Brookside

The (not so) everyday life of the residents of a Liverpool Close. Brookside has been known to break the 'taboos' of life and include stories that no other soap had been brave enough to do before. Throughout the 80's and early 90's, stories of rape, domestic violence, homosexuality, incest and murder earned the soap high ratings. This was because Brookside wasn't afraid to push the barriers of soap stories. In fact, most people would say that Brookside helped pave the way for other soaps to be so extreme.

In it's heyday 10 million viewers regularly tuned in. This was in 1993, with one of the most controversial storylines to be on TV at the time. From that point on things began to go downhill. Though remaining popular, the 10 million viewers gradually decreased to around 1.5 million. Thus, in 2002, Brookside was moved to a Saturday afternoon slot, then to a late night Tuesday slot. It was eventually axed, and the last episode runs tonight.

So what went wrong? I was a fan up until around 2000. Up until this point the stories had been as exciting and controversial as ever, but maybe it was so exciting that it was unbelievable?

Most soaps have long, drawn out stories that gradually develop, and these are few and far between. While this is dull for some, it can at least relate with the everyday life of people. These long stories allow for character development, so people will become familiar with people on screen and feel as if they 'know' them. Brookside had none of this. Within the space of a few years we had a virus that killed off half the cast, the incestuous relationship of a brother and sister, a man killing his mother-in-law to get rid of her cancer pain, a drug-rape (which did drag for over a year, but became boring), a man purchasing a shotgun and killing a burglar, a couple of bombs/explosions, racist thugs that came from nowhere, a schoolboy killing and, to top it all off, a seige that trapped the close for three weeks.

Whilst these all sound good on paper, most of these characters and stories came and went in the space of a year, hauling tonnes of emotional baggage (that we hadn't seen develop) with them. Viewers didn't feel as though they knew the characters.

There was also no continuity. With other soaps, they all have at least one character that has been there all along, and most have lasted the majority of the show's life. Brookside has just one remaining character that has made it past the fifteen year mark. The rest have came and gone in very little time. Other soaps have familiar pubs and shops (ie the Cabin, Queen Vic, Woolpac, Rovers Return) Brookside has no familiar 'mascot' as such.

So it ends tonight. The thing is, since it was moved to a late night slot, it has became brilliant viewing. I have since heard that this was the way it was supposed to be as of last year, but the movement to an afternoon slot made it impossible to show what they wanted to.

I'll be watching tonight, as will the 1.5 million left. Maybe more since the final episode has had some surprisingly good news coverage.

"Brookie"-1982-2003

Once upon a time, Brookie was the best thing on telly. It had deep, believable, real characters. Motivations were drawn out over years, stories not rushed through and integrity on show. In the mid-nineties, attempts for each storyline to out-do the previous one and characters arriving with masses of emotional baggage to unload before we even knew who they were, all managed to undermine Brookie's place as the most controversial, and the ultimate soap.

Later on, the need to shock, married to tacky stories and two-dimensional characters turned the series into self-parody.

One of the best things on British TV, until approx. 1995.

Brookside was a classic soap opera that was brilliant at character building however things started to go wrong in the late 1990s. Whilst the real rot didn't set in until about 2001 onwards things were starting to go wrong for a period of time before then. The final straw for me was when they had the lesbian storyline involving Jackie Corkhill and Lindsey Corkhill. Jackie Corkhill was one of the most believable characters ever to grace a soap before that plot line. Her and Jimmy were so believable with their fighting and arguing however the character of Jimmy was eventually exhausted as well. It's a shame really but the show just fell foul to sensationalism, gone were the nitty, gritty dramatic days that were good drama yet true to the characters. There was a great friendship going on between the delightful Jacqui Dixon, Rachel Jordache and Katie Rogers for instance that focused on character building over the years. I loved Brookside in it's heyday but it should have been axed before the rot really had a chance to set in. I blame Phil Redmond and Channel 4 for letting the show go down the pan though, Phil Redmond just had to be in charge of his show, nobody else could have touched Brookside. Channel 4 showed no support whatsoever for what was once the most popular programme airing on the channel. I stuck with Brookside up until the end out of loyalty and it still had some great characters like the wonderful Bev however all the time shifting before it's demise was disgusting, you just didn't know when the programme was on half the time.

Up until early 2001 I was prepared to give this show the benefit of the doubt. I defended it to my friends who said it was past its best and tried to convince me to watch EastEnders instead. But no more; this show is utter drivel now compared to the relevant and dramatic storylines that were being effortlessly pumped out in its late 80s/early 90s heyday. Now it's all about sex, sensationalism and whiny Scouse angst. What a shame. Channel 4 should cancel it now and leave the show with some shred of dignity.

I started watching Brookside in 1982. I last watched it at the end of 2001. I don't know what is has been like in 2002 but I can tell you how I felt about it from 1982-2001.

My favourite soap was always Emmerdale Farm (now Emmerdale). I liked it because it didn't need fancy gimmicks to gain temporary ratings increases. Emmerdale had good characters which made the soap what it was.

Brookside was a different kettle of fish. To be fair, some of the characters were good but Brookside preferred gimmicks such as explosions and shootings.

In it's favour, there were some good stories for Brookside. Two of my favourite ever characters were Sinbad (real name Thomas Sweeney) and Mick Johnson. Sinbad left the show a couple of years ago. His last storyline had him accused of child abuse and it was powerful stuff. Mick Johnson also had some great stories, particularly one where he was in court for euthanasia.

Jimmy Corkhill was also a good character but by the time I stopped watching Brookside, he had lost all credibility. He had been a drug addict, a schizophrenic, a crook and a fake teacher-there was nowhere else for him to go really.

A couple of things I didn't like about Brookside were it's long drawn out stories and gimmicks. Some storylines lasted for an eternity, especially the one where Nikki Shadwick was raped by a mystery suspect. It lasted just over a year. As I stated earlier, Brookside seemed at times to rely on gimmicks such as explosions, plagues and the like. I feel it could have done more to develop characters because in a lot of cases, some characters became caricatures after awhile.

As I write this, Brookside may be axed in 2003. I know the show has a lot of fans and I thank Brookside for providing some entertainment and addressing a lot of taboo issues but maybe it has run it's course and 2003 will be the right time to lay it to rest.