Brookside lasted 20 years on our screens, started in 1982 and ended in 2003. Here are 13 things I bet you never knew about Brookside! Enjoy 🙂
1. The houses were custom-built for the show in an attempt to add to the show’s realism.
Bloody hell, I wonder how much that must have cost them…do you know some people live on the street now?
2. Some of the properties were used as post-production and canteen facilities for the cast and crew.
3. The houses have been renovated and are now used for the interior scenes in Hollyoaks (1995).
I bet you didn’t know that!
4. In the final few episodes, a dug dealer named “Jack Michaelson” moved into the close, this is a play on the name Michael Jackson, the Channel 4 controller who had canceled the soap.
It went downhill towards the end, it just wasn’t as good as it was in the 80s and 90s!
5. Jimmy Corkhill, the last resident to leave the close, added the letter ‘d’ to the word ‘Close’, symbolically signaling the end of the soap.
6. In 2000, the character Matt Musgrove (Kristian Ealey) transferred from Brookside to Hollyoaks (1995) the first time this had been done in TV history.
7. Ian Hendry’s stint on the soap was his last TV role.
8. There were 22 characters who were played by stand in’s on rare occasions when the main performer was unavailable or not really required (if the character was seen from a far or unconscious/dead)
9. Before joining Brookside, Dean Sullivan (Jimmy Corkhill) was a supply teacher between acting jobs. He only intended to appear in 6 episodes but his character was so popular, he was given a permanent contract.
I don’t think they expected his character to be such a hit with viewers. He was one of those characters we loved to hate for sure!
10. When Bobby and Sheila went to Rome in 1987 the scenes were filmed in St Peter’s Square, some even showing the Pope on his balcony.
I’m not sure how true this piece of trivia is, but if it is, it’s a bloody cool fact!
11. Peter Phelan’s ex-girlfriend was played by actor Sam Kane’s real-life wife, former model Linda Lusardi.
12. In 1990, the actors playing the Roger’s family went to the House of Commons to help launch the British Dyslexia Society’s Awareness Week on the back of the story of Geoff Roger’s learning difficulties.
13. The most-watched episode was the discovery of Trevor Jordache’s body. (I think we already knew that though!)
It’s still one of the most memorable soap episodes ever. Did you know that there’s someone who lives in that house and he still gets fans of the show knocking on his door.
