probably felt it more acutely because of hindsight. I know Nigel Crowley is gone and I'm fairly sure he won't be back, so writing him out offscreen after all these months feels a bit messy.

Having said he won't be back, I was a bit thrown when I looked it up in Phil Redmond's autobiography. I haven't read the book yet, but couldn't resist looking up Nigel's name in the index to see what Phil said about him. A little bizarrely, he mentions Nigel as one of the actors on UK soap's first gay kiss, when Christopher came for a visit and gave Gordon a peck on the cheek. He says this was in 1985.

From my memory, Gordon was out of things from late 1984 until sometime in 1986 when Mark Burgess took over the role (which was around the time Christopher came into things). My instinct is that this is a slip of the pen on Phil's part, but at the same time I really hope I'm wrong.

I know Gordon comes back with Christopher, I did not know it was the same Christopher.

It surprised me too. I had no idea Christopher was mentioned this early on. I remembered something about Gordon and a schoolfriend, but didn't think that friend was Christopher.

I cracked up when Marie went over and all we saw were her feet. Something that resembles many a moment for our favourite sitcoms of the 70s.

She's been involved in so many heavy scenes that it feels incredibly liberating whenever she gets a moment that's comedic. And how wonderful that Anna Keaveney excels at both.

There is so much greatness in all the scenes these two incredibly brilliant characters share together and while I couldn’t get enough of their spats, their scenes where they started to bond really pulled me in.

I'd say the relationship between Sheila and Marie is my favourite on the entire series. They've had so much rich history in so short a time. What occurs to me is that the relationship has been made even more fascinating by keeping them apart a great deal thanks to their big fallout. They're basically a platonic version of star-crossed lovers like Gary/Val or Bobby/Pam. It's fun for me as a viewer to root for them to get it together.

It’s sad to think in a few more weeks/episode, we say goodbye to Marie.

Yes. It's going to be a huge loss for the series. It astounds me that I couldn't really remember Marie when I began this rewatch, and now she's one of the series' biggest draws for me.

That was one of those moments that felt all the more shocking for being juxtaposed by the mundanity leading up to it.

Absolutely.

almost like she's got a sixth sense that something is about to happen. (It's a bit like the moment a few years later when she's cleaning her front window and sees a police car pulling into the close and instinctively knows something terrible has happened, or those strange stares she'll give Billy months before either of them really understand what's happening between them.)

Ooh - I like this. And I'm thinking of this in terms of recent scenes I've watched where Sheila's experiencing post-natal depression and is convinced that Bobby is attracted to another woman. If her intuition is usually sixth sense level, then she would be even more convinced that what she believes is true.

Ah, those tiny tiny moments that make up our lives that we barely even register, much less expect to see reflected back at us from a TV series.

Yes. It takes kitchen sink drama to an impressive new level of minutiae.

I've been intermittently watching Together, a 1980-ish daytime soap available on the Talking Pictures site that has familiar names like Phil Redmond and Adele Rose on its writing credits. It's a bit like watching paint dry at the scene of a horrific car accident: incredibly boring but you can't look away.

I've just looked this up and realised I'd read its Wiki page some months ago. Probably off the back of some Brookie-related discussion (or perhaps even a previous mention you'd made of it). I'm certainly intrigued, and the Talking Pictures site looks to be a treasure trove.

And only last night, my Enders re-re-watch reached the episode where he shows up in a fairly minor but really interesting role as Kathy's biological daughter's adoptive father.

Oh, of course. Now you've said that I can picture Donna's father and see him. I don't think I realised it was the same actor, no doubt because it was, as you said, a small role, and came years before David Crosbie, which was when John Burgess's name probably registered with me.

Then I started to think about the houses Terry lived in.

He's a bit of an odd one, really, because he doesn't really have a strong sense of belonging in the Close for me. He's kind of a mate of Barry that ended up getting shoehorned wherever he would fit after a while.

I suppose they've done a decent job of it with his connection with Michelle and the Jacksons. The other day I watched a scene where Sheila introduced him to someone as a mate of Barry's, and I'd practically forgotten about that connection.

Your list of his various addresses on the Close shows he's done the soapy "musical houses" thing far more than most characters. It seems such a short time since I commented how strange it seemed when residents even went into one another's houses, or when Michelle stayed briefly with Heather or whatever. Then you have Terry bouncing round each house in turn like it's a giant board game and it's his turn to move two spaces.

 

[James from London]

From sunshineboyuk:

Edna is fascinating.... she's a geriatric Sue Ellen; playing marriage games, seemingly cold towards her husband, a liar and an addict. Harry and Edna's marriage games are fascinating, they really delight in winding each other up, Edna particularly seems to get turned abd thrilled by it. I think there's a scene coming up where she tells Marie that she loves all the arguments...

I think this is my very favourite era of Brookside. Every house is occupied with brilliance and specificness, you can smell and taste each home and its particular ebbs and flows.
A beautiful run of scenes!
At the Jacksons, they are all trying to cope with the aftermath of Petra's death and the sudden financial advantages of her life insurance. Just as Petra reacted with confusion and sorrow to the substantial income from Gavin's life insurance so Michelle and Marie struggle with benefitting financially from her death.
"We keep the house and two thousand pounds a year from the insurance. You get seven thousand pounds a year from the insurance which leaves you free to do whatever you want" Marie suggests to a heartbroken Michelle. Interestingly, Michelle continually attacks George and Marie, accusing them with her very specific sullen attitude of being gold diggers, she doesn't ever say it outright but it's implied. Marie, probably the most sensitive character on the show, picks up on the inference immediately and channels her anger and hurt by announcing "George, Michelle and I are gonna have a talk". Marie missed her calling as a UN negotiator.

