Brookside Brookside

Mel O'Drama

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Episodes 306 - 315
1 October - 4 November 1985


Including Julia, 60% of the Corkhills we’ve met to date are played by actors who’ve previously appeared in different recurring roles. Meanwhile, over at the Collinses’, Lucy’s return signifies half of that family being recast with new actors. While both casting concepts are essentially opposites, they could both be seen as stemming from similar philosophies… that “Joe Public never clocks a darned thing”.

Actors returning in different roles is probably the less challenging of the two as far as the viewer goes. Most early appearances are of the “blink and you’ll miss them” variety. In serialised storytelling they should have little-to-no impact on continuity since they’re noticeable only to the extremely eagle-eyed viewer. Even though Brookside arrived as VCRs were taking off, I doubt it was seriously considered that people would have the time, inclination or opportunity to rewatch (much less binge watch) years’ worth of episodes of a serial that ran twice weekly year round. Recurring actors is a tradition that goes way back. Certainly Corrie had been doing it for decades by this point. And it makes sense that those responsible for casting would want to re-use actors they know first hand to be reliable, who mesh well with their other actors and who have a special something onscreen.

In the very latest episode I watched, Alan Rothwell reappeared, with Heather driving into the back of his MGB six months after Harry and Edna Cross sought advice from him. From memory I know who he’s playing this time. What’s I don’t remember is whether or not he’s meant to be the same character and, even though I watched his episodes less than three months ago, I struggled to get a clear visual memory of something that might clue me in. Which goes to show how easily an actor could potentially slip into a new role.

Recasts are a little more potentially problematic… certainly when it comes to a central character. Lucy is a character who had much screen time in the series’ first year. As much as she’s been missed, it’s hard to believe that Lucy has been absent for twice as long as she appeared. Thanks to Katrin Cartlidge’s performance she made a big impression. Maggie Saunders has been fine in the role so far as the slightly more grown up Lucy, but I do find myself very aware that she’s a different actress. This isn’t a failing on the performance but because I feel the two actresses look rather different from one another. It has dawned on me that Maggie looks rather like a younger Doreen Sloane which makes her a good choice (this got me thinking that Katrin, with her more impish cheeky features, probably looks rather more like Jim Wiggins). As mentioned, it was a nice touch that we were prepared for her arrival by Paul and Annabelle looking at photos which showed the new Lucy. A perfect choice, right down to using photos which were taken very recently and so don’t jar in the way that if the photos were supposed to have been taken years earlier when we know Katrin was playing the role.

Back to the Corkhills and they’re working incredibly well for me. Actually, the whole series feels as though it’s come alive again which may or may not be related to their arrival. Either way, it’s a good thing.

The latest five episodes in particular have been an absolute joy to watch simply because I realised part way in that, no matter which characters we spent time with every single scene just worked.

The interactions within households has been most watchable. Paul and Annabelle’s concern over Lucy’s secretive behaviour has given them some welcome screen time. I’ve particularly enjoyed the scenes with Paul trying to get to the root of it despite Annabelle advising caution. One of Paul and Lucy’s first scenes together was a heart to heart and Jim Wiggins made a fascinating choice of not making eye contact with Maggie Saunders until the very end of the scene. He looked down at the table for most of it. While I’m sure it could yield conspiracy theories about him being uncomfortable with the recast, to me it actually showed great confidence from him towards Maggie. He trusted her enough to be able to fully convey Paul’s awkwardness around the daughter from whom he’s practically become estranged.

At Number Five, Damon’s put his scally ways to good use when he stole a textbook for Karen then had to try and replace it when she didn’t actually need it. And he saved the day after Karen’s drunken student hijinks of stealing the Corkhills new fake alarm box, by returning it for her. For a price, of course. Karen coming home drunk at 5am with her new bad influence friend Pamela was great. It’s so much fun to see some night filming on the Close, and I so enjoyed seeing posh Pamela interact with Karen’s family. This was the scene where I “got” Pamela. When Karen first met her peers, I was willing her to ditch Pamela and spend more time with that sweet shy Welsh girl or the ardent feminist who seemed a better fit. But I’m thoroughly enjoying the chalk and cheese element of this unexpected friendship.

It’s been a busy time for Heather, what with Tom’s proposal leading to wedding plans and friction over inviting Tom’s secret daughter Rowena to the wedding. She’s now discovered that, in addition to his father Jim not knowing about Rowena, Tom has told Rowena that his father is dead. And, of course, Jim has inevitably begun asking questions about the crossed off name on the wedding list, with Heather cornered enough to reveal about his granddaughter (a truly interesting moment. I found seriously considering asking what I would do in Heather’s predicament).

The cross-household interactions have been brilliant of late. Harry’s been cropping up everywhere, creating friction to great effect. He was the person who spotted the struck-though name on the wedding list. Then there was a nice scene with some banter involving Harry, Damon, Rod and Bobby in the lounge at Number Five, with poor Sheila trying in vain to hear a radio programme for her Open University course on her very Eighties headphones (believe it or not, this felt really suspenseful. I was genuinely concerned that she’d miss something important, so convincing was Sue Johnston’s performance). He’s burst in to Number Ten, getting into some chest puffing with Billy when Harry accused Tracey of a prank involving a fake body under Harry’s Fiesta. Which led to Harry blurting out that he’d heard the grim truth about Billy’s brother (this was almost immediately after Ralph told Harry what he’d heard from Julia. It was never going to end well.

The Corkhills have brought a wealth of cross-household friction in addition to Tracey’s prank. Damon has spent much time teasing Rod over his Everton fandom and crush on Heather. Damon stirring things up by accepting lifts from Heather or giving her a peck on the cheek when he knows Rod is watching are characteristically mischievous. It was difficult not to feel for Rod when Damon revelled in breaking the news of Heather’s engagement to Rod… in front of Tom. Then came Paul’s disapproval of Doreen’s beloved new fake shutters. First came crossed wires when she thought he was speaking about Rod’s Everton posters in the window and willingly took them down. But then he clarified he was speaking about the shutters and changed her tune. Her remark that she took the posters down because she didn’t like them but she didn’t want to take down the shutters down because she liked them made me smile, but also spoke volumes about her character. It’s also really funny to watch Doreen watch her words and try to speak well when she’s around Doreen. One little moment that really made me chuckle was when Annabelle was invited into the Corkhills’ home for a chat. Annabelle entered the empty living room ahead of Doreen, and we saw her cast an eye to take in the room then she appeared to suppress a slightly despariring smile before hiding it as she turned back to Doreen.

On the subject of the Corkhills, something that passed me by as a young viewer was the matriarchal bias within the household. Doreen and Tracey are the ones who get their own way, colluding with one another when necessary and with Doreen showing her daughter how to get her own way with feminine wiles. The contrast between how Doreen treats Rod and Tracey is very telling. Tracey gets the skiing trips while Rod gets the clips round the earhole. I suppose it somewhat reflects the inequity between Bobby and Karen versus Bobby and Barry/Damon. Even in this run of episodes, Sheila challenged Bobby when he said he was less happy about Karen going out on the town than Damon because Damon can look after himself.

One quiet-but-lovely moment in this run came a moment when Harry, Ralph and Jim Curzon bonded over the loss of their respective wives and pretty much just chatted. It’s a convincing situation, since Jim’s so amiable it felt natural for him to chat to Harry. And Harry is fond of Heather and impressed by Tom so it makes perfect sense that he’d reciprocate. The dynamic is far more watchable than the usual Harry/Ralph scenes and I hope we see more of these three interacting. Jim’s great, actually. The one-to-ones with Heather have been brilliant, and not just the dramatic reveal, but the more prosaic scenes of them about the house while Tom’s away.

Of course, it’s equally telling that these five winning episodes haven’t featured Number Seven’s tenants at all, but let’s not look that particular gift horse in the mouth.
 

Mel O'Drama

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Last night I watched the first two episodes of Ricky, Sue and A Trip Or Two.

What a beautiful series. It's very revealing and both are candid about their lives and I found their friendship so warm and unexpectedly touching. We've visited Sue's childhood home, the prison in Shrewsbury where Ricky began his sentence, The Cavern Club where Sue hung out with The Beatles in the Sixties and, of course, a certain cul-de-sac in West Derby:


What I found eye-opening was how busy the Close looks today. I last paid a couple of visits on a trip to Liverpool a dozen years ago. It was a weekend, but very quiet indeed. I didn't see a soul, and there were no more cars than there were in the Eighties episodes. It looks heaving during Ricky and Sue's visit. I'm guessing some had come to watch filming (probably residents or locals), but I couldn't get over all those cars and vans and kids on bikes.

Sue's VW Beetle, by the way, is the perfect fit for her. I wouldn't have thought so before watching, but hearing about her past as a barefoot beatnik, I couldn't imagine her driving anything else. Ricky kept reminding me of someone, and it took me until almost halfway through to realise that when I close my eyes he's Tarby.

