Brookside Brookside

[Spells & Karma]

Frank Cottrell-Boyce was on a special edition of University Challenge last night, representing Keble, Oxford, where he had studied English from 1979-1985. He was introduced as the current Children's Laureate.

Last night I tuned in to see Frank's team returning.

I'd say he was the most impressive player. I didn't watch from the beginning, but certainly for the last two thirds he was the person who buzzed in the most and he was invariably correct. Economist Paul Johnson helped with the heavy lifting and they carried their team who evidently would have struggled without them there.

It was the same story last night. Keble were given a tougher run for their money by the opposing team this time, but within the team Frank was the best player, answering the most questions, with Paul Johnson contributing nicely at times.

Honestly, though, their success was no thanks to their teammates. The captain did well at winging an occasional answer if nobody came up with anything, so at least she had a go, but with the fourth I was struck by the irony of the career feminist looking to a man to answer all the questions while (by my count) contributing to just one (conferred) answer in the entire thirty minutes.

 

[Spells & Karma]

Last night I watched the final of Christmas University Challenge. Frank, once again, was very impressive with his wealth of knowledge and the ease with which he recalled it. Sadly, it wasn't enough. The other team deserved their win for the fact that all four of its members contributed consistently and put in teamwork.

Frank came across as a very charming and likeable character, with a youthful kind of energy that makes him perfect for the role of Children's Laureate.


It's taken me down a little rabbit hole of FCB interviews and talks. Such as this one about his role as Laureate.

Or his Eulogy For The Lost, addressing the Covid pandemic:

I've yet to find anything that directly addresses his screenwriting for TV, but I'm enjoying looking.


Sadly, I've realised that one of the last Brookside episodes I watched was Frank's swan song. The series really was haemorrhaging talent during 1989-90.


I've been avoiding getting back to Brookie since my last batch of episodes a month ago (which is how I came to stumble upon University Challenge in the first place). I feel I'm getting ready to leave it behind. Already there are thirty episodes waiting for me, and while that should be exciting, it's starting to feel like a full in-tray is waiting for me.

 

[James from London]

I've been avoiding getting back to Brookie since my last batch of episodes a month ago (which is how I came to stumble upon University Challenge in the first place). I feel I'm getting ready to leave it behind. Already there are thirty episodes waiting for me, and while that should be exciting, it's starting to feel like a full in-tray is waiting for me.

I've got a couple of years worth waiting for me! I'm going to try and make a dent in them today.

Oh and just seen an ad on STV Player for Take the High Road, which they're showing from the very beginning. Intriguing ... but it might be a bit hardcore, even for me!

 

[Spells & Karma]

I've got a couple of years worth waiting for me! I'm going to try and make a dent in them today.

Oh my. That's a serious challenge. I hope the mission has been successful and you've got a few under the belt.

Oh and just seen an ad on STV Player for Take the High Road, which they're showing from the very beginning.

I remember talking about High Road earlier in the thread, and all the early years were no longer on STV. I guess they must have added all the way through to the end and are now re-dropping the early years. I'd imagine this might be an indication of the "wash, rinse, repeat" pattern STV will take with Brookside once they get towards the end.

Intriguing ... but it might be a bit hardcore, even for me!

I've got over a thousand episodes of A Country Practice on the shelf, and the sheer volume feels very daunting. Much as I'd like to, I don't think I'd dare add another series with a similar volume of episodes to the queue.

Did you ever watch Take The High Road? I remember watching regularly somewhere around the late-Eighties/early-Nineties when they were trying to inject some social topics in among the village gossip and someone giving the wrong change at the shop.

Oh, and I'm smiling at the term "hardcore" being used in conjunction with High Road. Mrs Mac would be clutching her pearls at the very thought.

 

[James from London]

I hope the mission has been successful and you've got a few under the belt.

Thanks! I actually managed ten yesterday. Mind you, it helps that I'm watching about half the households on fast forward at this point.

Did you ever watch Take The High Road?

I don't think so. I have vague memories of the odd scene here and there, but I don't think I was ever a regular viewer.

Oh, and I'm smiling at the term "hardcore" being used in conjunction with High Road. Mrs Mac would be clutching her pearls at the very thought.

Ha! I must have seen enough to know that Mrs Mac belongs in the Dot Cotton/Mrs Mangel/Edna Birch category.