Marie and George have such resilience and love for each other. Marie worries sick about George's job as a fireman. Laying up on the sofa after yet another scare she wonders if he should get a different job. George reflects on how he pulled an elderly guy to safety and how he wouldn't let go of his hand. " You're a gentleman " he kept repeating over and over.
Marie beams like an angel, you can literally see the love emanate from her face. " You saved his life George". An achingly beautiful moment.

Across the close at the Grants all hell is breaking loose. This is the first long train running drama for the family that threatens their relationships and the actors run with it to produce a sort of new wave style of soap opera acting. They bellow, scream and shout, bash walls, hit tables, unleash rage and resentment that boils over in a way I just hadn't seen before - and it just goes on and on and on. Bobby's unemployment, the stress on Sheila as she works cleaning jobs ( Marie's self serving pity for Sheila having to cleaning jobs is complicated " I just couldn't " she tells George, " You'll never have to" he replies pointedly. In a shiveringly doom laden portent George casually remarks that his children, Gary and Little George , need " a prison sentence " rather than a private school.), Damon's troubles at School - meta when Billy Corkhill appears as the Headmaster at a suspension meeting for Damon, " Would you be as quick to hit his Father?" Sheila spits at him her eyes blazing with anger, I see Sliding Doors and parallel universes - Karen wanting to see Mike and Bobby explosive reaction " I'm not having her hanging out with squaddies" .....he rages about being the man of the house, accuses Sheila of getting above her station, rages about the pressure he felt to move to the Close and Sheila calls him out for not sorting Barry out, " He's practically a criminal", devastatingly she point blank accuses him of giving up. It's the complete opposite end of " the respect I have for your Father" scene with Barry just months before.

I remember Brookside being the only show doing the reality of family rows, the violence, the threat of violence, the lines that are crossed and almost broken...Bobby smashes up the dinner table , demands Damon and Karen leave and then proceeds to lay into Sheila in a way that, even now, I can't think of a parallel in soap terms ( disclaimer I don't watch soaps now) ..this isn't about plot , its just messy family stuff...Sheila fights back, they both go for each others vital organs and its voyeuristic , unbearable and strangely majestic at the same time, the ballet of resentments plays out in front of us. Jimmy McGovern and John Godber write at the top of their game.

I realised during this run of eps what a clever hat trick the producers pull off with the Grants. They are very rarely all together in scenes.They play out in 2 or 3 handers usually with occasional full family scenes and yet it never feels anything less than a house with 5 people in it. No mean feat.

The absolute joy of Harry and Edna! I was surprised to learn that Edna was written out against the actors wishes, what a creative waste to exit such a unique tv character. Their interplay is still astonishing to watch ,elderly people playing games with each other, in the throes of a huge love affair.
Confirmed in a brilliant scene where Michelle chats through the catalogue with Edna - what a Maguffin it is being passed around the Close like a murder weapon. Michelle reflects our misunderstanding of their bickering and rowing....." It's been like this all our married life" Edna says as Harry stomps off upstairs to take a hot bath
"How can you stand it??" she asks Edna.
"Stand it? I LOVE IT".


Heather, living alone in her house, is seemingly never alone. I like how the writers use every trick in the book to get Heather interacting with the neighbours because Heather only reacts with them, mostly, when they approach her , and she's a bit hot and cold about it as real people are, sometimes she's up for it and other times she wants them to f**k off.
Perhaps she has more on her mind. She is facing a profound and defining moment in her career and her life. Offered a job at one of the big corporate accounting firms, her resignation from her current small owner firm has been challenged and, surprisingly, met with an offer of a fast track promotion.

"Heather, when I first met you there were 35 other applicants for this job and I chose you " he tells her weightily, concluding that if she leaves for a bigger firm "I shall feel used." It drops like a grenade and she feels it.

I find this story fascinating, it reflects how much our attitudes to work and loyalty to a firm has changed in a relatively short space of time. The promotion he offers Heather is staggering for the time but Heather has absolute belief in her own ability, her own destiny and she feels entitled... the seeds of her corporate anointment were sown when she studied for her exams during her marriage to Roger , she feared a life of married hell looking after his kids with no career of her own, so this moment has been coming for a long time. Does she leave the small firm that gave her the opportunity, time and training to develop her potential for a rung on the massive corporate ladder or does she stay and become a large fish in a small pond with a focus on the people side of her sector? Probably, these scenes would have seemed far fetched even 10 years before this story went out so its profoundly interesting watching it today nearly 40 years later. There's also a meta thing here about the actors own real life journey into enormous commercial success and the resulting behind the scenes controversies.
40 years and the blink of an eye.

Will rocks up from Belfast, fresh, earnest, handsome and twinkly eyed. It's a brief visit but it matters. Will wants more from Heather than just a platonic friendship, he makes his move as the taxi rolls up outside.

" Don't spoil it Will, please"

Heather is not up for other peoples desires, wishes and wants. Roger broke her heart and the show is not going to hit the reset button. Heather is changed.

Will turns and waves as he gets into the humming black cab, God, that sound of a black cab revving and humming and waiting....I associate the sound with defining moments in my own life as well as many screen moments ("Goodbye Shirley. Goodbye Shirley Valentine " Joanna Lumley says to Pauline Collins as the black taxi hums and revs....she kisses her on the cheeks, turns , climbs inside - black cabs are often entered with difficulty because of the step and size - and vanishes. "And that was the sweetest kiss I'd ever known" Shirley tells us.)

But no sweet kiss for Heather. She stares out of her window as Will leaves forever and she closes the blinds shut.