It was fun to see them visit the the Midlands and take a canal trip in Birmingham and I'm very much looking forward to seeing them visit North Wales in the third episode.
 

James from London

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It was fun to see them visit the the Midlands and take a canal trip in Birmingham and I'm very much looking forward to seeing them visit North Wales in the third episode.
Oh, I didn't realise there was more than episode! The Liverpool one was lovely. For a while, there seemed as if the success of The Royle Family had eclipsed their start as Bobby and Sheila -- there was (and maybe still is) a Twitter account run by some publicist or other on behalf of Sue Johnston that seemed to have zero knowledge of or interest in her Brookside years --- so it was really nice to see that rectified here.
 

Mel O'Drama

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Oh, I didn't realise there was more than episode! The Liverpool one was lovely.

I believe the third one will be the last, so you have another two still to watch and enjoy (all of them are on the C4 website/app).

You're in for some terrific moments with the second one I haven't seen many interviews with them, so this was the first time I heard the background to the Shrewsbury Two in Ricky's own words. On reflection he actually pushes his comfort zone in many ways at different points during Episode Two, and I feel he able to do this because Sue is there. The friendship really shines through.

From what I've seen, the third episode will see them follow in Harry and Ralph's footsteps (from very recently aired episodes) and ride the Ffestiniog Railway.



For a while, there seemed as if the success of The Royle Family had eclipsed their start as Bobby and Sheila -- there was (and maybe still is) a Twitter account run by some publicist or other on behalf of Sue Johnston that seemed to have zero knowledge of or interest in her Brookside years --- so it was really nice to see that rectified here.

I noticed a couple of articles about the new documentary series which mentioned The Royle Family but didn't mention Brookie at all.

Yes, it's so nice to see them going back to their roots and remembering the Brookside years. As far as I remember, Ricky was quite unhappy with the series at the time he left, so it's especially good to see him in a good place with it again.
 

James from London

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Yes, it's so nice to see them going back to their roots and remembering the Brookside years. As far as I remember, Ricky was quite unhappy with the series at the time he left, so it's especially good to see him in a good place with it again.
Yeah, when he showed up in the close on that Eurovision trailer last year, that felt kind of amazing, almost in a Cindy-Beale-back-from-the-dead kind of way. It was like "Bobby's moved back to No 5!"
 

Mel O'Drama

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Yeah, when he showed up in the close on that Eurovision trailer last year, that felt kind of amazing, almost in a Cindy-Beale-back-from-the-dead kind of way. It was like "Bobby's moved back to No 5!"

Oh yes. We've really been spoilt with this whole Brookside renaissance thing.

Something that comes across strongly in the series is how fond the public seems to be of them - and vice versa. They seem to be so approachable and in touch with people... especially in their home city.

After posting the video above, a suggestion came up for a snippet of a radio interview where Ricky spoke about a disagreement he had with Cilla Black which the press had apparently run with but which I hadn't heard about. She was said to have commented that Ricky isn't a real scouser because he didn't spend his first three days in Liverpool, to which he responded that she hadn't spent the last forty years in Liverpool. What really grabbed me was that he mentioned he'd known Cilla's mum back when he sold his market gear from a pasting table and she was nearby selling her stuff from a blanket off the floor. And he'd known her dad from the pub when Ricky played banjo. And that made me think he really does seem to know everyone in Liverpool.
 

Mel O'Drama

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Episodes 316 - 330
5 November - 24 December 1985


Overall, the beginning of Brookie’s fourth year has continued the quality of recent times. The episodes aren’t without their flaws and irritants, but there’s a lot to love.

It’s been a busy couple of months, but Heather probably makes the simplest starting point since she operates in a vacuum more than anyone in the Close. I actually adore the extent to which Heather has largely kept the goings on of her neighbours at arms’ length. It sets her apart from most soap characters whose family trees become ever more complex and messy. She’s been through a lot, but remains the key player in terms of representing Brookie’s original premise of households operating in isolation.

Of course, this is very true to her character. Her home is a haven that’s important to her and represents her independence. At the same time, her career is such a large and time-heavy part of her life that she’s also the one it’s most difficult to get the measure of from mostly seeing her at home. All of which adds an enigmatic sheen to her for this viewer, even three years in.

Both home and career have come under threat in these episodes. And the threat has come from dream fulfilment that has been on terms other than her own. An exciting business partnership and a sumptuous new home both drop into Heather’s lap courtesy of Tom Curzon. As if these aren’t overwhelming enough, she quickly realises that they are fait accompli. Tom has already paved the way with her boss - one of his pals - and he’s bought the home before he even takes her to view it. Tom’s idea of romance is Heather’s idea of control.

On top of this are the lies. The inevitable truth about Rowena has come out, but Tom still doesn’t get why Tom lying to his father would create doubt that he could do the same to her.

There’s been the romantic proposal, and Heather discussing things with her visiting mother and even with Sheila (some great scenes between these two, more notable because Heather is not one to bare her soul). But it all came to naught when Heather ultimately decided her answer was ‘no’.

I’ll miss Tom. He’s not a character I remember from watching these episodes in the Nineties, but he’s made a definite impression on me this time round. It felt almost wasteful to see him leave when there was so much potential for him and Heather (plus his dad was a great addition), and it brought a lump to my throat to see him leaving Heather’s house a broken, sobbing man. But this is ultimately a chapter in Heather’s story, which is defined by a will to be her own person.

Not that it seems Heather will be single for long. Already Nick Black has shown up again to follow up after their car accident. And Heather might have mentioned that her wedding didn’t happen.

Across the drive, Lucy Collins’s love life is equally complex. She’s let slip to her parents that she’s dating someone named James, but omitted the fact that he’s married with kids. And now Annabelle and Paul are extending invitations to dinner that will be difficult for even Lucy to turn down forever.

Number 7 has also been the scene of a cracking rare gathering of most of the ensemble for Annabelle’s disastrous Homewatch meeting: from Harry grumbling about not being invited (he had been but the invitation had been overlooked) to Paul trying in vain to keep order while raucous laughter and chatter carries on (later to find he’d been cleaned out of his best whiskey).

The main selling point of the gathering for the viewer was the chance to see the Corkhills interact with their new neighbours, and it was electric. Billy gave some tips about how burglars operate that were so specific and detailed it suggested he had some experience in the area, while Doreen tried to cover by meekly telling Annabelle “we’ve been burgled a lot”. Then came the topic of the halfway house proposal and things got messy.

Bobby spoke out forcefully in favour of it (in theory by this point, since it wasn’t going to be built after all), telling those assembled they should be ashamed if they’d signed the petition. And Doreen took the opportunity to drop Sheila in it by telling Bobby that Sheila had signed. Cue friction in the Grant household and a minor-but-exciting face-off between the two women a day or so later.


continued
 

Mel O'Drama

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Episodes 316 - 330
5 November - 24 December 1985


continued


Sheila and Doreen's verbal confrontation begins promisingly with Sheila marching purposefully up as Doreen washes her windows, asking if she (Doreen) is going to go running in again (a reference to Doreen avoiding Sheila shortly before). She goes on to ask Doreen if she’s still gloating about coming between husband and wife. Doreen squares up to her, flatly says she’s not a fishwife and suggests if Sheila plans to shout they can go inside. “Nobody’s shouting, love” says Sheila before asking for an explanation.





Doreen drew first blood at the Homewatch meeting, but Sheila’s last word stunning her into silence here makes it one-all. I’m looking forward to seeing what round three brings.

I love how Doreen is framed alongside her illegal shutters: the symbol of her defiance. As far as she's concerned, they need nobody's permission to be there and require no apologies. If the neighbours have a problem with it.. tough. And that goes double as far as Doreen herself goes.

The situation, of course, draws further parallels between Doreen and Marie. The setting in front of Number Five lends this an air of familiarity. The energy is different, though. Doreen may not be as formidable and tenacious here as Marie might have been, but there’s something behind the eyes that tells us she is not one to back down and she certainly holds her own.

Sheila’s really been taking care of business lately. She was also the person who dealt swiftly and surely with Damon’s light-fingered colleague who had got Damon suspended from his YTS placement. And once again, she tackled it head-on.

All the Grant offspring have been pretty busy lately. Even Claire went to visit Father Christmas in his grotto.

Karen’s cheated on a paper she needed in favour of going out partying, only to realise that the guy (well, Guy) who wrote it out for her had copied it from a textbook where it was credited to none other than… Karen’s tutor. It’s been a fun little cycle.

