By Elliott West
“I’d been gearing up to working in theatre since coming out of drama school, but it was an exciting time for TV drama – it was the birth of Channel 4, and Brookside was very cutting-edge at the time.”
Amanda Burton
Introduction
The year was 1982 and we lived in a country that was embroiled in industrial and political unrest with a surge in racial tension. Many people didn’t even have their own television sets and had to rent them from stores like Radio Rentals, often with a coin slot on the side where the picture disappeared until you put the next fifty pence in. Unlike the wealth of television channels, we have today, viewers then only had a choice of three on a television that you had to get up and change the channel every time you wanted to watch something else. You couldn’t watch anything after midnight and if you left it on after that, you were greeted with a high-pitched noise to turn it off. A time when a Betamax video recorder was a luxury.
I clearly remember the day and I was only 10 at the time when 41 years ago Channel 4 launched as the first new channel since BBC2 in 1964. A channel that promised to be different, and punchy and to tackle the issues of the day through diverse programming. Countdown aired as its first programme at 4.45 pm but there amongst its launch schedule was a new soap opera called Brookside. The brainchild of Phil Redmond who had been hugely successful with shows like Grange Hill.
On the Close
Brookside was so significant because it was probably as real as a soap opera could. It steered away from the studio production that other soaps like Emmerdale and Coronation Street used and took the drama out and about in Liverpool. Filmed in a real culdesac in Croxteth, Liverpool with 6 of the 13 houses bought, used for filming. This drama was hard-hitting and wasn’t afraid to tackle the most controversial of issues. Drug taking, mental health, same-sex relationships, domestic abuse, a virus outbreak and murder were just a few of the issues dealt with and with them produced a whole host of memorable characters.
Even before the drama started, viewers were drawn in by the tinny, synthesised theme tune, accompanied by a roving view of Liverpool before it cuts to Brookside Close. The audience was introduced to the brilliant language of Scouse with memorable words like blurt, divvy and no mark woven into it. The show was also a training ground for the actors and production team alike. Giving them a taste of television where the camera lens revealed all and had you gripped for half an hour. Whether you watched it during the week or later on the Omnibus edition on a Saturday, this was a kind of television that was new and refreshing.
From Bobby and Sheila Grant, played by Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston to characters like Jimmy Corkhill, Ron Dixon, Max and Patricia Farnham, Barry Grant, Terry Sullivan, Sinbad, and Tin Head. we were given a Christmas present opportunity to enter their worlds and experience their ultimate highs and lows in life. Many of these actors had grown up in Liverpool and had experienced the love and turmoil that it had brought to them. It was gritty and hard-edged with so many issues boiling to the surface behind closed doors. The drama erupted into the close and straight into our living rooms. Those who watched it were gripped. This wasn’t fairytale television, it was a drama that went straight for the jugular with plot lines that often brewed for several years.
Brookside tacked the complexities of being black, of another ethnicity or gay and the backlash that some in society oppose with vile language and behaviour. The net twitchers and whisperers to those who would confront you face to face or put a brick through your window. These were issues that people spoke about but now had to face head-on. The drama was also sprinkled with shell suits, double denim leather jackets, tight perms and mullets. Moustaches and beards that grew at an alarming rate and jewellery and cars that were apt of the time. A Princess or Ford Capri would dot the drives as one of the residents swept their drive with pride.
Famous Faces
Brookside produced many famous faces who would go on to work in film and television. Here are just a few, Anna Friel, Sue Johnston, Ricky Tomlinson, Amanda Burton, Claire Sweeney, Nicola Stephenson, Michael Starke and Les Dennis. Actors helped make this such a great programme to watch and scripts were penned by many great writers such as Jimmy McGovern. Phil Redmond and Mal Young were so good at crafting this show and giving it a longevity that lasted until dipping viewing figures forced it off the air in 2003. Fortunately, thanks to STV Player, the entire series can be watched from 2023.
