Brookside reruns - Part two

[Famua]

A second thread for Brookie watchers….

Must have been hard for the actress playing Annabelle, still playing the part but knew she had little time left due to her terminal cancer.

Probably hard for the actors of the Collins family too, they had worked together since the beginning so it probably was like a real family.

Although I’m still way being in 84..

I have just realised that nothing really happened in Brookside for the first 18 months or so. Gavin died unexpectedly and Roger had an affair but biting much else really.

The first big storyline didn’t happen until mid 84 when George was sent to prison after being set up by that gangster Macardle.

If this was broadcast nowadays , people would be complaining on social media about how slow it is and how nothing was happening!

I might be wrong but I read that her cancer treatment was going ,well and she had weeks of storyline, s filmed ,but she only came back for two episodes so I can surmise that sadly she had a sudden relapse and they had to change the story line suddenly
As it ended rather abruptly.

Yeah I don’t think it was all that realistic, the Collins family moving to the Lake District to run a bed and breakfast , if that’s what it was?

Paul Colin’s ( well the actor) was in his late 60s by 1990, I would have thought it was quite rare to take on something like that at that age , back then anyway.

Didn’t really seem all that realistic.

Difficult to find a realistic storyline for leaving permanently though I guess?

I loved that nothing happened, just characters and relationships and lots of humour

Me too, I quite enjoy the little story lines and normality of it

Yes definitely ,it was all very rushed but what else could they do ?
I think bringing Lucy back was meant to be long term and her having conflicts with Louise ,but with Doreen sloanes sudden death they had to write the Collins family out very quickly ,it didnt seem realistic but what else could they do?

Interesting that both the Collins children were replaced , Gordon the second seemed a lot older than Gordon the first !

And how Lucy was changed but the original actress came back. That doesn’t happen much on soaps. Im not sure I can actually remember that happening anywhere else

I thought the acting this week was superb paticularly between Sheila and Tracey very hard scenes, Sheila's a devout Catholic so she can never accept an abortion.
But Tracey was brilliant sticking up for herself and making the choices right for her
And now its all come out about sue, s deceit
And Max and Patricia Farnham !!

Yes, it was a good binge this morning.

The Corkhill scenes were particularly good. I don't usually like crime in soaps - well, not beyond very pedestrian things - and the gangsters or whatever is going on around Joey Thingy would normally put me off, but I stayed interested. The scenes between Sheila and Tracey (and Barry) were a hard watch. The Sue/Terry scenes were good too, although I do think Sue usually overacts.

I remember the Farnhams well, but am struggling to think of a particular storyline. It all comes back to me as it happens, usually.

Is anyone watching this for the first time, or are we all old hands on the thread? I'd be interested to hear what younger people think about the attitudes. I'd have been in my 20s at the start, and thought pretty much everyone was either much older or younger than me, or at different life stages anyway. If Chrissy had Sammy when she was about 18 she can only be in her mid 30s now (now in Brookside) but both she and Frank seem a lot older.

Im 52 and I watched it pretty much from the beginning with my Dad he was a big fan and woukd watch the Saturday omnibus
However i don't remember a lot of the storyline, sat all yes I think Chrissie is supposed to be about 37 ,she said she sammie at 20 ,Frank said his Dad died in 1954 when he was 8 so he must be about 44,they do look older ,but the clothes dont help.

I’m 53 and watched from the start until it got too gangster like - was that 1993 ish?

I can't remember exactly but towards the end it got increasingly ridiculous. With over the top storyline, s much like the current soap opera, s
It was such a shame because it was ground breaking in its day.

I watched from the start - it was great having a soap set in Liverpool!
They all look much older than people do now - I think maybe clothes and hairstyles. Plus most of them would have been working since 16 or even 14 for older ones and they had grown up faster than our DC do these days - you were much more independent from an early age.

It happened in Eastenders with Daniella Westbrook playing Sam Mitchell, then they brought in Kim Medcalf to play her and then went back to Daniella again

I’m 56 and watched from the start. It was a TV show that we all talked about at school, I’m really enjoying rewatching it all. Happy to see the first glimpse of Max and Patricia this week, I don’t think the Dixons can be far off either now that Paul and Annabelle’s house is for sale.

New head Gordon seemed so much older than original Gordon, and the Lucys both seemed older than they should’ve been.

I don’t think I ever realised how dramatic Sheila was - I always remembered her as a strong, straight-talking woman! The scenes with her/Tracey etc over the pregnancy are very well played.

Born in early 80s so obviously no memories of the early days. But it’s interesting watching life as it was in the UK then , particularly the 80s.
The Jackson twins would be in their 50s by now ! Yes may behind !

It’s so sad to see how the Collins family left - must have been so hard for Paul Wiggins to do.

It must. Bad enough to lose a close colleague in that way, but to lose your job as a result (particularly as he was unlikely to get another ) would be even worse. I never found new Gordon or new Lucy very convincing. Paul and Annabelle were, and even Louise was vaguely credible, but there was something about the younger Collins' that never really worked for me.

I really like Sinbad. He's such a hapless pillock, but has a heart of gold. He plays a similar character just now in Classic Corrie.

Do you think that Louise went to Kendal too?

No after her and Lucy argued she went out and shoplifted which made Paul and Annabelle feel they couldn't continue with the fostering, it all ended very abruptly ,because I assume of Doreen Sloanes death ,i think they had other storyline, s lined up including Louise and Lucy.but obviously couldn't continue

Yes, it was a strange way to write Louise out. It might have been more satisfactory to have all the Collins' move to Kendal (with Annabelle already there, so offstage) and take Louise with them.

According to the digital spy thread on classic Brookside, prior to Doreen Sloans illness, the Collins family were due to stay for some time.Someone mentioned that Jim Wiggins ( Paul Collins) didn’t want to take part in the show after Doreen Sloans death which was all the more reason to have the family written out.

Yes it must have been sad for Jim Wiggins leaving , because he’d lost a real life friend aswell as lost his acting job.

I haven’t seen it yet , but he apparently he didn’t get much of a send of either had he , basically just drove out of Brookside Close without so much as a goodbye . Bearing in mind he’d been in it since the start.

Even Alan Partridge got a good send off and he was in the Close for not much more than 18 months..