Returning home for the festive season is none other than prodigal son Barry. Naturally, he’s got trouble in tow: this time in the form of the ex-girlfriend he can’t shake who he tells Terry (after Terry has agreed for her to stay) that she’s a smack-head. Whatever she is, she’s terribly whiny (and to be fair to the actress, almost every line she’s given is a plea for Barry to take her back or let her stay). Something I found surprising in terms of continuity was Terry being really happy about Barry's return. Didn't they part on an extremely sour note when Barry last left? No matter: they'd fallen out again within the space of an episode.

Another new face is the Vicki Cleary, part of a clan that runs a rival van hire business to Pat and Terry. I’m unsure about the performance here, too. On the one hand she seems to quietly mutter every line almost disbelievingly. On the other, it’s such an un-actress-like performance who knows if there’s potential for the mumbling mane to win me over in the same way early Barry or Gizzmo did.

While the van hire business has meant tedious scenes of Pat and Terry doing their Laurel and Hardy bit (Pat has been really annoying of late. He seems to be slurping tea in every scene, and if it’s not this he’s noisily tapping a pen against his teeth, touching his nose, fiddling with something on the table… anything to draw attention, really), the bright side has seen Harry and Ralph tasked to man the phones. This has meant the poor elders initially getting blamed for sending them on wild goose chases (actually Vicki’s family trying to ruin their business) and Harry driving Sandra with annoyance by disturbing her when she’s trying to sleep after her night shift.

They’ve been getting about quite a bit of late, Harry and Ralph. There was their visit to the picturesque Blaenau Ffestiniog railway where they met Richard Davies: last seen in O’Dramavision in the Bill Maynard sitcom Oh No It’s Selwyn Froggitt where he appeared alongside one Bill Dean. They also paid a visit to Edna’s grave, and we even saw a flashback of Edna from the previous Christmas as the decorations triggered Harry’s memory.

The lead up to Christmas saw Sinbad’s ploy to rip off his customers for money by taking a £5 non-refundable deposit for a bargain turkey, only to turn up with Trevor - a live turkey. The idea being that nobody would want it so he’d be quids in from all the deposits he’d collected. Except Harry called his bluff - briefly at least.

Two cracking moments are Harry glowering triumphantly at the gobsmacked Sinbad as he accepts Sinbad’s challenge and leads poor Trevor into the bungalow; only to cut to the next scene of Harry rinsing blood off a knife in the kitchen before the camera pans out to reveal Trevor standing there, large as life and Ralph with a cut finger.

I watched this episode many times as it appeared on the That Man Harry Cross VHS released in the late-Eighties (it’s easy to see why it was chosen as a fun piece), but the only lingering memory was of Bobby calling out “Paxo. Paxo” at the poor turkey (the banter on the Grants’ doorstep was every bit as warm and funny as I remember). I remember at the time not having a clue who Carol was. With it unclear which house she was even at, I remember thinking at the time she was some random housewife he’d ripped off.

Back at Number Five, Doreen’s continued her Lady Macbeth bit, nagging Billy to do her dirty work and ask Julia to leave (she ended up doing it herself), and trying to keep up appearances. Then there was a huge row over her spending £79.99 on a Walkman for Rod to try and balance things out since Tracey was getting her overseas trip with school. When Billy called her a dozy mare, she retaliated by whacking him on the chest:


This exchange really made me chuckle and bodes well for 1986.
 
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James from London

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Three lines from this period that still reverberate in my head:

"I love you, Heather, I'll write it in blood!"

"I didn't just sign it, I agonised over it!"

and the aforementioned

"Don't you dare call me a dozy mare on Christmas Eve!"

Doreen took the opportunity to drop Sheila in it by telling Bobby that Sheila had signed. Cue friction in the Grant household and a minor-but-exciting face-off between the two women a day or so later.
Their mini-showdown is fascinating, partly for what it echoes (Sheila and Marie's bust-up obviously), partly for what it anticipates (Sheila, Billy and Doreen's face-off in just a few years time) and partly on its own terms, with expectations being overturned almost on a line-by-line basis.
Returning home for the festive season is none other than prodigal son Barry. Naturally, he’s got trouble in tow: this time in the form of the ex-girlfriend he can’t shake who he tells Terry (after Terry has agreed for her to stay) that she’s a smack-head. Whatever she is, she’s terribly whiny (and to be fair to the actress, almost every line she’s given is a plea for Barry to take her back or let her stay). Something I found surprising in terms of continuity was Terry being really happy about Barry's return. Didn't they part on an extremely sour note when Barry last left? No matter: they'd fallen out again within the space of an episode.
I love Jane - she's so convincingly horrible! She's kind of a prototype for EastEnders first junkie, Kathy Beale's biological daughter Donna: middle-class, self-obsessed, needy, grasping, combining delusions of grandeur with a total lack of dignity . Pre-Zammo, I guess it was easier for TV to present drug addiction from the outside. Here, we view it through the eyes of the "normal" characters and it ain't pretty. The message is "Don't do drugs, kids, or Barry Grant won't fancy you." A bit like Marc Bolan's anti-smoking poster from the 70s:

360_5c5265ff91097d78f93874e03676d25b.jpg


Another new face is the Vicki Cleary, part of a clan that runs a rival van hire business to Pat and Terry. I’m unsure about the performance here, too. On the one hand she seems to quietly mutter every line almost disbelievingly. On the other, it’s such an un-actress-like performance who knows if there’s potential for the mumbling mane to win me over in the same way early Barry or Gizzmo did.
This is where I start fast-forwarding in earnest so Vicky's mostly a bit of a blur to me. The one thing I do remember about the actress (apart from her being a dole office snoop alongside Roy Cropper in Boys from the Blackstuff) is that she was the guitarist in a band and they got their picture in the NME.
I watched this episode many times as it appeared on the That Man Harry Cross VHS released in the late-Eighties (it’s easy to see why it was chosen as a fun piece),
Me too!
Yes, now Terry's become Pat's stooge instead of a proper character, the show doesn't seem very interested in exploring his relationship with Barry anymore, which is a shame, but I did think this scene was really good.
 
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Mel O'Drama

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Three lines from this period that still reverberate in my head

Good choices. There was some top writing going on during this era.



and partly on its own terms, with expectations being overturned almost on a line-by-line basis.

A few days on from watching, what resonates about this scene is how level the energy is. Despite the shifting expectations, there's something very even about the way the dialogue goes back and forth without building or escalating. It's almost anti-climactic, but in the best kind of way. Sheila may have said her piece, but it feels there's unfinished business. I'm curious to see what the dynamics of their next scene together will be.




She's kind of a prototype for EastEnders first junkie, Kathy Beale's biological daughter Donna: middle-class, self-obsessed, needy, grasping, combining delusions of grandeur with a total lack of dignity .

Oh definitely, yes. Donna actually popped into my mind as I was watching Jane because the latter months of her stint on the show characterised her very much the same way.



Pre-Zammo, I guess it was easier for TV to present drug addiction from the outside.

Bear in mind I've only seen one or two episodes with Jane but at the moment it feels a little forced. She's arrived on the Close with her issue fully-formed so there's no sense of journey. So far I haven't yet got any idea what kind of person she was before so it all feels too on the nose and clunky and I have no investment either way.

Thinking about it, Brookside took a similar approach with the ultimately-aborted HIV story a few years later when an outsider (a colleague of Bobby's) was introduced. I remember feeling similarly about that, as well. And I'm sure Nineties Brookside took this kind of "wheel 'em in" approach even more regularly (even the introduction of the Jordaches and their baggage could be viewed this way).




Marc Bolan's anti-smoking poster from the 70s:

360_5c5265ff91097d78f93874e03676d25b.jpg


Oh - that's wonderful. Part of me could swear I've never seen this before, while there's also something at the back of my mind telling me it was on the wall of the waiting room at the GPs surgery.




This is where I start fast-forwarding in earnest so Vicky's mostly a bit of a blur to me.

While I don't remember her well, I do kind of remember Vicki, so I suppose she must have been in it long enough to register with me.

That said, I don't think I have any positive association of the character. When she first showed up, I groaned inwardly with some kind of recognition but I couldn't explain why.





God - the nine episodes on those VHS collections were so heavily-watched. I remember getting The Siege from an Aunt for Christmas after dropping some unsubtle hints about it. Then I bought the other two in Woolies shortly afterwards.

It's a shame the focus was so different when it came to the Most Memorable Moments DVD. If the balance had been anything like TMHC or The Sheila Grant Years I'd have given that a good number of spins as well. But since it seems (inevitably) to be episode after episode of explosions, murders and incest, I never even considered buying it.




now Terry's become Pat's stooge instead of a proper character, the show doesn't seem very interested in exploring his relationship with Barry anymore, which is a shame,

Yes, it really is. Their friendship has always felt very real and established, and it would have been no bad thing to get back to the roots of Terry's character. I'm glad their friendship has at least been acknowledged.
 