 

[Spells & Karma]

I actually managed ten yesterday.

Wow. That's up there with the pace I was bingeing Sons and Daughters on our watchalong.

I managed one episode last night, with the blow of re-entry softened by the presence of Sheila, Billy, Harry and Paul (and, happily, the absence of Sue).

Mind you, it helps that I'm watching about half the households on fast forward at this point.

Yes, and I don't have to guess which half.

I must have seen enough to know that Mrs Mac belongs in the Dot Cotton/Mrs Mangel/Edna Birch category.

She's possibly also out there in pop culture in a roundabout kind of way for being a partial inspiration for Mrs Overall (including the name).

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Brookside's Philip Olivier and Suzanne Collins join Hollyoaks

The worlds of Hollyoaks and Brookside will collide once again as two familiar faces join the cast.

www.bbc.com

I figured we might see something like this after the anniversary crossover. Sinbad is apparently back as well, as he was featured in the 2026 trailer. It isn’t enough to entice me to watch Hollyoaks on a regular basis, as what I saw around the anniversary was woeful but I’m glad to see the actors working on TV again.

 

[Spells & Karma]

It isn’t enough to entice me to watch Hollyoaks on a regular basis,

I feel a little relieved that they're characters I either don't know or feel ambivalent towards. If they installed Grants and Corkhills I probably still wouldn't commit but I'd feel more conflicted about it.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Did you ever watch Take The High Road? I remember watching regularly somewhere around the late-Eighties/early-Nineties when they were trying to inject some social topics in among the village gossip and someone giving the wrong change at the shop.

I don't think so. I have vague memories of the odd scene here and there, but I don't think I was ever a regular viewer.

I was a semi-regular Take the High Road viewer, solely because it was my mother’s soap of choice when I’d come home from school at lunchtime (it ran daily at 12.30 on RTE1). I’ve also vague recollections of it from its Sunday afternoon slot on UTV.

From what I recall, it was a gentle enough affair for at least its first decade. As you said, a lot of drama focused around the shop and life working on the big estate. Somewhere around the early 90’s, it was nearly axed, so they dropped Take The and did a mini revamp into High Road by turning it into a kind of Scottish Emmerdale with murder and infidelity becoming more prominent. Lady Laird Sam Hagen and estate manager Sneddon are the two characters that I remember most, as well as the infamous Mrs. Mack and Isobel from the shop. I think the 80’s era might be a bit too slow for me, but I’d rewatch the 90’s episodes if I’d the time.

I feel a little relieved that they're characters I either don't know or feel ambivalent towards. If they installed Grants and Corkhills I probably still wouldn't commit but I'd feel more conflicted about it.

Agreed. As late stage Brookside characters, Nikki and Tinhead won’t feel out of place in Chester but I’d hate to see a character like Sheila Grant sullied by having to participate in the nonsense of Hollyoaks (although some damage was done in that dreadful Brookside Lost Weekend spinoff where Lindsay Corkhill was kidnapped while dressed as Cher).

 

[Spells & Karma]

Somewhere around the early 90’s, it was nearly axed, so they dropped Take The and did a mini revamp into High Road by turning it into a kind of Scottish Emmerdale with murder and infidelity becoming more prominent.

I have memories of it going to a Melrosesque wailing electric guitar version of the theme around this time. They pulled out all the stops.

In his documentary series with Miriam Margolyes, Alan Cumming spoke about playing a killer in TTHR, and some clips of his scenes were shown. Because of the tone of the revamp I thought it must have been Nineties, but I just checked and it appears his episodes were 1986, so he must have been ahead of the curve.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I have memories of it going to a Melrosesque wailing electric guitar version of the theme around this time. They pulled out all the stops.

There was initial talk of it being axed around 1990, which is when they updated the theme and introduced more storylines focusing on teens (which apparently drew criticism from some of the older cast). There was a further revamp around 1993/94 when it was nearly axed after ITV regions starting dropping it from their schedules. That was the one when they shortened the title to High Road and brought back Sam Hagen as the new Laird.

In his documentary series with Miriam Margolyes, Alan Cumming spoke about playing a killer in TTHR, and some clips of his scenes were shown. Because of the tone of the revamp I thought it must have been Nineties, but I just checked and it appears his episodes were 1986, so he must have been ahead of the curve.

