I'd like to start watching EE or Brookside. I'm leaning more towards EE. I could just start watching current episodes, but I'd love some suggestions if anyone has an opinion on what episodes/years/story arcs I should be watching - other than just ALL OF IT. I'll probably start at the start, but it would be worth knowing what might be skippable.
To my knowledge,
Brookside is the one that is more freely available in its complete form, as in full episodes from the beginning on STV Player and elsewhere. On the other hand, there appears to be more
EE edits available of certain storylines and character’s arcs from over the years. I watched a David Wicks one a while ago and was happy enough with the way it was structured as it included a lot of classic characters like Pat, Cindy, Carol and Frank and it didn’t just feel like random scenes cobbled together. As
@James from London mentioned, you’re probably safe enough with
EE up until the early 00’s and then things get a patchy. Even with Den’s return, I’d find an edit of that rather than having to sit through full episodes that include characters like Mickey and the Ferreira’s sat in the pub talking nonsense.
I really like New New Johnny. He's got some of the same puppy dog vulnerability as Johnny and New Johnny, but without being a complete wet fish the way New Johnny was, and there's an added edginess about him as well which is very intriguing.
I’m dipping in and out of
EE a bit at the moment to see what’s going on with the Six and I have to say, I really like him too. As you say, there’s more of an edge to him than there was with New Johnny.