Brookside R.I.P. Any fans out there?

Sorry. Typo. I set up her = I set up here
I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. and I've smiled. This is a very pleasant rosé, from Aldi (see another thread).

Oh dear. Will I now lose weight this week? (see another thread).

At least I'm enjoying spirited this CD of Ma Vlast by Smetana (see another thread)

Er....... back to Brookie

I loved Brookside, I dont think I could say which was my favourite story line, but the body under the patio does come to mind.

omg - a telly disaster. 15 mins and no response at all! YET

OK, which was your favourite Brookie storyline?

I liked the siege. And all the follow-up to Sheila's rape.

Here's a Brookie anniversary DVD on Amazon, released in four days time. I'm not holding my breath for repeat fees. I probably signed a bit of paper in 1985 .... Scroll down to see what material is included:

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0081PU96Q/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk

Many ex-Brookie staff say that they think the selection of episodes is very poor. Too focused on the sensationalist stories that finished the series off. And not enough on the character-driven material in the early eps.

Hi glassortwo. It's interesting you say the body under the patio. crimson above says that was the start of the rot. I disagree with crimson. Surely many other soaps were already doing sensationalism. To some degree that's what soaps are about.

Den and Angie's divorce papers on Christmas Eve in EastEnders?

Alan under a Blackpool tram in Coronation Street?

The Coronation Street viaduct train crash, or have there been two? One train and one Metro. Anyway it's been milked far more than the Jordache patio

The very OTT Emmerdale plane crash. The idea of course of Phil Redmond from Brookside who'd been brought in to save what was then still "Emmerdale Farm".

OK I've not Wikipedia'd every line above to compare calendar dates but you know what I mean.

Ironic that Emmerdale survives while Brookie doesn't!

It did seem to fade away when it had been a very strong soap with fantastic story lines, was that down to the production team changing?

Some of the production team (especially the Programme Directors such as me) change all the time. We're freelances. So are the writers. There are no Staff Directors and no Staff Writers (except Script Editors and they never originate scripts, only doctor them) on any of the Soaps that I know of.

I think the fact that the directors change every three months or so (even though many/most return later on a 'revolving door' principle) is all to do with power. Producers change on maybe a three or four year cycle. Executive Producer - anything between two years (not a successful tenure) and about six years or even more.

In my experience.

BUT Brookie was different.

Phil Redmond was Executive Producer (by any other name. Don't forget, he was also physical owner) for the whole run of Brookside. Every episode, from birth to death. No-one else behind the camera (Colin McKeowan, Mal Young, no-one) even began to chip away at that.

So, whatever happened, Phil presided over it and watched/saw it happen.

I wasn't privy to what went wrong. I'd stopped working on it by then and largely moved on to the BBC.

Maybe it was financial (the demise). After all Phil married the company accountant, Alexis. No-one outside those two, apart from Channel 4 and I'd not bet on them knowing the truth, anything at all about the finances. If Channel Four were screwing down the fee to below what got Phil up in the morning, his character is that he'd move on to something else (eg Hollyoaks).

Leaving the writers, directors, even the middle-rank producers, rudderless.

The cast, of course, won't have had any say in any of this.

I didn't miss a single episode. I thought the brother/sister incest story was handled very well.
Sue Johnston has gone from strength to strength and I see one or two other cast members from time to time ('Sinbad' became a porter at The Royal, I think).

She (Sue Johnson) is brilliant. Always was. Many many excellent actors in the cast. Ricky Tomlinson, Paul Usher, Amanda Burton etc etc

Fun to work in such an atmosphere (mostly!) It had to be. We were paid buttons. And as I say, I'm not holding my breath for residuals (aka repeat fees) from the new DVD.

Cut 'n pasted from elsewhere:

glammanana Fri 23-Nov-12 10:43:36
isthis such fond memories of Brookside the houses that it was filmed in where built by the builder i worked for at the time and we had our showhome just before you came into The Close we had such good times People watching when the filming was taken place everyone was so friendly,I knew a few of the cast before the start of the series as they lived near to us on The Wirral in fact Dean still lives down the Rd from us now and is involved with a campaign to save the recreation fields near to Tranmere Rovers.Enjoy your week-end meeting up with all your pals.