I see his character being described as an “evil woodcutter”!

 

[Spells & Karma]

Episodes 762 - 806
14 February - 13 July 1990
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Tonally, there’s been a period of floundering. I heard a death knell sound when Sinbad and Jimmy worked their way into Number Seven moments after the Chois left. The sight of these two in their Kevin and Perry gear holding a noisy barbecue is arguably as dire as the series has been to this point. Even with the allowance that their dodgy dealings at least highlight the “everyday crime” aspect that has long been a series hallmark, it’s beyond unwatchable and feels very much like a point of no return for the series. Jimmy then segueing into the “intense” dramatics over their brother Frankie’s killer being released from prison is hardly an improvement, since it offers a taste of what is still to come in abundance when the series begins centring around Jimmy and his family.

The standard soap interactions and scenarios are increasing. Harry knocking on all the neighbours’ doors to try and borrow a suitcase is in character for him, but then we have Sue doing the same thing, begging these practical strangers to babysit her infant while she works. And in any given scene it’s no longer a rare surprise to find someone from another household making themselves at home in a neighbour’s kitchen or lounge. Long gone are the days when the neighbours interacted cautiously and held back. Everyone knows everyone else’s business.

Sometimes these scenes pay off. Michael Choi’s farewell party kind of worked. Yes, it was dragged down by heavily featuring Sue’s dramatics and Sinbad’s buffoonery, but at least the latter showed us Paul’s irritation with the lack of grace. We also had Lucy Collins annoying Tracey by remembering old times in France with Barry, as well as Lucy making eyes at a very disinterested Jonathan.

The party was most notable for playing what sounded like actual pop music. That ersatz SAW song Never Gonna Fall In Love Again - played on a loop on every character’s radio for at least half a decade now, providing the soundtrack to every young character’s bedroom scene and any night out - continues to appear, along with the one or two other songs recorded for the series, but I’m hoping this is a sign we’re on the way out.

Going back further, episode #765 (#769 by STV numbering) had a one-scene meeting of the resident’s group, which was in some ways a last chance for a number of soon-to-depart characters - Paul; Harry; Billy and Sheila; Michael Choi; Jonathan - to assemble in one place, chortling away like cheeky schoolchildren or showing irritation as Paul and Harry at the top table debated the fine details of the previous meetings and their roles in the current proceedings. Andrew Lynch added a vein of natural banter that worked really well:

It was democratically decided we’d call [the group] BRAG: Brookside Residents’ Action Group.

BRAG?You are a card, Harry.

I suppose we could call it something else.

We could take it from the time it was formed, like Black September. We could call ourselves confusing Saturday.

Confusing Saturday goin’ on to Pancake Tuesday.

Or we could merge with David Owen’s party and call ourselves something different every week.

It was in this same episode that Sheila’s scathing put-downs made Jimmy and Sinbad’s scheme-of-the-week (installing dodgy satellite dishes that it turns out will only pick up horse racing because they’re stolen from the bookies) tolerable to watch.

Sheila and Billy’s levity was much-needed given the disagreement over wanting to formalise their relationship was just around the corner (it was nice to see a scene filmed on the terrace of the Metropolitan Cathedral. And in the midst of this and discovering Bobby’s new lover is pregnant after the reversal of his vasectomy along comes Karen, like a breath of fresh air. Since nothing was said either way, seeing her at Number Ten has had me casting my mind back trying to remember if Karen had been inside before, and I can’t remember her ever doing so before.

Karen’s return was all-too-brief but there was at least opportunity for conflict with Sheila, and a bit of friction with Billy until she seemed to decide he was good enough.

The Godden business aside, the key drama in the household has come from Tracy. The stalker business with Liam felt very plot-driven, clunky and shoehorned in for some quick drama. There was no real nuance around the character of Liam, which is wasteful since there was opportunity for pathos. Instead he was a purely functional character whose only purpose was go give Tracy something to do (though I admit a pang of nostalgia at seeing the Heinz Tomato Soup lad).It’s a storyline that feels symptomatic of the series’ weakness as it enters the Nineties: the notion that exciting stuff has to be happening all the time, taking the path of least resistance, which is to bring it in from outside and speed it along. It was difficult to believe Tracy would put up with this and let it get as far as it did, and it seems to have been quickly all-but-forgotten in the pregnancy drama, which has yielded some gold.

