Brookside reruns - Part two

[Famua]

A second thread for Brookie watchers….

My dad retired at 56 in 2017 with a full government pension, him and my step mum were mortgage free and she was an also a civil servant . Retiring in your 50s isn’t that common now but people still do depending on their financial circumstances.

My step mum’s dad ( I didn’t know him back in the 1980s) would have had a British telecom pension that would have been a government one, before it was privatised which happened a bit later. So it would have been generous with 30 plus years.

As for Harry, was born in the 1920s, as was the actor . Same for Paul Collins. They were war time generation, and I think both served in the war in real life too.

Sadly that generation has pretty much all but gone now, but I suppose that’s down to the passage of time.

Bit of trivia, Edna, well the actress rather , was in the very first episode of Coronation Street.

Edna did seem like an old lady, but presumably at the age she was at the start of Brookside she'd be of working age now.

@ShyMaryEllen - definitely by the mid 90s, which is where we are now in Brookside?

Brookside is currently in August 1990.

i think it was all public sectors workers who got early retirement. I do remember the move to reduce the number of teachers and teachers going at 50! I think it was easier to retire through ill health then. Now, in the company I work for, only a terminal illness or extreme condition like paralysis would get you retirement through ill health. I guess that’s the flip side of employers making reasonable adjustments and thus minimising the circumstances in which someone is not fit for work.

Yes, that's a good point. I know there were initiatives for all age groups to cut the unemployment figures - YOP schemes, early retirement, voluntary redundancy and so on, and retirement on grounds of ill health was probably part of that.

She was 62 in real life but did look older ! Older people did dress for the time it was..

Absolutely women in their early 60,s these days can look very glamorous
I have said this before but looking at my parents wedding album circa early 70,s my paternal grandmother was only about 54 ( im 52 for context) but her outfit and hairstyle made her look much older she could have been anywhere from 50 to 75

Was just thinking, Harry’s son Kevin was a teacher. And the actor would later become Mr Robson who was a teacher in Grange Hill.

And George Jackson , the fireman would later have a re-occurring role as a fireman in London’s Burning.

Well that’s it - Sheila has gone!

Yep its the end of an era
They have pretty much replaced the entire cast .

So sad to see her go.
Nice to see Margaret and Marcia coming in though.
But Max F saying “the coloured people next door” - it was 1990 😱

So im quite enjoying the new episodes with the Farnhams snd the Dixons
New era with different story lines
How old is Margaret supposed to be?
Maybe 18?
It must be strange to live with a couple in their ( im assuming ) mid to late 30,s .

Way behind , but I believe 1990 saw the show have an almost total recast..

In think all of the 80s families had left by then?

I think Nicola Stephenson ( Margaret) was about 18 or 19 in real life and Max and Patricia were early 30s, well the actors were.

Is ‘Patricia Farnham’ still in Coronation Street? I’ve seen her in Black Adder aswell.

Ive not seen ‘Max Farnham ‘ in anything else though.

now reached my era just about when I started watching.

Somehow I always confuse Max Farnham
and Richard Madeley in my head. Not so much the looks, more the voice and mannerisms!

Yes three new families if you count the Johnson, s
And whilst the Corkhills are still around Billy ,Sheila and Claire have left its definitely the start of a new era the actress who played Patricia Farnham was in Corrie for a few months in the late 90,s

Yes I kind of see what you mean ,plus I think they were still filming This morning at the Albert Docks in 1990?

Yes, the floating map was still there then!

Aww the floating map was great!

I’ve been looking forward to seeing the moby again 🤣

Has Mick bought the house from Harry, or is he renting it?

Hes renting it at the moment but Harry says he wants a long term tenant and has allowed him to decorate it to his taste, which doesnt sound like Harry ,but I assume the actor had left at that point
They seem to have a very big garden for a relatively small bungalow ?

Thanks. I wondered about the furniture and decorating. I thought he rented it at first, but was confused by the (as you say) un-Harrylike nature of the arrangement.

So funny! I am with Max on this one - your heart would sink!

It really would😂.

So now we've got Terry and the Corkhill leftovers in the semis, the Dixons, the Rogers and Farnham's in the detached, and Mick in the bungalow. Is that right? Are there three detached houses? Originally there were the Grants and the Collinses in the detached ones, the 2 semis and the bungalow. Have I misplaced a house somewhere? 😀

A lot has happened since the reruns started. I often find it slow when I'm watching, but it's covered a lot of ground, really.

Yeah there are the two semis - with the Corkhill and then Jonathan and Terry, then the Dixon house, the Farnham house, Mick's bungalow and the Rogers' house.
I'm way too invested in Brookside - I even bought a book years ago with the floorplans of each house in.
I always wanted either the Farnham house or the Corkhill house, although rewatching as an adult, I prefer Jonathan's.

Originally the third detached house was Harry and Edna but they then moved into the bungalow and rented that out.