Sir Phil Redmond said “they should’ve never stopped it”
Sue Johnston reprised her role as Sheila Grant(Image: E4)
Brookside fans made the same demand as the iconic Liverpool soap returned to screens tonight. After 22 years, viewers were taken back to the famous L12 cul-de-sac for an exciting crossover episode with Hollyoaks. Brookside came to an end over two decades ago, but Channel 4 announced earlier this year they would be bringing it back to celebrate three decades of Hollyoaks.
Filmed and set on Brookside Close in West Derby, the show ran from 1982 to 2003. As Channel 4’s first soap, it was pioneering and tackled important social issues in the community in which it was based.
Filming took place in one day and the exciting episode aired tonight to honour Sir Phil Redmond, who created both shows. Stars such as Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston, Paul Usher, Philip Olivier, Suzanne Collins, Michael Starke and John McArdle all reprised their roles for Brookside’s special show.
It returned as part of a jam-packed Hollyoaks episode, including everything from plane crashes to wedding day disasters. The most significant storyline to emerge from the 30-minute broadcast was the return of Mick Johnson to Brookside Close.
Louis Emerick portrayed Mick Johnson in Brookside and now stars in Hollyoaks as village detective Donny Clark. Fans had been wondering how the writers would create his back story in the crossover.
It was dramatically revealed that Donny had been living a new life for the past 20 years. Midway through the episode, Donny took a trip down memory lane to Brookside Close after faking his own death as Mick Johnson 20 years ago.
The cast were back on screens after over two decades(Image: E4)
As the car pulled into the infamous street, the Brookside theme song played out on screen and fans “screamed at the TV” and immediately felt the nostalgia.
Sheila Grant appeared on the close, shortly followed by Bobby Grant, Sinbad, Barry Grant, Billy Corkhill, Tinhead and Nikki Shadwick. Viewers were pleased to see the cast reunite on screen after so long.
The half an hour episode provided a teaser into what a full reboot could look like. It came as no surprise Brookie fans all made the same demand as the episode came to a close, begging for the bosses to “bring it back”.
Taking to social media, one said: “Please bring #Brookside back full time! Absolutely loved the cross-over tonight.” A second said: “I also loved the #Brookside crossover. hope that Brookside comes back as a series if not a soap.”
A third said: “Bring Back Brookside” and a fourth wrote: “I join the call to bring back #Brookie!” A fifth added: BRING BROOKSIDE BACK FULL TIME.”
Stars headed to the red carpet at St George’s Hall on Monday night to celebrate the premiere of the episode. The Brookside cast arrived in style at the star-studded event. The ECHO spoke to some iconic stars on the red carpet, including Louis Emerick and Suzanne Collins.
Sir Phil Redmond also took to the stage for a live Q&A session, talking about everything from Hollyoaks’ early days to his favourite Brookside character.
When asked if Brookside will ever come back for good, Sir Phil said: “My personal opinion is they should’ve never stopped it.”
He thanked his wife Alexis for helping “calm him” down all those years ago after Channel 4 bosses told him they planned to cancel Brookside. Amid his frustration at the time, he shared he was even tempted to cancel Hollyoaks too.
He continued: “When the management at Channel 4 back in the day made the ridiculous decision to cancel Brookside, I would’ve thrown all my toys out of the pram, including Hollyoaks.
“But Alexis was there to calm everyone down, and to calm me down and to calm Channel 4 down. So without Alexis none of us would be here.”
Currently, all Brookside episodes are available to stream from the start on STV Player.