Is Tracy the first character on the series to have an abortion? I can’t remember anyone else. It seems almost surprising Brookside has taken the best part of eight years to tackle it, but at the same time it was a hugely character-driven series for most of the Eighties and perhaps there was simply no need.

The tension between Billy and Barry has been great, with crackling dynamics. Things began to ease when Tracy vanished and they were looking for her, with Billy even cooking Barry a meal out of appreciation. After such a hard won breakthrough, an almost immediate regression into antagonism could have felt lazy and cheap on the part of the writers, but with emotions heightened after Tracy’s abortion it felt truthful enough.

continued…

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​

 

[Spells & Karma]

Episodes 762 - 806
14 February - 13 July 1990

continued

​

I marvel at Sue Johnston playing these scenes with such passion despite her outlook being so different from Sheila’s. It's a masterclass that should be studied by any diva who refuses to speak a scripted line for their character that is somehow in opposition with their own personal beliefs.

Billy supporting Tracy’s abortion and him considering whether to avenge his brother’s death creates a divide between him and Sheila. Then in Episode #802 (#806 by STV count) there’s a wonderful scene from Peter Cox where the two sit down at the dining table (burgers in a bun and salad, I think). Given recent form, it feels it will quickly escalate into another argument about Tracy’s decision or the feud with Godden, and it starts out suggesting this will be the case. But it then takes a surprising - and rewarding - turn into something much deeper that reminds us just how much they have in common:

How am I supposed to feel when I see ‘im standin’ there in front of me, laughin’ at me? This fella killed me brother.

You ‘aven’t got a monopoly on grief, you know… How many times d’you think I said if anyone touches any of my kids I’d kill ‘em. I’d worry about it later, but I’d kill ‘em. What did I do when our Damon died? I cried. An’ then I stopped crying an’ I got on with it. I got on with me life.

What d’you think I’ve been doin’ since Frankie got killed?

Same as me. Living with it.

Well I don’t have to live with it anymore, do I. I mean, you can live with it, with yourself, for Damon. I mean, you manage that all right, don’t you?

Huh! I do not ‘manage it all right’. I ‘ate it. I don’t go around with it written across me forehead, but it’s all going on inside here. It won’t go away no matter how many walls I build. No matter ‘ow much I try and fill me mind with other things. It's still going on. The loss of that kid will not leave me alone. But you’ve gotta get up in the morning, haven’t ya. You’ve gotta go shoppin’. I mean, you can’t let all the pain you’re feelin’ inside come burstin’ out by the baked bean stand in Tescos, can ya…?

I feel like when I’m old and grey an’ sittin’ in me rockin’ chair in the window I’ll still be waitin’ for him to walk up the path. I’ll still be waitin’ for him to come through the door. I’ll still be waiting for him to bring his bag of dirty washing round. That’s how I feel. I mean, you see lads around his age in the street, wearin’ their Liverpool scarves. Sometimes I’ve thought ‘Oh, God, it’s him. Damon’. An’ afterwards you know it’s only your mind playin’ tricks because you so wanted it to be him. So desperately wanted it to be ‘im.

When the news came on after Hillsborough, I sat upstairs on the edge of the bath an’ I cried for hours. Couldn’t cry enough tears that day. An’ I know half of them were for our Damon. Because if he’d been alive he’d still have been there. I know he died a stupid death, but at least he was spared the tragedy those other families had to go through. When we went to Anfield an’ we walked past the Kop, through all those flowers an’ scarves and things, I could see him standin’ there. He’d pointed out his spec to me so many times on Match Of The Day. An’ I thought, well, he might have died a long way from ‘ome. I mean, he might have died a long way from his mates, but at least he’s got a few around him now. At least he’s got a few of the lads he can share his stories with. At least he’s not on his own anymore. You’ve just got to accept it. It’s happened. Ya loved ‘em dry, an’ now they’ve gone. An’ you’re either just gonna kill yourself, aren't you, or you’re gonna get on with it.

It’s hard, in’t it? It’s hard.

