- Network: Channel 4
- Series Premiere Date: Nov 2, 1982
Summary:
The first episode was shown on Channel 4's opening night, November 2nd 1982 at 8pm. Initially screening twice weekly, it created hysteria in its opening months as bad-language and poor acting meant the series was panned by critics and viewers alike. However, after its first year, 'Brookside' became extremely popular and was Channel 4's top rated series for the rest of the 1980's.
High points from the early years included the terrifying siege from 1985 in which 3 characters were held hostage in Number 7 by a crazed gunman. The following year, perennial favourite Sheila Grant (Sue Johnston) was sexually attacked and the writers of 'Brookside' sensitively handled the issue with admirable restraint. It was also during 1986 that 'Brookside's most long-running and popular character Jimmy Corkhill (Dean Sullivan) first appeared.
It was at the turn of the 1990's that things started to change. A third episode was added to the schedule and to accommodate this extra air time, a new shopping parade was built and new characters and storylines tended to revolve more around Brookside Parade than good old Brookside Close. Perhaps 'Brookside's most remembered storyline came in 1993 with the arrival of the Jordache family. Mandy (Sandra Maitland), Beth (Anna Friel)and Rachel (Tiffany Chapman) were the victims of a hard-hitting domestic & sexual abuse storyline which climaxed with them murdering violent father Trevor (Brian Murray) and burying him under the patio! Here, 'Brookside' celebrated its highest ever audience figures of 8.5 million viewers.
However, the need to shock and create sensational storylines is what ultimately killed 'Brookside'. 1996 saw the soap at its most contentious with the new, posh Simpson family. Viewers were subjected to incest as Brother and Sister Nat & Georgia jumped into bed together! And, with the re-appearance of Clair Sweeney as Lindsay Corkhill, the soap descended into gangsters, guns, murders and a good 3 years of explosions and carnage that wasn't all that well executed and viewers switched off in their droves. An attempt to take the show 'back to its roots' in 2002 completely backfired with the addition of the hideously mis-cast Gordon family. In 2002, just as the soap was celebrating its 20th Birthday (with yet another siege involving armed drug-dealers, culminating in a Police helicopter crashing on Brookside Parade!!), Channel 4 announced it was relegating its flagship soap to a 'graveyard' Saturday afternoon slot after...
Details
| Network: | Channel 4 |
|---|---|
| Genre(s): | Drama, Soap |
| Seasons: | 70, 69, 68, 67, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 |
| Cast | Credit |
|---|---|
| Simon Chadwick | Dave Burns |
| Bernie Nolan | Diane Murray |
| Kenneth Cope | Ray Hilton |
| Meg Johnson | Brigid McKenna |
| Michael Starke | Sinbad (Thomas Sweeney) |
| Barbara Hatwell | Anthea Dixon |
| Glynn Pritchard | Christy Murray |
| Raymond Quinn | Anthony Murray |
| Katy Lamont | Adele Murray |
| Steven Fletcher | Steve Murray |
| Neil Caple | Marty Murray |
| Jean Heywood | Kitty Hilton |
| Anne-Marie Davies | Katrina 'Trona' Evans |
| Alexandra Wescourt | Shelley Bowers |
| Adam McCoy | Josh McLoughlin |
| Marcus Hutton | Nathan Cuddington |
| Timothy Deenihan | Dr Darren Roebuck |
| Sarah White | Bev McLoughlin |
| Tiffany Chapman | Rachel Dixon |
| "Baby" John Burgess | David 'Bing' Crosbie |
| Dean Sullivan | Jimmy Corkhill |
| Claire Sweeney | Lindsey Phelan |
| Marji Campi | Jessie Shadwick |
| Diane Burke | Katie Rogers |
| Louis Emerick | Mick Johnson |
| Irene Marot | DD (Deborah) Dixon |
| Vince Earl | Ron Dixon |
| Alexandra Fletcher | Jacqui Dixon |
| Paul Byatt | Mike Dixon |
| Gerard Bostock | Tony Dixon |
| Steven Pinder | Max Farnham |
| Sue Jenkins | Jackie Corkhill |
| Karen Drury | Susannah Morrisey |
| Samuel Kane | Peter Phelan |
| Philip Olivier | Tim 'Tinhead' O'Leary |
| Steven Cole | Leo Johnson |
| Lewis Davies | William Corkhill |
| Suzanne Collins (II) | Nikki Shadwick |
| Jennifer Ellison | Emily Shadwick |
| Hannah Dowd | Kylie Stanlow |
| Patricia Potter | Victoria Seagram |
| Leon Lopez | Jerome Johnson |
| Debra Beaumont | Deborah Lawson |