Mel O'Drama

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Episodes 331 - 345
30 December 1985 - 17 February 1986


When I think of the Nicholas Black era - which is where I hopped on board as a regular Brookie viewer - I think of a very specific prolonged arc taking place over a relatively short time. Rewatching these episodes for the first time in around thirty years is giving me an appreciation for just how well constructed this story is.

I’m particularly thinking of the overlap with Tom Curzon. Nick’s introduction was when Heather and Tom were as serious as can be, and it all seemed so unrelated. Yes, soap is a world where certain conventions apply to seemingly random meetings, but Brookside is arguably the least soapy soap and isn’t constrained by laws such as Chekhov’s Gun. Sometimes stuff just happens because that’s life. It may cause irritation or frustration, spoiling a character’s day. But it doesn’t have to be life changing. These are often the best, most interesting moments, but right up there with them are those happenings which appear random and only gain meaning or momentum some time later. Often in soap this is due to writers using their knowledge of the series well, using knowledge of characters’ histories or past events to inform or inspire what comes next. In cases like this, though, it seems to be rather brilliant long-term planning.

I don’t know for certain, but I suspect Nick’s character arc was planned back when we first saw him adding a hiccup to Heather’s day. Ironically, if anything, he was then a symbol of the importance of the Heather/Tom romance, with the collision only happening because Heather was so preoccupied with thoughts of Tom.

Nick at this point is an intriguingly contradictory creature: bumbling, awkward and quite scatty in some regards while also clearly sharp-minded, intelligent and accomplished; he could be read as persistent but this is negated by his thoughtfulness. There are a few red flags - such as Nick repeatedly turning up at Heather’s home unannounced - but this seems to come from some kind of need for company, in addition to his scattiness.

I have to say I really love Nick’s dialogue. Alan Rothwell brings something incredibly natural and relatable to it*, but the writing just seems to work, and we’re seeing different facets to Heather. There are lovely small touches like Nick arriving at Heather’s with a ficus (or some such plant) then putting his foot straight in it when he says he chose it because it’s hardy enough to withstand neglect. Heather is charmed not just by the kind thought, but also the faux pas. And it’s easy to see why she would find this disarming and appealing when Tom’s drive to succeed, extreme confidence, ready answers and need to take control informed her decision to end that relationship. Objectively it has to be said that Heather and Nick look rather mismatched but he’s worlds apart from Tom and, from the rather more subjective ground of sharing Heather’s highs and lows, the direction of their relationship makes perfect sense.

Heather’s work life is proving equally fascinating. She’s currently getting it from both sides. Firstly , she’s being belittled by her new boss, in large part because she’s a woman, I think it’s the same guy who she gave short shrift to for making passes at her ages ago. It’s also evident that Heather was turned down for the very role he’s occupying because she’s a woman, though it’s hard to say since we’re only being given the narrative of her slimy new superior. The micro aggressions she is experiencing are very nicely written and make it clear why Heather is currently having to do what is politic rather than what is right. It’s difficult to watch her being forced into untenable situations, with “concerns” about her performance or the work she produces that are implied in conversation to relate to her being female, but put forth in a way that leaves no paper trail when it comes to the aggressor’s motive. Whatever the motive, it’s clear there is bad blood and he is out to make her life difficult, and that kind of inequity in the workplace is something many if not most will find relatable.

As if this isn’t bad enough, Heather is assigned to a small account that is (in today’s parlance), below her pay grade. Again, this is gender politics: the account is that of a tiny screen printing organisation run by militant feminists (the setup reminded me strongly of the sitcom Girls On Top and its Spare Cheeks magazine, itself a spoof of real-life feminist mag Spare Rib). And it turns out the sisters are equally resentful of Heather’s presence as well.

The sequence raised questions about what it means to be a feminist, with the most fascinating of these being the unspoken ones. It’s a topic that could take up many pages of debate on several threads here (as indeed it does), so I won’t dive into that particular wormhole here.

For what it’s worth, though, my take on this particular situation is that Heather is arguably the true feminist. The militant screen-printers rage against the patriarchy and have a will for the world to hear them roar even as they attempt to extinguish the male voice, their “principles” in only taking work that benefits women meaning they are well into the red. Heather, meanwhile, has rolled up her sleeves, worked hard, and operated well and consistently in what is traditionally a man’s world. It’s to her credit that the negative backlash she is experiencing hasn’t embittered her, but empowered her. She is true to herself and finds the polar-opposite extremes of inequality she experiences on one day - both from the “patriarchy” and the “feminists” - particularly ugly and unacceptable.

Heather’s grace in the face of this adversity made me want to cheer, particularly when it came to the militant screen-printers. Rather than presenting a futile argument, or going the MeToo route by using recent persecution to jump on the bandwagon and gain sympathy from the women, Heather decided she liked one of their prints and bought it for a friend (Nick, I presume). And with her next breath, she flatly reminded them that this purchase would barely do anything to secure their struggling bank balance.

It’s a little ironic that one of Heather’s key allies in these challenging times has been Joyce Harrington, her previous boss who I remember giving Heather quite a hard time. Back then I thought she could well turn out to be an enemy, but looking back I read it that she was preparing Heather for the realities of their business world. Incidentally, in Joyce’s earlier scenes, her coyness around her private life and her attention towards Heather made me wonder if we were heading into a scenario of her making a pass at Heather and Heather feeling awkward because of the workplace hierarchy. Seems I was wrong about that as well.




continued





* Once again, I think what a waste it was for Corrie to kill David Barlow offscreen just to bring back Sandra Gough for a short time. Alan is one of just a few original cast members who is still alive and IMDb indicates he has continued to act into the twenty first century, so it's a shame we were denied the opportunity of occasional visits to see how David evolved over the decades.
 

Mel O'Drama

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Episodes 331 - 345
30 December 1985 - 17 February 1986


continued


The patriarchy has kind of reared its head in other storylines. There’s Sheila’s (as yet unseen) college classmate who was given a black eye before a residential course to remind her that she was his property. This in some small way reflects Bobby’s unhappiness with Sheila leaving him to fend for himself overnight while on her residential, with Sheila pushing firmly back in order to do something that is important to her growth as a person. And all these elements combined arguably foreshadow the unhappy ending of Sheila’s night out with Kathy a couple of years down the line.

Karen is quick to highlight the sexism inherent in the household dynamics, and she’s an equal opportunities detractor. Bobby might be sad to her for being unable to manage without Sheila, but Sheila enables the dysfunction by cooking and cleaning for Bobby.

Karen remains extremely watchable (her sparring with Barry has given us some of his most watchable scenes this visit) and she’s certainly the most grounded and sorted of the young women on the series at the moment, whose errors of judgement certainly put Karen’s accidental plagiarism into perspective.

There was also an interesting exchange between Karen and Rod Corkhill as they passed on the Close, with Karen muttering something about boys doing as they please while Rod threw back that girls get away with murder. It’s easy to see both sides, especially given Karen seeing Bobby’s attitude, Barry lounging round the house and Damon’s messing round (his latest scheme with Neil involved borrowing a tame rat from a friend to photograph it round the bins. Naturally it backfired, but even this lighthearted story nicely drew attention to a more topically political matter of striking dutbinmen). All the same I’d say Rod’s comment carries more weight. Yes, Damon and Barry get away more than Karen does with going out and having a good time, but Bobby and Sheila usually come down far harder on them than they do Karen. And in the Corkhill household, where Doreen rules the roost and frequently colludes with her daughter, Tracy does indeed get away with far more than Rod. Not that this is doing much for her at the moment.

Tracy and Lucy Collins are in similar positions at the moment. Each of them has a streak of rebellion a mile wide. Each of them is playing with fire by engaging in a relationship that is dangerous and morally questionable with an older, more worldly man who is ostensibly solid and responsible, but proves to be anything but. Each of these situations brings varying degrees of conflict, worry and even scandal to the family. In both cases it’s through the eyes of the angst-ridden parents we see the full impact as they slowly put pieces together and the reality of their daughters’ situations dawns on them.

Lucy’s bloke is James - a married man with children. Lucy is fully aware of these facts and happily complicit. Tracy, too, seems to have also got a kick out of hiding her own relationship in which she did her share of the chasing. Each of them is ultimately out of their depth, the key difference being that Tracy is a fifteen year old schoolgirl and Peter “Monty” Montague her teacher.

Having both situations unfolding alongside one another has allowed for some fascinating parallels while also highlighting the differences in responses.

Considering the subject of male and female offspring being treated differently crops up regularly in Brookside, the reaction to Tracy’s dalliance with Monty raises a thought about the earlier storyline with Damon losing his virginity to a predatory housewife just a year earlier: a situation with parallels to Tracy’s story. The woman may not have been charged with Damon’s care, but as someone employing his services she did have a degree of authority over him. As I remember, not much came from Damon’s nookie beyond losing Claire’s pram which he’d left outside. It just kind of happened. That’s all fine - c’est la vie after all - but I can’t help thinking had it come out it would have been treated quite differently by writers and characters both. Would Billy have blown his stack this way on Rod’s behalf?