​

The scene turns things around and now it's not about Tracy's abortion or Jimmy going after Godden or stresses over the upcoming wedding. It's simply two people who (cliche as it sounds) understand the other one's pain. The way these two work together, with John McArdle’s perfectly pitched reactions to Sue Johnston’s passionate delivery makes the scene. It’s my favourite scene of this entire run of episodes, and up there with Brookie at its best.

continued…​

 

[Spells & Karma]

Episodes 762 - 806
14 February - 13 July 1990

continued

​

1990’s exodus is very evident in this run of episodes, characterised by ending after ending. The only consolation is that the doors have swung both ways to give a couple of very welcome - if temporary - returns.

And so it’s “farewell, Chois. We hardly knew ye”. It would be easy to believe that their short stint was exactly as the creative team planned it, with a particularly satisfying arc for David, overcoming his grief and cultural expectations to build a new blended family with Alison before they all jet off to a new life. Caroline’s high stakes business drama, being defrauded by her partner in business and romance, may not have been as compelling as it could (I could ungenerously call it “dull”), but I never really had a problem watching this storyline go through its predictable motions. There was something I found quietly reliable about this household. They may not have set the screen alight, but they worked for me, and they had the grace to leave while they were still watchable.

Gone, too, is Harry. His exit was remarkably low-key. I mistakenly thought he left a couple of months after he did, so I was keeping my eye on Lucy Collins thinking this was her departure. It was only after I double-checked and realised that was it for Harry. Because of this, I couldn’t even tell you what happened in his final scene, overshadowed as it was by big drama for Tracy Corkhill. It’s kind of funny that the Chois and even Ralph were given more closure than Harry. As he’d already gone to Las Vegas for a stint shorty before his final departure, I wonder if it was planned for Harry to be more of a semi-regularly recurring character than what we got.

Holding the torch at Number Six is Mick, whose profile has been significantly increased, even if the writing for him is very unflattering. Within the space of a few episodes, his young daughter almost drowned because he wasn’t watching her. Next time we saw him he lost Monty and tried to pass off a replacement to Harry, spinning a web of lies. Then he took in a kitten and lost that. There was also the business of him hiring out Harry’s car while Harry was away. And he’s ransacked Harry’s bedroom and attic and given Katie Rogers a load of old newspapers Harry had clearly kept for a reason. It’s just been a series of bad choices for the sake of manufacturing some plot-driven filler. On paper, he’s very frustrating and certainly unnecessary since between the Growler/Bumper and Jimmy/Sinbad double-acts there is, unfortunately, already a glut of “wacky schemes and antics” sub-plots. It’s a good thing Mick is played by an actor as charismatic and likeable as Louis Emerick, because even with such material Mick still feels like a character with potential. Josie’s first few episodes also show promise. There’s a touch of the Doreen Corkhill to the way she wraps Mick around her little finger, the big difference being that Josie is Mick’s “estranged wife” (as was oft repeated in an episode) and Josie goes further by toying with Mick’s affections.

The most notable departure is that of the entire Collins family, with the death of Doreen Sloane only adding to the sense of loss. With Doreen Sloane in the end stages of cancer, I’m sure she would have had very limited energy and I was pleasantly surprised in these final scenes - presumably filmed just weeks before her death - that, while she had noticeably lost weight, she also appeared quite radiant and kept up with the quick and lively banter within the family.

Quick and lively banter may not be a Collins trait in recent years, but a hugely positive thing to come from this final storyline was the return of Katrin Cartlidge as the OG Lucy. Oh my God - what a shot of adrenaline she’s brought to this family. Suddenly, everything in the household works. Seeing her treat whiny Louise like muck, freezing her out of the family and and seeing through the attention-seeking victim behaviour was a joy, and what’s more I believed it. Perhaps I should feel more sympathy towards Louise than I did, but it’s all felt like badly thought out plot-driven contrivance, and I never believed for a minute that Annabelle would take in a stalker who had appeared before her in court.

There’s a terrific scene where the entire Collins family is in the living room, Lucy and Gordon quipping back and forth, with Paul and Annabelle joining in with a kind of mock disapproval, but clearly happy to have the family together again. The focus is mostly on Poor Louise feeling excluded but I was just really taken with the energy of the scene. It feels Katrin has really brought out the best in anyone with whom she shares a screen. Gordon’s reactions to Lucy’s selfishness and snarking are an example of this. Even though I’m conscious she hasn’t worked with the recast Gordon before, I still find them believable as brother and sister. Remarkably, seeing the two together, I find myself thinking that they do connect up with Nigel Crowley’s Gordon. When I envisage how he might have played the scenes with Lucy, that’s pretty much what Mark Burgess delivered.