I think Dean (Sullivan) is coming to the do tomorrow night. Always seems a lovely guy, though I never actually worked with him. I directed eps with all the other Corkhills loads but I then moved on to work mainly at the Beeb just as Dean was arriving.

I loved Brookside in the early years and if I remember rightly it was a good mixture of humour and pathos and tackled some ground breaking storylines. It was a springboard for quite a few talented people, including the marvellous Sue Johnson and Anna Friel, both very good actresses. I think it went off after a while which is so often the case, although I stopped watching it towards the end I was nevertheless sorry when it folded. I don't watch any soaps now, have loved Coronation Street off and on over the years, especially when the wonderful Blanche was in it, what a loss she was! I stopped watching Eastenders about 15 years ago too much misery. I just think life's too short sometimes to make time for soaps, I have a Lovefilm subscription, only two films a month, but sometimes don't get round to watching both of them either.

I can't really comment as to why the series never continued like the others of its era,at the time we had moved abroad and I was shocked when I came home on one of my DGCs visits to find it had been taken off air.
Good times where had on Croxteth Park at the time and good friends made,in fact my DGD now goes to Suzanne Collin's for dance tuition and drama a Company she has set up with her friend she is very successful as are a lot of people who where in the show.
I like the fact that most of the actors who have become much bigger stars still keep their feet firmly on Scouse ground,and what a shock I had one year when living abroad to find the fab Ricky Tomlinson had bought a mobile home just down the Rd from where we had our restaurant we saw him most Sundays at a Rastero (market) and after a few cans of Tetley's (he used to bring his own in a plastic bag did our Ricky)he used to give us a turn on his Banjo he is a master of the spoons aswell.
Fond memories indeed isthat
glamma

I don't know if Ricky T will be there tomorrow evening. I'd love to see him again if he is. I worked with him on many Brookie episodes. He's done really well, hasn't he? I especially loved The Royle Family.

Where are they holding the renunion isthis is it in the Town Centre or Docklands area,there is alot going on in Town at the moment I was over there yesterday and saw alot of street entertainment,my fav street entertainer is a blind chap with his dog who sits not far from Primark in Church Street he plays his guitar and it's all instrumentals from the late 50/60s loads of Shadows tracks I can stand there all day listening to him he is a great crowd attraction worth while seeking out if you have time.I love to go to Liverpool the kids there are so switched on with regard to fashion and we have some of the prettiest girls in the country.

I also love to Liverpool and was very happy when I worked and lived there. My flat was on the top floor, corner of Hope Street and Canning Street. Amazing view from the front windows of the whole length of the Anglican Cathedral. Gambier Terrace to the left, including John Lennon's old flat, and the Mersey to the right. On a clear day you could see the hills of North Wales!

Tomorrow night's "Do" is in the Hilton, Liverpool One, near the Albert Dock. I don't know what sort of event it'll be. I think there's a DJ but we've not had to buy tickets so maybe there'll be no food. A pay bar? I don't know. Will they run an episode or two? Formal speeches or just everyone chatting and circulating? I've no idea. Will let you know on Monday!

Typo: I also love to Liverpool = I also love to go to Liverpool

I remember being in a pizzeria in Rome and hearing this loud familiar voice, and thinking I know who that is, sure enough turned round and there was Ricky Tomlinson! Loved him and Sue Johnson as Caroline Aherne's parents in the Royle Family.

Not my all time favourite, don`t really have one, but one of my favourite story lines was the Damon and Debbie story, pity it ended so sadly, I thought that Damon Grant was a great lad. I see Simon O`Brien is doing property programmes now, and he`s still a cheeky chappie.

Only Soap I ever followed! Bring back Brookie!

Had no idea that Amanda Burton was in it. I think my viewing time was over quite a short period and certainly missed the early days. Early evenings were 15 to 1 and Brookside in those days I think.

I have never seen a single episode of Brookside; I didn't have a TV. It put me at a slight disadvantage as I was a social worker in Hulme and Moss Side at the time and my clients often used things that happened in Brookside as an opening gambit to tell me things that were going on in their own lives.

Am posting this from the Brookie reunion at the Liverpool Hilton. Dancing about to start. A good few cast here. Very enjoyable, though I admit I'm beginning to fade

Know how you feel; went out to a concert tonight and realised as we were driving there that it was way past my bedtime . I'm sure you'll get a 'second wind' soon, isthis!