I do feel the storyline has cemented the Corkhills as a true force to be reckoned with on the series. I don’t know that Billy’s attack on Montague lived up to the “brutal revenge” description given in the episode summary - there was a shove and some chairs were pushed around - but I commend the way the episode built up to Billy’s outburst, with a sense of pressure coming to a head that created a sense of anxiety to watch.

From the viewer’s perspective, we’re more complicit with Lucy and James since we’re fully appraised of the facts quite early on and have spent much time with them, while with Tracy we’ve learnt about it piecemeal, and usually after the fact. So we’ve seen Lucy and James having canoodley pub lunches; James being invited to the Collinses' for dinner and behaving shiftily; Lucy pressuring James to tell his wife, and so on.

What we see of James presents him as weak and weaselly. He’s certainly one of Brookside’s most spineless characters. It's the easy way out every time. He tells Lucy he’ll end it with his wife because it's what she wants to hear. Then he tells Paul he’ll end it with Lucy because it's what he demands to hear. Then he scurries to tell Lucy that Paul has asked him to end it with her so they agree to go back underground with their relationship. Then Paul finds out and James again promises he’ll end it with Lucy. And when Lucy heras about this James says he can’t imagine where Paul would have got such an idea. I can’t help wondering how the actor feels about playing him. He’s so passive and non-committal it feels to me it could be frustrating and samey. But then perhaps therein lies the challenge, and I certainly believe him as a character, even though he’s beyond frustrating to watch. There's even something intriguing about trying to work out what he's thinking because he's quite inscrutable. It seems to me he's more cowardly than deliberately manipulative, but there's room for doubt.

With Doreen and Annabelle going through similar experiences, the opportunity was there for some bonding and I like that the writing has avoided the obvious here. Actually it was Sheila to whom Annabelle mentioned she was having some daughter trouble while Doreen, unnoticed, watched them chat with a sad look on her face from across the Close. The dynamic of the new woman moving up from the estate being envious of Sheila’s bond with the neighbours evokes Sheila and Marie just enough to feel established and almost nostalgic. Here, as there, it comes a little while after cross words, but Doreen was much quicker than Marie to offer an olive branch. I admired her for it, and the thaw in their anger gave me a warm feeling.
 

Mel O'Drama

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Episodes 346 - 354
18 February - 18 March 1986



Poor Harry Cross. His nasty old shrew of a wife has died, and now he’s stuck with Ralph who repeatedly proves his terrible friend credentials. And everyone comments about what a miserable old sod Harry is.

This time round, Ralph persuades Harry to write to a dating agency, talking him through the guilt this triggers over disloyalty to Edna and even watching closely to make sure Harry posts the letter. Then Ralph sorts though Harry’s letters of reply, whittling them down to a suitable choice before accompanying Harry to their first meeting… where he swoops in and steals Harry’s date from under his nose (making himself look good by playing the long-suffering amiable friend card). And then he borrows Harry’s car to take Madge out on a date.

Something that always fascinates me with the writing around Ralph is that I find it very difficult to pinpoint where it’s coming from. It often feels as though the intention is to show things from Ralph’s point of view, but I never can. He just annoys the hell out of me… especially now that he’s putting on his Fiona Thompson faux posh voice, pronouncing all his “t”s to impress Madge.

Like Nick Black, Madge is a character I associate strongly with a time when I was becoming a regular Brookie viewer. I remember her well and I know where the storyline is going, but what’s impressing me is that I’m still almost being taken in by it all. It would be easy to say how gullible Ralph is, but actually it’s all most convincing. Frankly, Ralph deserves all the repercussions from this one.

Repercussions have been the order of the day in the Collins and Corkhill households as Lucy and Tracy’s attempts at playing grownups have both exploded spectacularly and rippled outwards.

At Number Ten, Billy’s been in court, prepped by brother Jimmy who is well-versed in legal pickles. It’s so far, so good with Jimmy. I was worried that association of his Nineties excesses would mar my viewing, but he’s been perfectly watchable in his first couple of episodes. Dare I say he’s even added interest.

I do find it odd how many parallels there have been between Number Ten’s current occupants and those who’ve lived there before. This run of episodes hits many of the same notes as George Jackson’s court appearance. We’re coming from a different angle, but with Billy opting not to defend himself the way each ended with the husband being led down those stairs while his wife breaks down and protests her husband’s innocence is notable.

The big difference here is how long the sentence lasts. For all we know, George Jackson might still be serving his sentence, but Billy is released in the very next episode after the truth comes to light and he decides to cooperate. Still, it’s almost as compelling in its own way.

At Number Eight, rather than wait for her parents to take charge, Lucy Collins decided to blow things up herself by knocking on the door of James’s marital home. What impressed me most about this was how even-handed things were presented. We hadn’t met James’s wife Penny before this moment, but actress Jane Hayward is completely in the moment and the intensity of the betrayal and horror is transmitted very well.

It’s easy to see why Penny views Lucy as cold and cruel, and why James views Lucy as stupid and spiteful. None of these things is entirely untrue (I found myself sighing with frustration at her poor choice as she marched up to the Flemings’ house). At the same time, Lucy’s lack of experience and the fact that James has led her on with false promises is factored in and it’s impossible not to empathise with her as the realisation dawns on her that she is hurting people. And not only this, but James throws her under the bus, telling her she means nothing to him to ensure he gets back into his wife’s good graces.

Right to the end, James remained a contender for Brookie’s singularly most spineless character. There’s something quietly pathetic about his passive inability to say anything other than what he feels others want to hear. It’s the easy way out of every conversation… even if it’s untruthful. All the same, Gene Foad’s portrayal at least gives him a depth. It’s impressive that because of casting, chemistry or just fine performances, I fully believe this close knit family we’re meeting for the first time which seems so separate from the James we’ve seen up to this point. This puts the viewer in the same place as Lucy as makes these scenes so much more impactful than might be expected.

Next door at Number Nine, Heather is similarly curious about her own suitor’s family and decides to do something about it. Unlike Lucy’s “bull in a china shop” approach, Heather’s experience is more organic and is facilitated by a coincidence (which I fully believed, by the way). When Heather presents Nick with the print from the angry, militant screen-printers, he reveals that actually his estranged wife Barbara is one of them. Although she didn’t meet Barbara, Heather makes a point of going back to buy the pair and meeting Barbara to satisfy her curiosity. I found her casually asking colleagues about Barbara and then casually asking Barbara about her family intriguing. Of course it was rather invasive considering they didn’t know of her vested interest which gives her an unfair advantage, but it also possibly taps into Heather’s trust issues. She’s been unhappy with things Roger and Tom kept from her and this is exploring Nick’s history as much as Barbara’s. She seemed to sense that Nick was keeping something from her and seems relieved (once she recovers from her mild shock) to find that that the Big Secret is that Barbara had left Nick for another woman. Ginny the screen printer, in fact.

Heather mentions to Nick here that she initially suspected Joyce might have been gay owing to her fiercely guarded home life. And so soon after I’d mentioned that exact feeling in my last batch of episodes. I also find myself wondering if Barbara and Ginny might be the first lesbian couple seen in British soap (perhaps even the first same sex couple).

Further tying Lucy and Heather’s stories together is a suggestion that Barbara, like Penny, is somewhat fragile. I can’t remember exactly, but I think both James and Nick used expressions like “the way that she is”, alluding to complexities - and possibly neuroses - that the viewer may not ever fully be aware of. I’m reminded of Knots Landing’s Harry and Sheila Fisher.



continued
 

Mel O'Drama

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Episodes 346 - 354
18 February - 18 March 1986

continued

Sheila’s getting involved in marital strife on two fronts: first with Sally Dinsdale whose husband knocks her about (provoking a fiercely passionate appeal from Sheila to Sally over several scenes) and secondly with Matty’s increasingly close relationship with Christine. All of this has stemmed from Sheila’s Open University course and I love how this has been injected into the series to add a new element without upsetting the status quo too much. There’s no need for a parade of shops and clubs to add interest. Instead, the course comes to the Close thanks to several sessions being held at students’ homes (I forget why, but it seemed plausible enough for a class of this kind).

There are so many layers to this storyline, with echoes of the past and even foreshadowing of future events. Bobby’s sometimes chauvinistic attitude has come to the fore again, and I love that it’s not just a parallel with Sally’s husband but - since we haven’t even met him yet - it’s almost a substitute. The standard soap scenario would probably have Bobby being conveniently supportive at this time, condemning men who hit women and being hugely supportive of Sheila’s endeavours as a contrast. Instead he’s not only telling Sheila to butt out of other people’s marriages, he’s hugely disparaging of Sheila’s attempts to better herself, telling her and Alan Jones (I can never not see Jeffrey Fourmile) that it’s “a waste of time”.