I find myself thinking how very different the series - and the Collins family in particular - may have become in the late Eighties had Katrin stuck with the series. I suspect her return was a respectful tribute to the series’ origins and in particular to Doreen Sloane, and that shows a great deal of class in itself. The fact that each of her scenes crackled with promise was the icing on the cake.

Annabelle, Lucy and Gordon all had less-than-definitive endings. I suppose with so many exits going on, there’s a risk of overdoing it. Annabelle was last seen looking concerned over Louise. Lucy’s was perhaps the oddest. She was said to be working in a hotel in the south of France (Saint-Tropez, if I was following), but this information was given to us through dialogue between Paul and Gordon in the very next episode after Lucy was last seen, which gave the overall impression of an actress suddenly becoming unavailable to continue. Incidentally, it was Gordon who, after taking a phone call, delivered a similar throwaway line about Harry Cross planning to stay away from the Close more permanently. Gordon’s last scenes were mostly with the middle aged female colleague who fancies him. He did have a Steven Carringtonesque “I’m gay” scene in one of his last episodes (as well as being similarly hustled by a male sex worker, albeit off-screen) but him accepting the key to the female colleague’s flat arguably gave a rather more ambiguous message.

continued…​

 

[Spells & Karma]

Episodes 762 - 806
14 February - 13 July 1990

continued
​

As the last Collins standing it was left to Paul to wrap things up a little more definitively. I had hoped he’d pop across to say goodbye to Sheila - who appeared in his final episode - but they didn’t interact at all. Most of Paul’s final moments were with Jonathan and the Rogers family, with his final scene being a one-to-one with little Katie Rogers (as well as Monty II and the puppies, with Paul taking a one-sided phone call from Harry demanding him to drop them off with Harry in St Helens). Paul was at his most avuncular in this scene, firmly-but-kindly telling Katie it would't be a good idea for her to take the puppies home if her parents had already said she can't have a dog.

In nostalgic closure terms, we did see him sorting out his shed and smiling fondly at a skeleton he found (a throwback, I’m assuming, to Gordon Mk.1’s final appearance and that Hallowe’en party, almost six years earlier).

I also find myself wondering if the red rolll of fake tile on the shelf is of significance. Paul had picked it up just before the skeleton. Was it part of the family's decor at one point?

Paul also mused (to unhearing removal men) about his almost eight years on the Close, and looked back meaningfully at his house, deep in thought, as the camera did a 360° pan around him. It occurred to me how this feels like a bookend, echoing scenes of the Collinses leaving their "posh house in the Wirral" back in Episode One.

It's quite moving to see him closing his soapy window for the last time. As he disappears behind the net curtain, the SSAFA sticker remains as a reminder of past glories.

The last we see of Paul is his Austin Maestro departing the Close in the background, unseen, as Barry tries to persuade Tracy to talk to him about the abortion she's considering. Intentionally or otherwise, it's a symbol of the way Paul had carried on reliably focussing on the everyday, keeping things grounded while those around him had increasingly engaged in more attention-grabbing dramatics.

I’ll greatly miss the family, and particularly Paul who I feel could have continued to appear in a reduced capacity (perhaps if they let out the house rather than selling it, he’d have had reason to pop in regularly). But I’ll take what I had and, all things considered, it’s better to leave while still associated strongly with Brookside’s imperial era.

continued…​

 

[Spells & Karma]

Episodes 762 - 806
14 February - 13 July 1990

continued​

Paul’s departure took place in a milestone week for the series, marking the last time it would transmit just two episodes per week before increasing its output to three per week from the first week of July.

Given the slump in which the series found itself earlier in this run of episodes and the way the series is haemorrhaging long-running characters, it seems counterintuitive to spread the series even thinner by increasing output by fifty percent. Still I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that, while there are already symptoms of approaches that will ultimately wreck the series, there is a genuine sense of event around this shift. More importantly, it feels some effort is being made to build on what’s right about the series. Sheila’s speech about Damon coming, as it did, in the middle of the first longer week.

It’s also around this time that there’s been a tonne of previously-unheard exposition about Frank’s father - who was a prisoner of war - and Frank and Chrissie’s dating days which seems an attempt to go a bit deeper with this family.

