Brookside fans thread

[Pyjamaramadrama]

I noticed on the other thread that there are a few Brookie fans here. So thought is start a thread.

I still can't believe channel 4 axed it in favour of Big Brother. It was the best soap going. Although it did get a bit weird towards the end. Everyone I know loved Brookside.

I haven't seen that many of the actors in other things, always thought Jimmy Corkhill would do quite well.

Did you know that the houses where they filmed Brookside have now all been sold off and people live in them. Imagine living where the body was under the patio.

I believe that they are all owned by a property developer and Brookside fan, and are rented out. So I guess that there's always the possibility of a resurrection!

I loved Brookie from the start. I know it's often remembered for it's more sensational storylines, like the aforementioned body under the patio, but it was at it's best way before that when it had mostly proper Liverpudlians in it. The Jacksons, the Grants, the Corkhills etc. And who can forget the Damon & Debbie spin-off?

I stopped watching it when there was that ridiculously long and overblown storyline involving the eldest Shadwick girl and three Irish brothers (who all had accents from various parts of Northern and Southern Ireland) but will always have great memories of it.

I stopped watching Brookside when they turned Lindsey Corkhill into a gangster.

I loved Brookside and YY to the Damon and Debbie spin off.

Bev was a brilliant character. And at Barry Grant IIRC.

I loved Brookside, though did go off it at the end. When I did my A Levels our tutor arranged a trip to Brookside Close - t'was fab! We got a tour round, went in each house. It would have been around 1989, at the time Mick was living with Harry Cross and when we went into Harry's bungalow it was full of post it notes that Harry was leaving around the place with instructions for Mick. 'Don't put the heating on!' and the like.

Remember the Chinese Dr? Can't remember his name but we saw his wife and Barry waved at us across the close.

Sue Johnson used to live nearish to us in Warrington so we very often had stray Brookie actors turning up in the local off licence.

Oh I'm so jealous prof, I'd have loved to have done a tour. I did go once to see the houses, after it had finished, but there was a security guard and he wouldn't let us in. Judging by the youtube videos it lay derelict for years after that and people got in a filmed the houses.

I probably didn't start watching until around 1989, I don't remember Damon and Debbie, the earliest storyline I remember was Sheila's rape.

Loved Brookside .

The Irish lot , they were the Musgroves weren't they ? Didn't the sons (or at least one ) cross over into Hollyoaks ?

When I lived in Rhodes I was a little star struck when 'Barry Grant' asked me which desk for the Manchester flight . After that saw him around all the time , everyone said he was a right knob.

Another Brookie fan here! I used to watch it when I was at uni ( well - poly then!) I loved the Grants, and do you remember Amanda Burton as an accountant and her hubby ( was he doing something a bit dodgy?) What about Sinbad, so named as he cleaned windows like portholes I believe? And Annabel and her hubby; she was a bit like Hyacinth Bouquet. Sheila's rape was an amazing storyline which was really well handled. Happy days!

It was great pyjama. The reason we went was to look at the filming technique, everything was done on a single camera which meant each scene had to be filmed 3 or 4 times with the camera in a different place each time. Plus because the houses were real there were more technical challenges than just using a studio set like Corrie. They had all kinds of tricks like many rooms had huge paintings or mirrors which actually covered a large hole in the wall. This meant cameras could lean through from another room to film, giving the actors more space.

At the time they had just decided to build the parade of shops. The problem the Brookie set gave the writers was there was nowhere for the characters to meet like a pub. Apparently the Brookside residents posted an inordinate amount of letters in order for them to bump into each other at the post box!

My bf lived in the estate next to the cul de sac where it was filmed

Oh! Posted too soon.
Just by Crockie park. We used to sit on our bikes and wave at the actors.
They had to move house though, their house got broken into almost monthly even with razor wire surrounding the property

Paul and Annabel were always funny as the snobs exiled from the Wirral!

I sobbed when Damon died...

The first lesbian kiss too
Beth Jordache has been in other stuff hasn't she ?

Another massive Brookie fan here although it was pants at the end and I had made the decision to stop watching it due to ridiculous plots and then they axed it anyway.

I too sobbed when Damon died. Love Barry Grant etc etc. Casa BevRon - hilarious.

I loved Brookie!

I remember when it was due to be cancelled so Channel 4 crammed all the remaining episodes into a Tuesday night mega feast! Tuesday nights used to be my ultimate treat!

The Moby!

I used to love it - it was my Saturday night 'getting ready to go out' treat, watching the omnibus!! Especially when there were 5 episodes a week - it was awesome!!

Have you bought the DVD set that came out a couple of years ago. It's got all the best episodes on it.

There is a Facebook fan page aswell and they showed estate agent links for one of the houses that is currently up for rent. It was really cheap to rent IIRC!!

I love brookie I think chanel four could easily slot in a couple of episodes a week theyve got e4, More four and chsnel four also 4OD so they easily could.

Sinbad was in corrie for a bit wasnt he ?

Ive bumped into a few brookie actors in the past they used to come into the cafe where I had a saturday job. Thats my claim to fame making brews for Max Farnham and Jaqui dixon

I loved brook side. I wish they'd bring it back.

Or repeat it on one of the many satellite channels.

Remember when they did a few videos that weren't on telly I think one was called Unfinished Business.

Does anyone remember the siege in the nurses' house?

Me, my mum and my sister used to watch the Saturday omnibus with a Big Salad for tea.

We were gripped by the siege. All you could hear was the slow crunching of pickled beetroot and chips

Ahh Brookie!

I remember watching the very first episode, I had to beg my mum because it was likely to include swearing!

I remember when Barry was getting in with gangsters (think he was sleeping with one of their wives?) and was told to kill a dog . Don't think he went through with it.

I also remember Sheila being knocked down by a motorbike during a street party and losing a baby - was that pregnancy the result of the rape?

It always seemed really gritty (to my v sheltered childhood life!). I fell out with it though after the incest story and when Lindsay Corkhill had to sing in every sodding episode, before turning gangster!

It was repeated on the Living channel a few years ago. I watched a fair few episodes for very beginning and it was a bit turgid, very much of it's time, but still enjoyable.

I loved Brookie. I had a crush on Barry Grant.

It did go a bit weird at the end though with the killer virus.

Brookside was far and away the best of the soaps when it was in its heyday. But I think it peaked with the Jordache story and began to go downhill after that. I had stopped watching it for a couple of years before it was axed. The storylines were just getting more and more ridiculous and there seemed to be so many stray characters hanging around, living in other residents' garages and extensions, because their 'families' had been written out of the series but they had been kept on, while having no realistic reason to be still living on Brookside Close.

But in the days of the Grants, the Collinses, Heather Haversham and Harry and Edna it was excellent.

Wow this thread has brought back some old memories!

I started watching Brookside when Sheila was raped. I think they were all good actors in the beginning & some very strong storylines.

I had a massive crush Max Farnham . He & Patricia were gloriously snooty! Couldn't stand Susannah though - neither the character nor the ham acting. I'd forgotten that Max & Jacqui got together.