More than this, Bobby - to Sheila’s fury - shares Sally’s husband’s scepticism about his wife’s motive for attending a course where there are men present. Before even realising this, Sally discusses her husband’s accusations, going on to say that their husbands are out at work all day but the wives don’t accuse them of being up to no good. Sheila, reflectively, acknowledges that no, they don’t… most of the time. It’s a lovely, subtle nod to Bobby and Sheila’s marriage difficulties around the time of Claire’s birth.

The Grant household is a fascinating place for the topic of domestic violence. Sheila almost loses it when she learns that Sally’s husband sometimes goes for the children, but on reflection there’s been a degree of this under her very roof. And, of course, the man making his mark on his wife to keep her in check after her taste of freedom is more significant to this particular household with the benefit of hindsight.

And in amongst all this, Karen has found time to become officially romantically involved with Guy and interview Paula Yates. Soap characters interacting with real people is rarely little more than a novelty. Damon’s banter with Russell Grant was silly fun but ultimately unimportant. Whereas Russell’s camp schtick was almost too large for this series, Paula was at the other extreme and I found her underwhelming at first, with most of her lines in her first couple of scenes being inaudibly quiet and lost among the hubbub.

But she won me over in the scene where she talked to Karen about not minding criticism aimed at her TV performances (some of which she said might be justified), but was more affected when the press took shots at Bob or her children. Again, none of it was crucial to the series, but it was still a nice sequence where the collision of fiction and reality somehow worked perfectly well.

I’ve neatly avoided speaking about any of Number Seven’s tenants for 1986 so far, but I can’t put it off forever. It does feel as though the writers at this point are aware of the limitations and weaknesses within this house and there’s been a bit of a pattern where they’ve tried to write to this. Case in point, Sandra’s angst over whether or not to accept a promotion to Sister which would mean her working on a private ward. She spoke over her concerns to a senior nurse at the hospital, then for a bit with Terry. Pat appeared for perhaps twenty seconds towards the end of the episode to say his piece and was as tolerable as could be hoped.

Since then, we’ve spent more time with Sandra at the hospital and she’s all the more interesting for it. Like Heather, she is proving someone we get to know better through following them in their career a little, and her dawning realisation that the private patients are people with their own fears and insecurities (and even, to her reassurance, their own doubts about going private) has shown us more interesting colours in Sandra and allowed for plenty of social discourse as she finds that the private ward is no less affected by the financial and political climate than the NHS wards.

This change has reintroduced a face from the past: Jackie - the nurse who previously worked for Pat’s kissogram agency. She may not set the screen alight (she and Vicki Cleary suggest to me that someone in casting has a “type”), but she’s certainly preferential to listening to one of Pat’s two vocal inflections all day long.
 

Mel O'Drama

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Episodes 355 - 365
24 March - 28 April 1986


Bobby said:
I’m getting all kinds of stick at work, aren’t I? I turn to you for a bit of sympathy - you can’t even be bothered to listen. Damon is down in Torquay. We don’t even know if he’s stayin’, because we haven’t discussed it. Karen goes out when she likes. She comes in with the milk. We don’t even ask ‘er where she’s been anymore. And Barry. God Blimey, Barry, we don’t even know where ‘e is now… So for the last time, She, ‘cos I am sick an’ tired of it… stop interfering. Look after your own family.

If I’d wondered why some of my key memories of Bobby Grant are as an angry man, bellowing at the world, this run of episodes - coming at a time in my viewing when I was properly getting to know each character - explains a lot. There have been a number of spectacular Bobby rants, and I don’t believe we’ve ever seen him at quite this level in the series up to this point.

He does have plenty to shout about, mind you. And several of the concerns he lists tie into the broader picture of the series (he’d be even more furious if he knew that Karen has spent these episodes constantly on the verge of losing her virginity to Guy).

The stick at work, naturally, ties in with Bobby’s union work. The times are a’changing, with automation and an American conglomerate’s takeover of Petrochem spelling impending redundancies. Bobby gives George Williams a dressing down for not doing right by his people:
Bobby said:
Don’t you call the people in this city, right? You’re only up ‘ere because you get a fat cheque at the end of every month. Don’t call the city… My union’s up ‘ere. My union’s the fella who pays his few bob in every week an’ puts his faith in the likes of us, know what I mean? Not the TUC conference once a year. Not the Labour Party conference. Ordinary, decent, working folk who trust us. An’ I am not gonna crap out on people who trust me…

One day I will tell ya, George, why this city is so militant. An’ why traitors like you ‘ave made us what we are.

Jimmy McGovern’s words are powerful enough on paper (he penned both the heated Bobby/George discussion and the furious blow up between Bobby and Sheila. And adding perfect balance, these intense scenes are surrounded by those from the picturesque and frequently comical Torquay trip), but Ricky Tomlinson’s passion takes them somewhere really special. Both have Bobby at his most terrifyingly intimidating and voluble. In the scene with Sheila, he waves his arms around her, pointing and poking for all he’s worth. With George he’s mostly seated at a desk and less animated, but still throws in a physicality that includes slamming a pen onto the desk so hard that it flies straight into the camera. As George leaves and Bobby slumps into his chair exhausted, his anger is perfectly expressed with the snap of a pencil.

The takeover affects other residents of the Close. Paul is horrified to read about it in the newspaper, leading to uncertainty and speculation. Always minded towards efficiency, he feels it may not be an entirely bad thing, but clings onto the hope that he will deemed valuable enough to be kept on (the Americans may be ruthless, he observes, but they reward hard work). All the same, it’s a reminder to the Collinses - and to us, the audience - that it’s only a relatively short time since Paul’s prolonged period of unemployment sent him into a downward spiral.

And just when things are looking up for the Corkhills, Billy finds out the facts in an even more unpleasant way. He’s called in on his day off to be given instant dismissal. Ostensibly this is because he now has a criminal record (the day off was for him to appear in court where he received a suspended sentence which the family was celebrating when he got the call from work). Billy, though, sees things for what they are:
Billy said:
I install the stuff that’s gonna make me redundant. Then I give you an excuse so you don’t ‘ave ta pay me any redundancy pay or nothin’. Right berk I am, aren’t I? … You wouldn’t tell us that when we were puttin’ ‘em in, would ya? No way. So I get called a scab. I ‘ave auld mates turn their back on me. I got spat at in the canteen one day. An’ for what? So you could get rid o’ me an’ God knows ‘ow many others, an’ make more profit… D’you know what galls me the most, eh? Bobby Grant was right. I put myself out of a job.

We’re rather spoilt for choice, but for me this is a contender for John McArdle’s finest work on the series to date. Since the Corkhills’ arrival, I’ve drawn many similarities between Doreen and Marie, but as things move along it’s also evident that Billy is in many ways the spiritual successor to George Jackson. He even name checks George as he sits in the bedroom of Number Ten on the morning of his court date, reflecting that George would have sat in the same room before his fateful court appearance. But on a broader level, Billy is emerging as someone who is essentially a good, simple, hardworking man dealt a series of bad cards by the world.

At this point the Corkhills feel as though they’ve been here forever. They’re so tightly woven into the series. Everything works about them. Even dopey Rod’s competition with Damon over football programmes (which currently feels like the series’ longest-running single storyline) is filled with endearing moments, and they show us Damon at his scalliest, which is no bad thing.

Connecting the Grants and Corkhills on a different level, Damon and Julia are both (depending which character you ask) gatecrashers on Harry, Ralph and Madge’s Torquay trip. Of course, Harry himself is something of a third wheel on what was originally meant to be a romantic holiday for Ralph and Madge. Julia is invited by Ralph without Harry’s knowledge so he can have another of his laughs at Harry’s expense. He initially teased Harry by implying that his blind date was Heather whom he’d invited to share their taxi to the station. There’s a nice moment of crossover as elegant Heather leaves Harry, Ralph and Madge to get her train, and Julia comes flying past her, shrieking loudly out to them. The subtle contrast between Heather and Julia. Harry’s gaping face and Heather’s look of amusement at the situation all served up a funny and classic scene.

Social commentary travels to Torquay with them in the form of Damon, let go at the end of his YTS placement so they can take on another, equally cheap form of labour, but determined to get himself a job and heading South where he hopes the prospects are brighter. Once again he faces rebuffs, eventually grabbing at the only offer made: a kitchen porter where he’ll slave for long hours and probably not make minimum wage.