The Unbearable Chrissy Rogers continues to be an irritant. She’s constantly written as such a harridan. First trying to shriek Sammy into sobriety then going to the GP about Sammy and shrieking “but what about meeeeeeeeee?” and whining to him about Frank which initiates a series of illicit meetings that are emotional infidelity at the very least (it’s a little vague whether or not the good doctor gave any kind of physical). And all the while poor Frank gets it in the ear for every choice he makes without asking her permission. I’m certain there’s more than a grain of matriarchal truth to the writing, but as a viewer it gets wearing to be subjected to this in almost all of her scenes.

But this is nothing - nothing at all - compared with bloody ghastly Sue who has been at the centre of one of the series’ key storylines in this run. She’s elbowed her way into Jonathan’s practice, proving herself an unreliable secretary (when she finally did show up she had the baby with her) and disloyal, doing the “woman to woman” bit with Viv*, making herself look better by making Jon look bad and helping Viv root through the office behind Jonathan’s back (given recent tensions between Jonathan and Sue over Daniel’s parentage, him employing her at all is a bit of a stretch, but I’ve decided that Jonathan did it for pragmatic reasons, knowing that it will take some pressure off Terry, help keep a roof over Daniel’s head and allow Jonathan’s tenants to continue paying him rent). Then comes the railroading Terry into trying for another baby so she can increase her hold on him. Followed by an “all about Sue” nervous breakdown when there was no baby.

Then we get all soapy tropey, with Terry taking the inevitable ‘sperm test which reveals he can’t have children’.

It’s been a long time coming, but the fallout - timed to coincided with the move to three times weekly - has been quite spectacular, with Terry evidently getting drunk on milk and confronting Sue with angry words and a bit of a pushing round. Brian Regan has given it his all with this attempt to go beyond Terry’s loveable loser image, with his home improvements in particular being a standout.

The best thing to come out of it has been the Terry/Barry pairing firing on all cylinders.

Barry has been all over the series’ biggest storylines of late, and it’s all to the good. They’ve had a series of terrific scenes, from the strain between them as Barry wants to talk over his feelings over Tracy’s abortion only to find Barry is unavailable to him, to Barry whispering in Terry’s ear about Jonathan being the father which led to the two of them angrily going for Jonathan.

These two go back a long way in both the series history and its pre-history, and that connection comes across, with a memorable shared scene taking place in the back garden of Number Nine as Terry burnt Sue’s belongings. In a way it’s a scene of big soapy revelations: Terry tells Barry he’s not Daniel’s father. Barry talks about Tracy’s abortion. Here, though, it comes completely from character and provides a grounding for the high octane plots as two old friends reach one another in a way nobody else could.

At least you got the chance to hold [Danny], Terry. Even if he wasn’t yours, ‘e doesn’t know that, does ‘e? All ‘e knows is that you loved the bones of him, an’ now you’re not there. Not like me. Never even got the chance to speak up for mine. There ‘e was, growin’ out of nothin’ for a few weeks. Next thing, bang. He’s gone. Or ‘er. Could’ve been a little girl. Never know now, will I?

Tracy?

Who else?

I wanna say I’m sorry, but it doesn’t sound enough, does it?

That’s enough about me, Ter. If I say I’m really sorry about… about what’s ‘appened with Danny an’ everything, I mean it. All right?

​

Incredibly, this knockout scene immediately preceded the one next door with Sheila talking about Damon to Billy, so #502 was one hell of an episode.

As things have closed out we’ve been reminded of Sheila’s own history with Terry as she tries to help him make peace with what’s happened, telling him he’s been “like another son” in many ways. For most of the episode, Sheila has found several different ways to suggest she has a Big Secret. The episode held off big reveal, so it will wait until the next batch. From memory, it’s one of my least favourite retcons, and I’m curious to see if it can win me over this time round.





* Viv Slater burst upon the scene, kicking arses and solving puzzles before leaving just as suddenly. I really like her. Her brief stint smacks very much of “the actress who plays Sarah is inconveniently unavailable so we’ve introduced a stand-in and changed a few lines in the script to facilitate the story”, but it’s no worse for it.

 

[James from London]

I'm only five minutes into this and it already looks really interesting:

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I'm only five minutes into this and it already looks really interesting:

This guy’s videos are really good. They’re so niche too, but I love them. Do I want a 35 minute deconstruction on why the 2002 return of Bet Lynch failed? Yes, I do, thank you very much.

