LEEJ88
Telly Talk Member
I think the decline began with the drawn rape story of Nikki Shadwick what does everyone else think???
Haha!Once Billy and Sheila leave for Basingstoke and it turns into the Jimmy Corkhill Show, I'm out of there.
It was sliding in the ratings before Channel 4 pulled the plug as people tired of the plots. Gangsters, the boring rape storyline and over reliance on ClaireThe way Channel 4 treated it was disgraceful was there flagship soap and they moved it around and then axed it.
I'm 331 episodes into a Brookside re-re-watch and I'm hoping STV will catch up with me at some point so I can switch over to their eps instead which are bound to be a bit nicer looking than the DVD-of-a-videotape-of-a-1990s-cable-TV-rerun quality I'm currently watching (which is still a lot, lot better than nothing). But they'll only have until virtual 1990 cos that's when the series ends for me.I saw someone on Twitter pointing out that at five episodes a week, it’ll take eleven years to rerun the entire series.
Brookside is getting a rerun for the first time since it went off air 20 years ago. STV in Scotland is making it available for streaming via their player service.
their High Road rerun (which is currently on 1990).
But they'll only have until virtual 1990 cos that's when the series ends for me.
Can I ask, what was it that marked the end of the series for you in 1990? I think my first recollection of the show was when Sue was pushed off the scaffolding circa 1991 but I was still a kid then and only knew of it because my mother was a casual viewer. I recall the Jordache saga too but it was probably the mid-90’s when I started watching it with any regularity myself. It was all Jimmy Corkhill and Casa Bevron at that stage, so I missed that imperial phase of the 80’s. Was it any particular character’s departure in 1990 or just a general shift in the show?But they'll only have until virtual 1990 cos that's when the series ends for me.
Not to add to your quandary but the early years are available “elsewhere”.I noticed this and got all excited until I saw that episodes appear to begin somewhere in the 600s. Probably just as well. If they had the early years on there I'd be sorely tempted and even more torn.
It's when Billy and Sheila are written out. The series had just gone to three episodes a week and it was already starting to feel more like a conventional soap, with everyone going in and out of each other's houses and confiding their problems at the drop of a hat. Then they introduce the shopping parade and suddenly everyone's working with and for each other as well, and it starts existing in its own little bubble with less and less connection to the outside world. That kind of thing worked fine on Coronation Street and EastEnders because of the rich history and mythology surrounding those shows' respective communities, but on Brookside, there wasn't the same depth and it felt bland and artificial. And as the characters became more two-dimensional, the storylines became increasingly issue-based and supposedly "edgy" and "real", but to me it all just seemed sensationalised and hollow. A bit like Torchwood without the monsters.Can I ask, what was it that marked the end of the series for you in 1990?
It's when Billy and Sheila are written out. The series had just gone to three episodes a week and it was already starting to feel more like a conventional soap, with everyone going in and out of each other's houses and confiding their problems at the drop of a hat. Then they introduce the shopping parade and suddenly everyone's working with and for each other as well, and it starts existing in its own little bubble with less and less connection to the outside world. That kind of thing worked fine on Coronation Street and EastEnders because of the rich history and mythology surrounding those shows' respective communities, but on Brookside, there wasn't the same depth and it felt bland and artificial. And as the characters became more two-dimensional, the storylines became increasingly issue-based and supposedly "edgy" and "real", but to me it all just seemed sensationalised and hollow. A bit like Torchwood without the monsters.
Thanks for the insights here. It’s very interesting to hear of the issues that the show experienced around the turn of the decade. In various retrospectives, the conclusion of the body-under-the-patio saga is often cited as the start of the downturn, as the writers tried to top that in terms of sensationalism but there were obviously issues before then.The shine started to come off around 1988/89 especially the way Sheila seemed to become a bit of loose end, wedged into the Corkhills after a stint in a bedsit. There were aspects of the story I loved, mainly the conflicts and discomfort in the family but it didn't feel quite as purposeful as years before. I enjoyed the new era of the Farnhams and Dixons and Johnsons coming in pre-Parade. They were characters I knew and did give a shot of energy after the show felt a bit rudderless and burned through some flop household units. Then if I think about it, it's probably Jimmy/Jackie taking greater roles that represented the nosedive. They weren't solely to blame but from that point, everything felt very forced and there was a great deal of pretty dreadful filler. The final few years I tried to keep an open mind with but some of it was genuinely unwatchable.
Things get really complicated when Pat, a girl in Damon's class, shows up.Billy Corkhill posing as a teacher for Karen Grant, I wonder if he knew Monty...
I love little bits of info like this.I noticed during my current re-watch that the one episode Tracy Corkhill's real-life granddad, Peter Kerrigan,
I’m digging in my mind who the grandmother was, I’m thinking Julia Brogan but I don’t feel as confident. But now I’ve typed that, I’m starting to believe it and have fond memories of her being very funny.also the first episode that her fictional grandmother appears in -- only as a different character, so watch out for that!
I love little bits of info like this.I noticed during my current re-watch that the one episode Tracy Corkhill's real-life granddad, Peter Kerrigan,
I’m digging in my mind who the grandmother was, I’m thinking Julia Brogan but I don’t feel as confident. But now I’ve typed that, I’m starting to believe it and have fond memories of her being very funny.also the first episode that her fictional grandmother appears in -- only as a different character, so watch out for that!