Brookside Close Tour, 9th June 2007

A tour around a deserted Brookside Close.
The houses were sold to developers about two years ago and the insides have been completely gutted yet no work has taken place so far this year. The gardens are being looked after and that's about it.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The Rolls Royce of Soaps
With the obvious popularity of the Grant family, many storylines were geared around Bobby and Sheila's turbulent marriage for most of the 1980s. Bobby's short-temper and frequent visits to Union picket lines opposite Sheila's staunch catholic faith and family values all served to be compelling viewing for many viewers, as did the antics of their popular older children Barry (Paul Usher), Karen (Shelagh O'Hara), and Damon (Simon O'Brien). They were joined by Clare later in the mid-1980s in a thoughtful storyline where Sheila and Bobby dealt with parenthood later on in life.

1985 was a pivotal year for Brookside with the arrival of its longest-running and most well-known family, the Corkhills. The first generation of Corkhills to descend on the Close were Billy (John McArdle) and Doreen (Kate Fitzgerald) who moved into Number 10 with their children Rod (Jason Hope) and Tracy (Justine Kerrigan) along with a multitude of marital problems and debt. A favourite scene with fans occurred in 1987. Doreen and Billy's crumbling marriage reached breaking point after Doreen admitted to Billy she had been sexually propositioned in return to pay off the family's spiralling debts. With fierce and tremendous rage, Billy jumped into his brown Triumph Acclaim and aggressively sped over all his neighbours' gardens! Not only did this satisfy Billy's utter marital frustrations, but it also served as revenge to the rest of the residents of the Close who had driven over his garden to avoid a huge hole that had appeared in the middle of the Brookside Close access road!

Mid 1985 Brookside achieved its biggest viewing figures of the eighties with the infamous 'Number 7 Siege'. This was a heavy handed but powerful plot that intended to highlight the possible dangers of Care in the Community, a controversial parliamentary scheme introduced in the early 1980s where previously hospitalised mentally ill people were treated at home. The extreme and hard-hitting storyline was watched by 7.5 million people, an incredible achievement for Britain's newest TV channel, still only in its third year. Number 7 Brookside Close was home to three young nurses; Pat Hancock (David Easter), Sandra Maghie (Sheila Greer) and Kate Moses (Sharon Rossita), who rented the property from Harry Cross. Through their nursing, they encountered the seemingly harmless and gentle giant John Clarke (Robert Pugh), whose elderly Mother eventually died (of natural causes) in Hospital, under their care. Gradually, John's instability grew into insanity and he was unable to cope with the death of his Mum with absolutely devastating consequences. He forced his way into Number 7, armed with a sawn-off shot gun and ready to avenge his Mother's death. He violently held the three nurses hostage for several days in a claustrophic and gripping 3 episode run with Brookside Close dramatically sealed off and surrounded by armed police! The siege culminated in a terrifying shoot-out resulting in the shocking death of Kate followed by John's subsequent suicide. Although some critics howled at the unlikely plot-premise (former Daily Mail critic Hilary Kingsley described it as 'ludicrous' in her book Soap Box), these were well produced and powerfully acted sequences, creating genuine and uncomfortable tension with a level of drama arguably never previously seen before in a British soap opera. The storyline put Brookside in a predominant position and made other soaps, such as ITV's Coronation Street and the revamped Crossroads take notice, and the BBC, previously snobbish about the soap opera genre, finally realised they needed a popular soap and launched equally hard-hitting EastEnders the very same year. Brookside was now seen as a quality soap opera, a cult hit within the core of its target demographic, earning it the reputation as being "The Rolls Royce of Soaps" among devoted fans.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• brookside
• hollyoaks
• grange
• hill
• liverpool
• mersey
• jimmy
• billy
• corkhill
• sheila
• bobby
• grant

[roverbhoy]

hey cool video, I lover brokie when it was on. I didnn't even know the street still existed. Just cheacked Google maps an foun it there too. Think I'll pop by next time am down that way........... Can nyone tell me the name of the track that starts about 6 mins intot he clip. I know it but just can't remember the name. Thanx

[Muppet135]

It's Papa New Guinea by Future Sound Of London.

[PeteGeeza86]

Whats the song being played around 1.00?

Slow tune,but great tune :-)

Cheers.

[Muppet135]

It's called Teardrop by Massive Attack.

[Constavlos]

I still miss Brookie :(

[horridhen]

i miss brookside

[brucedanton]

Many thanks for the posting. I went to Brookside in June 1988, and could not get in there-because of the security guards, although I did take pictures of the road leading up to the gate at the time.

I have not been back, as I live in Kent though.

It is sad to see the Close in such a state though now, although I know it has been sold off to developers since this was taken-let's hope they improve it!

[philyburkhill1]

i used to climb over the wall onto this set

security used to chase us all over the place

[atomicnortherner]

this is spooky, it looks like a premonition of if humans disapeared... if you ignore the camara man!

[traceynorthernstar]

@bus140808 They're not perfectly good houses. They're just 'shells' they used for filming. They're not suitable for living in x

[MrBennygreen]

the best.nuff said.some homeless folk could live there.

[MrBennygreen]

the best.nuff said.

[arnolddisco]

@bus140808 Apparently they're not as they were modified a lot to allow for filming and a few aren't connected to utilities

[spinout3]

love it.. thanx for uploading.

[DAJAZDJ1]

was that jimmy corkhill hiding behind that tree

[bluenoze1878]

bring back brookie