This leads to interesting dynamics in the Grant household. Bobby has a strong work ethic and can’t stand to see his sons lying round the house when they could be doing something productive. Damon wants to get a job so that no-one can call him work shy. They seem to want the same things, but Bobby is also a staunch socialist and devotes his time fighting for union members to earn a fair wage and work in fair conditions. It’s telling that he fights Damon’s decision, preferring him to be out of work than fuelling the machine where workers are treated in a way that is an anathema to him. It also speaks to Damon’s strength of character that he acknowledges Bobby is right but still wants to take the job with its poor pay and lack of prospects so that he can feel he is contributing to society. Ultimately, the feeling is sadness, and it’s a quietly powerful statement about the shocking lack of employment that pervaded at the time.

For reference, these figures suggest that 1986 saw the second highest unemployment figures (after 1984) for the whole of the Thatchers Government’s regime.

Bad as these figures are, that’s for the entire UK and - as Bobby has pointed out to George - things were even more difficult in the North, and Liverpool was hit especially hard.



continued
 

Mel O'Drama

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Episodes 355 - 365
24 March - 28 April 1986

continued

The recession hasn’t stopped Barry coming back up country with a new moneymaking scheme: the thousands of contraband videotapes he’s bought and plans to sell. These include E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Back To The Future and - to Lucy’s great excitement, Last Tango In Paris. The latter film title is just one example of foreshadowing going on regarding this story’s outcome.

This story, while perfectly watchable, not unenjoyable and in some ways in character, does feel a little contrived and rushed at times. Rebellious Lucy getting involved with his scheme and coming up with the idea of them both going to France where she can help him recoup some money on the otherwise-worthless illicit videotapes, which have turned out to be French market ones, incompatible with UK players. Incidentally, I was rather surprised to see how few households have a VCR on the Close at this point. Several characters spoke of them enviously, including Karen, who snorted that, of course the Collinses would have one, wouldn’t they? I remember our household didn’t get one until 1987, but I also felt like we were the last people on the planet to get one, and my memory from various family members of friends is of the video boom taking off around ’83 or ’84.

Back at the plot, it feels a little too conventionally soapy that Barry - in his first returning episode - should call at Number Seven looking for Terry (with whom he hasn’t shared a single moment this time round) only to find Lucy who invites him in despite Sandra - a householder - answering the door (“Barry Grant”, Lucy greets him like an old friend, which got me trying - and failing - to remember any significant scenes these two shared over the years). Then Barry spills everything about his scheme to these two people outside his usual circle of confidence. And Lucy is immediately invested which quickly leads to them rooting through a garage lockup (like Clarice Starling) in search of the haul.

Of course, the team-up fits Lucy’s rebelliousness perfectly. This is the person who recently arrived home drunk, mouthing off at her parents and delighted in telling them about her shag from the night before (it’s hard to tell whether Anna is more horrified by the fact that Lucy didn’t know his name, or that he wore a string vest). Barry is the last person they want her mixed up with and that adds to the appeal.

Maggie Saunders has been great as Lucy of late. She’s had more of an edge in recent episodes that evokes Katrin Cartlidge’s portrayal but there’s a vulnerability too. One scene saw her wandering around in a kind of fugue state, sitting in Sandra’s car because it reminded her of the 2CV she had in France, with Sandra having to coax her gently into the house. It’s not the first time. Very recently she was returned to Number Eight by a boy who found her wandering round, dazed, confused and unable to find her way home. I convinced myself that Lucy had also done something similar in a much earlier episode and while I was on the right lines, it turned out I was thinking of the time Petra was found in a similar condition on the Close by Lucy The First, and taken into Number Eight’s garden to spend time with Lucy and Heather. Because of this it felt somehow like coming round full circle.

As Barry came onto the horizon, the class hierarchy between the Grants and Collinses was set up in this particular story in a brilliant visual. In the background Barry - having sneaked a lift on a milk float in the early hours - sneaks into Number Five with a holdall. In the foreground, Paul looks up disapprovingly before returning to his attention to the engine of one middle class status symbol, which he is topping up with the aid of another:

That bottle had us falling about laughing. It’s so very Paul Collins.

Heather’s got high class problems of her own: namely her superior sexually blackmailing her, meeting her rebuffs with frustrating obstacles placed in the path of her career progression. I suppose on paper this storyline is almost too obvious for Heather, but at the same time that’s also what sells this as completely truthful. It helps that the roots of this particular awkward relationship go back some way now. There’s been quite a dance to get Heather and Keith Tench to this point, and it’s impossible not to share Heather’s frustration at the dance she is currently having to perform in order to keep doing her role well.

The less said about Sandra’s pregnancy scare the better. Suffice to say there I put up with a lot of fawning and fake “hur huurm”chuckles at the end of every line, followed - in light of the disappointment over the inevitable non-pregnancy and the increasing rift between Pat and Sandra - by an abundance of something James pointed out back in February:
Pat has a tendency, especially in his more "dramatic", or at least "shouty", scenes, to begin his dialogue with a sort of tut/sigh/groan, sending the rest of his words out on a downward inflection, which has the effect of killing the momentum of a scene stone dead. So the drama never can build. There's just empty shouting followed by more empty shouting.

But there’s too much good stuff going on for a barrage of Pat-isms to ruin things for me. Thankfully it’s mostly been so much unpleasant white noise compared with everything around it.

Back at Number Five, Bobby’s ongoing annoyance at Sheila’s interference in matters that don’t concern her is shared by someone else, as she’s now had the legendary “interfering bitch” poison pen letter (are poison pen letters still a thing, by the way? They’re so visually interesting and creative that it would be sad to think they’ve been replaced by some electronic version). And it’s given us a fun whodunnit. While Sheila suspects Sally Dinsdale’s violent husband in light of her taking Sally in, Bobby initially suspected Alun Jones’s wife (quickly ruled out by token of the fact that he hasn’t got one). Meanwhile, I haven’t forgotten what they seem to have: she’s also put Matty and Mo offside for trying to end their affair out of care for Teresa.

I honestly can’t remember for sure who dun this one, but as we head into the summer of 1986, this is just the first mystery and bigger things are to follow. The series is certainly energetic, confident and intense enough to run with it, and I'm greatly looking forward to this story snowballing.
 

James from London

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If I’d wondered why some of my key memories of Bobby Grant are as an angry man, bellowing at the world, this run of episodes - coming at a time in my viewing when I was properly getting to know each character - explains a lot. There have been a number of spectacular Bobby rants, and I don’t believe we’ve ever seen him at quite this level in the series up to this point.
This period of Brookside, specifically what’s going on with the Grants, really reminds me of Knots Season 4. While the characters are still recognisably the same people we’ve been watching for the past few years, it’s like the heat’s been turned up under each of them: Bobby’s more volatile, Sheila’s more passionate about things that exist outside of her immediate family and Matty’s more reckless than they ever have been, primarily because the plot requires them to be — Sheila and Matty’s five-person soap-within-a-soap evening class needs to generate enough suspects for not one, but two whodunnits: the anonymous letter and the Terrible Event still to come. To that end, Sheila’s sudden friendship with Pat (a seemingly innocuous soap contrivance allowing two unconnected characters to exchange plot-related titbits in passing) will be weaponised in much the same way Laura and Ciji’s was.

While we’re aware (if only in hindsight) of the writers pulling the characters’ strings (especially Sheila’s, as she ricochets between at least three different major storylines in any given scene), an enormous part of the pleasure of this era is seeing the writers and actors rise to the challenge of making these soapy contrivances not only plausible but compelling (again, just like Knots Season 4). For Bobby and Sheila, they also serves as hints to where their characters will end up. Bobby’s conflict with George Williams is the first indication that his brand of socialism is gradually falling out of step with the times. At this point, the show’s clearly on his side, but it won’t always be. “Your father didn’t stick to his principles, he clung to them,” remembers Sheila in three years time when he’s no longer around to defend himself.

Meanwhile, Sheila involving herself in Sally Dinsdale’s and Matty’s marriages is the first time she’s really got worked up about anything that doesn’t directly affect her own family. As she herself points out, it’s the direct opposite of her attitude towards the halfway house just a few months earlier. One could perhaps draw a connection between Sheila’s proselytising here and what Sue Johnston would later describe as the character’s “increasingly strident” attitudes towards the end of her run on the show. (Johnston meant it critically, whereas I always felt her behaviour rang true, given the changing circumstances around her.)
Jimmy McGovern’s words are powerful enough on paper (he penned both the heated Bobby/George discussion and the furious blow up between Bobby and Sheila. And adding perfect balance, these intense scenes are surrounded by those from the picturesque and frequently comical Torquay trip), but Ricky Tomlinson’s passion takes them somewhere really special. Both have Bobby at his most terrifyingly intimidating and voluble. In the scene with Sheila, he waves his arms around her, pointing and poking for all he’s worth. With George he’s mostly seated at a desk and less animated, but still throws in a physicality that includes slamming a pen onto the desk so hard that it flies straight into the camera. As George leaves and Bobby slumps into his chair exhausted, his anger is perfectly expressed with the snap of a pencil.
Brilliant, brilliant scene. The snap of the pencil I’ve always remembered; the biro that bounces off the camera came as a complete surprise — I guess it didn’t register so clearly on the slightly fuzzy videotapes I’m used to watching. Thank-you, STV Player.
There’s a nice moment of crossover as elegant Heather leaves Harry, Ralph and Madge to get her train, and Julia comes flying past her, shrieking loudly out to them. The subtle contrast between Heather and Julia. Harry’s gaping face and Heather’s look of amusement at the situation all served up a funny and classic scene.
Yes, it’s almost like a crossover between two different series. Heather’s near collision with Julia is like Abby being waited on by Verna. (Sorta/kinda/not really.)
Social commentary travels to Torquay with them in the form of Damon, let go at the end of his YTS placement so they can take on another, equally cheap form of labour, but determined to get himself a job and heading South where he hopes the prospects are brighter. Once again he faces rebuffs, eventually grabbing at the only offer made: a kitchen porter where he’ll slave for long hours and probably not make minimum wage.

