ECHO reporter Ryan Paton was on site as filming returned to Brookside Close ahead of next month’s crossover episode with Hollyoaks
ECHO reporter Ryan Paton visited the set of Brookside this week
It was an historic day for the city this week as filming resumed on Brookside Close. For one day only on Wednesday (September 3), the L12 cul-de-sac was once again home to soap stars and camera crews – and it was just like it was 2003 again.
This was the year when the final episode of the original run was broadcast, when Jimmy Corkhill, played by the late Dean Sullivan, famously daubed a ‘d’ onto the street sign to declare that Brookside Close was closed, as the Channel 4 soap finished after 21 years on the air. I had just turned nine-years-old at the time Brookside ended, so was too young to properly get invested in the show and can only barely recall watching a full episode.
Despite this, the characters and storylines from the show’s latter years are emblazoned in my pop culture consciousness because, to grow up in Liverpool, meant having a knowledge and awareness of Brookside. The show was ingrained in the fabric of Scouse culture, and it was impossible to be in the city without some knowledge of Tinhead’s prison sentence, Mick Johnson’s garage gym and Jimmy Corkhill’s penchant for double denim.
Brookside’s departure from the airwaves left a notable void in Liverpool-set TV shows, which has thankfully started to be filled over recent years since the city has re-established itself as a hub for film and TV. But, for two decades, the Channel 4 soap was the platform for Liverpool’s creative talent to show off that their voice was more than worthy of being heard.
The show’s incredible legacy is why the one-off return to Brookside Close as part of a Hollyoaks‘ crossover episode next month has been met with such buzz and excitement. Production returned to West Derby on Wednesday for the episode, which will be broadcast in October to mark Hollyoaks’ 30th anniversary.
The ECHO was on site to watch filming commence and it was so surreal seeing these huge figures from my childhood back in the place I will always consider their natural home. It has now been confirmed that Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston have reprised their roles as Sheila and Bobby Grant, and it was incredible to interview two titans of Liverpool culture while sat on the same sofa, in an interview that will be released in the lead up to the episode next month.
One heartwarming scene I watched get filmed included a doorstep embrace between three Brookside favourites, Philip Olivier, back as Tinhead, Suzanne Collins, back as Nikki Shadwick and Michael Starke, back as Sinbad. I was accustomed to seeing these characters on an old style TV with a VHS standard quality image, and it felt like I had a front row seat to a piece of Scouse history to see this with my own eyes, in 3D and in 2025.
Suzanne Collins (Nikki Shadwick), Michael Starke (Sinbad) and Philip Olivier (Tinhead) on the set of Brookside(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
The trip marked my first time ever visiting the iconic location and it’s remarkable and surreal to see how it has so seamlessly transformed into a place where people actually live. It’s impossible to see how something similar could ever happen to EastEnders’ Albert Square or the Cobbles of Coronation Street, but this is a testament to why Brookside’s legacy continues to resonate.
The show had such a groundbreaking impact because of the way it captured reality and for how it was unafraid to tackle the issues of the day. The custom built cul-de-sac was the perfect setting for this, as it felt like a real place where real people would live in the city.
There’s no better proof of this than than how it has actually became a place where people have made a life for themselves. The filming was able to happen due to exceptional permission granted by the owner of the close and the Liverpool Film Office.
That means this week’s events are likely a one-off that will never be repeated, as Brookside will once again be closed as a television set. It will now return to being a leafy suburb in West Derby, but it was special to see the faces of the people who made Brookside such a smash hit back in the place they made so famous.
However, being on the set brought a mixture of emotions, as it was also sad to consider the late legends who were unable to be there. This, of course, included the man who bookended the show last time out as Jimmy Corkhill star, Dean Sullivan, died in 2023.
But this will make the episode even more emotional when it is broadcast, as the show’s creator, Sir Phil Redmond, said the reunion will be an homage to the whole of the Brookside legacy. In a statement after the episode was announced, the Huyton-born showrunner said: “It is always bitter sweet thinking back to Brookie, the reminders of its success and impact, but the thoughts of many, like Dean Sullivan and Bill Dean, who are no longer with us.
“But it is great that Lime Pictures are paying homage in their Hollyoaks anniversary crossover episodes. I can’t wait to see how all the gardens are coping in the heatwave and, who knows, what might pop up if someone decides to re-lay their patio. I know we left something else down there.” The Brookside/Hollyoaks crossover will be broadcast next month.