Brookside reruns

[Redglitter]

Has anyone else been watching today? I've watched 4 episodes so far. Dated, but loving it

Bit of useless information I saw.....Brookside has been streamed 14 million times in the last year. More than Corrie or Emmerdale

It’s the TV highlight of my week!

I think we were meant to think they were Gay ?

Watching these old episodes, I can't believe how shouty most of the men are. Also regularly manhandling the women, lots of grabbing.

Was this the norm in the 80s?

Some of the acting is outstanding, especially when compared with soaps of today. I love the way it's all mainly based inside the homes rather than everyone congregating in the local pub. Feels more real. I know that the parade turns up later on.

I'm 50 I grew up in the 80,s my dad wasent violent
But i think times were different maybe the odd slap etc wouldn't have been seen as that bad ?
Brookside was way ahead of it's time with storyline, s and I think the whole point of them buying the close was so it felt like real homes plus whilst they are neighbourly ,they are not in and out of each other houses like other soaps ,although I think this cchanges in later years

Yes I don't remember the violence in the same way.
I am shocked at how few presents were bought for birthdays and Christmas though !

Maybe I'm lucky but I don't remember having just a few Xmas presents ?I remember being really excited as a young child tp open my presents from Father Xmas
Having said that I remember all my teenage. Presents being clothes so....
My own teenage. Lad gets a proper Xmas present and birthday present ( his birthday is boxing day🤣)I buy hos clothes separate.

At Christmas I used to get a huge sack full of presents. Thought that was the norm (pretty certain it was round by me)

I think the norm depends on social class and region. I grew up working class (which most of the characters are meant to be) and not far from Liverpool. In current Brookside time, I’d have been 14. Shouting, pushing, victim blaming were all part of my childhood. Remember the law re: marital rape only changed in the early 90s. It was also common to see kids being hit in public. Correction was by belittlement both at home and in schools. You asserted yourself pretty quickly as it was either kill or be killed. As a quiet kid, I grew up anxious and nervous. I have no rose tinted glasses about the past.

They just don't seem to make a big thing about Christmas on Brookside at all. Apart from a Christmas tree in Alan's garden in 1983, there's very little decoration, very little mention and all of the 'Christmases' seem to be over and done with in one episode. (With one NYE party so far that I've seen)

These days, all the soap sets are decked out a month beforehand, with constant references to Christmas, and big OTT storylines leading up to and running for far too long across Christmas and the New Year.

Aye the men were bloody awful. Pretty much every single one has some sort of nasty, misogynistic streak. Harry Cross pisses me off pining for his wife when he spoke to her like shit while she was alive. I also hated Nick from day one, and wondered what the fuck Heather was thinking, but had forgotten the storyline until now.

Stand out actors are definitely Sue Johnston and Amanda Burton. No wonder they went on to have such brilliant careers.

I've also noticed they pour and drink real tea, are able to eat toast or dinner and talk / act at the same time and also it feels like many scenes may have been done in one take. As a result, it feels way more real. They sometimes trip over their words, but the scene is left like that as is natural. These days, the actors aren't allowed to carry / drink / pour hot drinks (due to health and safety I assume) and it all seems so pretend.

I noticed Sheila putting Kia Ora in a sippy cup for Claire in one of this weeks episodes. Kia Ora was a cocktail of chemicals and used to give me asthma attacks!

I was 15 in 1986 and spent most of the time baffled as to why teenagers and you g women wanted to dress the way they did. The hairstyles made most people look much older, as did the silky blouses etc.

My point was proven when DD walked in as I was watching a scene where Sandra and the doctor were kissing. She asked me why that 40 odd year old woman was kissing a young lad.

Weird times.

This.
Plus smacking, etc kids was normal at home, and even in school.
I grew up very independent and pretty resilient - I wasn’t a quiet kid!

At Christmas I only got a stocking (with a foil covered tangerine in the toe and sugar mouse) plus a few presents, but my friend got a pillowcase full of presents!

Women still dressed like their mothers/grandmas from an early age - no wonder youngers rebelled with punk, etc!

And I agree, great acting/characters. And funny!

@RainbowZebraWarrior ha ha yes, the Kia Ora for Claire! ‘It’s only for me an my dawg! I’ll be your dawg!’. Could have been worse, Sheila could have chosen Um Bongo 🙈 I wasn’t around kids much back then but some of Claire’s baby stuff looks really dated. She is also, in the great tradition of soap children, conveniently missing at most meal times and when visitors are around.

Christmas has become more of a deal with Chinese cheap imports. Consumer goods were still expensive then so the lights, coordinated colour themes, matching pyjamas, that whole shebang wasn’t a thing.

I was born in 1984, we were working class and my dad was quite shouty, probably similar to some of the Brookside men, who seem to be constantly shouting and moaning, but watching back it's very of its time. Doesn't seem ok at all by today's standards.

The women do also dress much older than their years.

I bet Amanda Burton as Heather was seen as so glamorous and her house so nice.

Phil Redmond was genius really capturing this the way he did.

Um Bongo! Now there’s a memory 🤣

I always wondered where baby Claire got her lovely red hair from neither Bobby or Sheila are red heads and none of the other grants appear to be?

Maybe they didn't know she was aredheard when they chose her?
I agree with pp that Amanda Burton and sue johnston really stand out as actors.

Probably not 🤣
It seems such a long time ago Sheila,is adamant she won't be going back to work until Claire goes to school I was born in 1973 and my mum stayed at home until I was 7 and my sister was 9 ,I had my first baby in 2006 and went back when he was six months old
What kind of child care was available to Woking mothers in the 80,s ?

The Grants are by far my favourite family to watch. I struggle with the Heather storylines and can understand why she left for new acting challenges. She seems stuck in a cycle of unfortunate relationships! I don’t think Heather’s character showcased her ability.

I don’t remember this girlfriend of Damon. Looking forward to Debbie and really hope they add the spin-off episode.

I loved Damon and Debbie! And I cried lots...

Me too! And how shocking was the ending back in the day when there were no spoilers! I remember the disbelief that, just as I was waiting for the credits, with a happy ever after ending, that happened out of nowhere!

I just looked and Debbie appeared in dec 1986. Episodes now are up to oct 1986.

Has the siege been on yet? I remember hardly being able to breathe watching that.

Yes it was a couple of months ago.

I'm not sure I can go through Damon and Debbie again 😪😪😪

I would have only been 2 when these episodes were on. My first memories of Brookside were when Sheila was with Billy.

Watching it makes me so nostalgic. I find it a bit sad though too. The actor who played Terry had a lot of trouble and ended up in prison a few years ago.

People actually live in the houses now. It wasn't a set but proper houses. A developer bought the whole lot and now rents them out.