This leads to interesting dynamics in the Grant household. Bobby has a strong work ethic and can’t stand to see his sons lying round the house when they could be doing something productive. Damon wants to get a job so that no-one can call him work shy. They seem to want the same things, but Bobby is also a staunch socialist and devotes his time fighting for union members to earn a fair wage and work in fair conditions. It’s telling that he fights Damon’s decision, preferring him to be out of work than fuelling the machine where workers are treated in a way that is an anathema to him. It also speaks to Damon’s strength of character that he acknowledges Bobby is right but still wants to take the job with its poor pay and lack of prospects so that he can feel he is contributing to society. Ultimately, the feeling is sadness, and it’s a quietly powerful statement about the shocking lack of employment that pervaded at the time.
It feels like Brookie’s political pencils have been re-sharpened recently — Bobby’s arguments, Billy’s sacking, the really poignant scene on Thatcher’s Rock with Damon and the old’ uns where nothing and yet everything was said — perhaps to offset the (albeit delicious) melodrama of the Educating Sheila mini-soap?
The recession hasn’t stopped Barry coming back up country with a new moneymaking scheme: the thousands of contraband videotapes he’s bought and plans to sell. These include E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Back To The Future and - to Lucy’s great excitement, Last Tango In Paris. The latter film title is just one example of foreshadowing going on regarding this story’s outcome.

This story, while perfectly watchable, not unenjoyable and in some ways in character, does feel a little contrived and rushed at times.
Back in the day, Lucy waltzing off with Barry felt like a fun punchline to the whole wayward daughter/exasperated parents storyline (with the stash-of-stolen-shampoo-under-the-bed-discovery serving as an even funnier epilogue). But the more conventional soap-head in me can’t also help but see it as a bit of a waste. How combustible might a Barry Grant/Katrin Cartlidge-era Lucy coupling have been! But then, we’d already been there with Barry and Petra, and perhaps I’m being overly influenced by my re-watch of early Enders where Cindy leaving Ian for Wicksy has reignited a huge, decades-old rift between the Beales and Fowlers on one side, and the Wickses and Butchers on the other. The Collinses and Grants don’t have the super soapy back story for all that, of course, so keeping things light was probably the right way to go.

Maggie Saunders has been great as Lucy of late. She’s had more of an edge in recent episodes that evokes Katrin Cartlidge’s portrayal but there’s a vulnerability too. One scene saw her wandering around in a kind of fugue state, sitting in Sandra’s car because it reminded her of the 2CV she had in France, with Sandra having to coax her gently into the house. It’s not the first time. Very recently she was returned to Number Eight by a boy who found her wandering round, dazed, confused and unable to find her way home. I convinced myself that Lucy had also done something similar in a much earlier episode and while I was on the right lines, it turned out I was thinking of the time Petra was found in a similar condition on the Close by Lucy The First, and taken into Number Eight’s garden to spend time with Lucy and Heather. Because of this it felt somehow like coming round full circle.
Funny, I made the connection between Lucy 2 in Sandra’s car and Petra in Lucy 1’s garden here too, even though I never had before. Whereas Petra’s (admittedly funny) scene was part of something darker and ultimately tragic, Lucy’s post-James behaviour has mostly just been a laugh. Even though the whole Lucy 2 story has been really satisfying and well-executed, I could never quite shake the feeling that Lucy 2’s personality and behaviour (while never less than plausible) was moulded to fit the storyline, whereas Lucy 1’s stories grew organically out of the character. Perhaps that’s inevitable. In any case, now Lucy 2’s storyline has been resolved, she no longer has a reason to exist and so off she goes.

There’s a telling moment where we see Lucy 2 through James’s wife’s eyes for the first time. It’s a long while since I saw that episode, but if I remember rightly, Mrs James sees her as a stupid, deluded little girl — which essentially is what she is. This is in contrast to a similar storyline in EastEnders circa 1989-90 where Michelle Fowler likewise gets involved with a married man. As with Lucy, we aren’t introduced to the wronged wife until late in the story and again the marital set-up is very different to what the mistress has been led to believe by her man. When Michelle’s bloke’s wife finds out about her husband’s bit on the side, she casually concludes that Michelle must be a typical hairdressing airhead from the East End. Insofar as Michelle is a hairdresser at the time (and an East Ender), she’s right, but what she doesn’t know and the viewer at home does is that Michelle is about as far from an airhead as you can get. With Lucy, there isn’t that extra layer of complexity; she is exactly what James’s wife thinks she is. If she’d said it about Katrin Cartildige’s Lucy, however, it wouldn’t have been the full story.

Michelle’s most famous illicit liaison was, of course, as a barely legal teenager with a much older man in a position of authority over her (technically, Den was her employer at the time as she was shampooing the Vic carpets to earn some extra pocket money). And the audience didn’t find about their fling until after the fact. Same situation for Tracey and Mr Montague, of course, and both situations came to light at around the same time: late ’85-ish. Fascinatingly, in both cases, the man’s predatory behaviour is pretty much glossed over in a way that would be inconceivable today. Monty is scarcely more than an extra while Michelle’s teenage pregnancy, far from turning Den into a monster in the eyes of the viewer, instead gives him the sheen of a romantic (anti)hero: the love for a baby daughter that can never speak its name. Rather, the focus is on the “agency” (as today’s pop kids call it) of the sixteen year-old girl. “You’d have preferred it if she’d have been raped, wouldn’t you?” Doreen asks Billy — sounding exactly like a proto-Fitz in Jimmy McGovern’s Cracker. “I never even fancied her,” Den confides to his mistress Jan on Enders, which strangely but successfully (from a story point of view) frees him from any responsibility in the matter. Instead, it’s made clear that Michelle, like Tracey, did all the running. “As you know, these things are never one-sided,” Tracey’s headmaster says to Billy and Doreen. You wait for them to explode in indignation, but they don’t. In 1986, the idea that a sixteen year-old girl is capable of acting on her own sexual desire for a much older man was as far as such a storyline went. In 2024, the idea that it doesn’t matter that the sixteen year-old girl was acting on her own sexual desires — the older man in question is still abusing his power over her (or worse) would be where such a storyline ends. Who knows — maybe in a decade or two, there’ll be yet a further layer of nuance to add.
But she won me over in the scene where she talked to Karen about not minding criticism aimed at her TV performances (some of which she said might be justified), but was more affected when the press took shots at Bob or her children. Again, none of it was crucial to the series, but it was still a nice sequence where the collision of fiction and reality somehow worked perfectly well.
Paula's habit of delivering self-deprecating wisecracks while looking like a million dollars was one of the many things that made her so genuinely beguiling.

As Barry came onto the horizon, the class hierarchy between the Grants and Collinses was set up in this particular story in a brilliant visual. In the background Barry - having sneaked a lift on a milk float in the early hours - sneaks into Number Five with a holdall. In the foreground, Paul looks up disapprovingly before returning to his attention to the engine of one middle class status symbol, which he is topping up with the aid of another:
That bottle had us falling about laughing. It’s so very Paul Collins.
Oh great catch! I don't think I'd ever have noticed that.
The less said about Sandra’s pregnancy scare the better. Suffice to say there I put up with a lot of fawning and fake “hur huurm”chuckles at the end of every line, followed - in light of the disappointment over the inevitable non-pregnancy and the increasing rift between Pat and Sandra - by an abundance of something James pointed out back in February:

But there’s too much good stuff going on for a barrage of Pat-isms to ruin things for me. Thankfully it’s mostly been so much unpleasant white noise compared with everything around it.
What a joy it is to be able scroll through Pat’n’Sand’s scenes so cleanly and quickly. None of the over-fast-forwarding-then-having-to -rewind-again like in the old VCR days. Thank-you again, STV Player.
 
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