 

[Spells & Karma]

I'm only five minutes into this and it already looks really interesting

This guy’s videos are really good. They’re so niche too, but I love them.

Did you finish watching, James. I've just finished it, having spread it out over the last couple of days during several "in-betweeny" windows of time.

I really enjoyed it. As I watch episodes from the turning point mentioned of the series going to three times a week, it's proved a reminder that already the series is quite different from the early Eighties, and this video touching upon highlights such as the George Jackson saga and Sheila's rape was a bittersweet reminder that most of the best times are already in the past (according to my viewing schedule, anyway).

Incidentally, I'd forgotten about the coarser language in early episodes. Here was me thinking Debbie dropped the Brookieverse's first "shit" in Damon & Debbie. How could I forget about Gizzmo?

The video also reminded me that I still haven't properly read Phil Redmond's book (even though I know from dipping in that some facts seem somewhat faulty when it comes to details). Nice to see that Soap Study uses Hilary Kingsley's Soap Box for reference. I've read that book so many times since 1988 that I could almost recite some of those quotes along with him.

Also, I'm slightly peeved to find myself feeling excited by the recap of the Trevor Jordache scenes. I was planning to check out of the series very soon, but now I'm wondering if I might get drawn back in to watch some highlights of Brookie's sensationalistic years when these episodes make it to STV.

 

[James from London]

Did you finish watching, James.

Yeah, I found it pretty unputdownable.

I really enjoyed it.

Me too. I especially liked that I agreed with pretty much everything he said. However, he's admirably even-handed in his approach. Despite his reservations about the Jordache storyline, I appreciated him pointing out some of the nuances in the family dynamic. I also found his point about the "othering" of Trevor Jordache, even down to him speaking with a different accent to the rest of the characters, fascinating. Enders later did the exact same thing with its equivalent wife-beating rapist (another Trevor, husband of Little Mo) only this time he was Scottish not Irish. (If you haven't already, I recommend checking out his other videos as well. Regardless of how familiar or not one is with the storylines, his accounts of the Emmerdale plane crash, the returns of Den Watts and Bet Lynch, and the depiction of Hayley Cropper from a present-day perspective are all worth a watch).

How could I forget about Gizzmo?

How could anyone?

The video also reminded me that I still haven't properly read Phil Redmond's book (even though I know from dipping in that some facts seem somewhat faulty when it comes to details).

It might be worth reading alongside Ricky Tomlinson's, in which he takes Redmond to task over a few things. Evidently, they managed to call a truce long enough to exist in the same close at the same time during Hollyside.

Also, I'm slightly peeved to find myself feeling excited by the recap of the Trevor Jordache scenes. I was planning to check out of the series very soon, but now I'm wondering if I might get drawn back in to watch some highlights of Brookie's sensationalistic years when these episodes make it to STV.

Godspeed and I'll be fascinated to hear your findings! I'll probably return to the beginning once Sheila and Billy head off to Basingstoke,.

I remember feeling the same way about the Jordache storyline as yer man on the video: I wanted to like it as much as everyone else did, I felt like I should like it, but I fundamentally couldn't believe in it, because this was Brookside. and there was just something fundamentally contrived and untruthful and just ... bland about the soapy approach to the story. Also, I felt the combination of truly horrific subject matter -- domestic violence, incestuous rape, child abuse -- and the titillating way it was presented: dragged out as long as possible to ensure high ratings, advertisements on billboards, etc -- was queasily hypocritical and not a little misogynist. The first issue of the shortlived Brookside magazine, for instance, featured a doe-eyed, red-lipsticked Beth Jordache pouting in a crown of thorns*. Who says incest survival can't be sexy?



The TVTimes did something equally questionable eight years later when it had Enders' equivalent wife-beating rapistTrevor posing on its cover like so, blurring the lines between the reality of domestic violence which the soaps purported to depict and funtime panto villainy:



If memory serves, the very first Soap Awards featured a fun Villain of the Year category and all the nominees were male characters who'd beaten up women and no-one seemed to bat an eyelid!

*Ah, on closer inspection it looks like ivy rather than thorns. So I guess the effect they were going for was more Sexy Ophelia than Sexy Jesus.