It's not coming back in any form except perhaps a box set DVD of classic eps - and even that's a long shot.
Brookside, as per the original concept, would simply not work nowadays and after the sheer awfulness that was the last 5-6 years of the show, nobody except die hard fans would even want it back! Channel 4 did treat the show badly, but they only did that after it had already declined. In fact, it took them years to firmly decide to cancel it, despite the year-by-year falling ratings since 1996/1997.
As a fan of Brookside, I sincerely hope it never returns!
It's not coming back in any form except perhaps a box set DVD of classic eps - and even that's a long shot.
Brookside, as per the original concept, would simply not work nowadays and after the sheer awfulness that was the last 5-6 years of the show, nobody except die hard fans would even want it back! Channel 4 did treat the show badly, but they only did that after it had already declined. In fact, it took them years to firmly decide to cancel it, despite the year-by-year falling ratings since 1996/1997.
As a fan of Brookside, I sincerely hope it never returns!
But why would he say "Brookside is returning" if they're just releasing a DVD or two? Surely he'd say "classic Brookside is going to be available on DVD"?
I think if he bought it back, he'd fix any problems that plagued it and lead to it's decline and eventual axe.
I suppose it is possible that Phil Redmond could buy the Close back - it's for sale for not much money and he could easily afford it. What Phil doesn't have any more is his company that produced Brookside (Mersey TV), the studios at Childwall, all the masses of equipment that are needed to produce a TV show (from cameras/lights/sound equipment to post production editing suites etc) and the huge numbers of crew needed to make it.
That's not to say that he couldn't hire in freelancer crews to make the show and lease all the equipment/production suites - it's what most small independent production companies do when they produce TV shows.
The biggest obstacle would be finding a channel willing to pay for it. Channel 4 is a non-starter, they're strapped for cash and only looking to commission one off dramas for the foreseeable.
ITV might be after a daytime soap - The Royal Today isn't coming back - but I'm not convinced Phil would want to make a show like Brookie for the tiny budget you get for daytime TV. It would be competition for Doctors - make of that what you will.
Channel 5 was looking for a soap - not sure if they still are. Again their budgets are very small but it's a possibility.
Be interesting to know the truth - I wouldn't discount it entirely but I also wouldn't hold your breath. If it did come back the biggest chance would be either as a daytime or early evening soap and as such it would be a very different creature to what it was... somethings are better left dead.
Think about how much channel five spent on neighbours, hopefully the would see what a massive battleaxe broookie would be on their ship, and maybe take it!!! it is still relevant, and was a great soap, and C4 was a silly little channel to axe it.. cus tbh what was wrong with it... it was the same as all the other soaps!!!!
Brookside went wrong because it was toned down along with much of Channel 4's output in general. It was best as a very hard-edged issues-driven soap that pushed all the boundaries, as well as being really funny. Ratings for all soaps drop. Look at Eastenders hitting all-time low viewing figures in the last few years. They never freaked out and changed the way it was shot and where it was scheduled. That's what Ch4 did with Brookie and it killed it. Instead they just needed to regain what made it great in the first place, which is what EE has done.
Does anyone remember the last few weeks of Brookie where Phil Redmond stepped in and turned it insane with strong language, violence, drug dealers etc.? It sounds bad but it was actually ten times better than what had been happening in it over the past couple of years. The way it ended with all the men on the Close secretly getting together and hanging the drug dealer was pretty good, quite bold even for Ch4. And Jimmy's rant at the end was the essence of Brookside and Liverpool. Then he added the 'D' to Brookside Close'D' sign which was a nice cool way to end.
If it returned it could never be as good. Everyone left the Close anyway. How could there be a credible reason for characters to return?
Part of the reason why Brooky flunked in the first place was Ch4's constant shift in the time slots.I remember when I would go to sit down and watch an episode and it was moved from its time slot to make way for BB......:rolleyes:
The other reason to its demise were crap storylines.A police chopper getting shot down and landing on the parade..?I mean c'mon how unbelievable is that or Lyndsey Corkhill in a 3 way lesbian love triangle...lol
In a desperate attempt to grab viewers they introduced new families to the close, that did not work.Every conceivable attempt to bring it back from disaster failed.It was a financial failure in the end, and it will be a failure again, just like a certain other resurrected soap namely Crossroads.
If what Dean Sullivan is saying is true and it is coming back then why is he talking about getting Heritage to preserve the close and buy it on the 17th?Does that mean that a new location has already been decided along with a new cast?
I had to laugh at "heard it off someone who heard it from the horses mouth"...Thats hardly written in stone and he should know better than to listen to gossip and blab it on air until its confirmed!!!
I see Vince Earl(Ron Dicko) now and again, I will ask him when I next see him...
Brookside went wrong because it was toned down along with much of Channel 4's output in general. It was best as a very hard-edged issues-driven soap that pushed all the boundaries, as well as being really funny. Ratings for all soaps drop. Look at Eastenders hitting all-time low viewing figures in the last few years. They never freaked out and changed the way it was shot and where it was scheduled. That's what Ch4 did with Brookie and it killed it. Instead they just needed to regain what made it great in the first place, which is what EE has done.
Does anyone remember the last few weeks of Brookie where Phil Redmond stepped in and turned it insane with strong language, violence, drug dealers etc.? It sounds bad but it was actually ten times better than what had been happening in it over the past couple of years. The way it ended with all the men on the Close secretly getting together and hanging the drug dealer was pretty good, quite bold even for Ch4. And Jimmy's rant at the end was the essence of Brookside and Liverpool. Then he added the 'D' to Brookside Close'D' sign which was a nice cool way to end.
If it returned it could never be as good. Everyone left the Close anyway. How could there be a credible reason for characters to return?
I totally agree with you there.
The last few weeks was probably the BEST i had ever seen Brookside. as obv im only 22 and i didnt see the early years. and cant remember much from the 90's. Thats mainly the whole point of our Brookside DVD petition which i have been running and have over 3,000 signatures on it including cast ( www.petitiononline.com/brooky07/petition.html ) Please add your signature. Like i said maybe this has had something to do with it??? i hope so lol...
But i have already met Phil Redmond and told him my storyline to bring it back. and he had already thought of that himself which would of been mainly the only good storyline i could think of. i will post it later.....
Yes please do ask Vince Earl, i have been trying to get a contact for him or his agent to support us on our Brookie DVD Campaign as he said last year on itv granads news that he would love to see it on dvd etc which we were running at the time (petition)... but i couldnt get hold of him.
There has already been 1 small article made about this on the soap show website..
i hope it gets bigger, how rare is it we see brookside articles or news?..... this could be the closest we have known since its axe to hearing its return...... why dont we milk it?
LOL imagine if they brought it back Crossroads MK 3 style, all camp and wobbly cameras.
Its a shame, because with that cul de sac, they could bring it back, make it a bit like Neighbours, and it would work. I don't recall it ever raining on Ramsay street or Brookside Close!
I actually wrote a new episode of Brookside three years ago (the script is still on my bookshelf!) It basically consisted of a development agency (Farnham Properties) buying the Houses and renting them out. The episode began with a suited-and-booted Max Farnham standing at the Close's roadsign admiring it and ended with a wheelchair bound Ron Dixon moving into one of the Houses because the Retirement Home he is/was in has booted him out. Two other families moved in during the episode.
What happened to all the families? I thought Ron married Bev, where did they go though?
Max, Jacqui and kids kind of just dissapeared... Ron and Bev left together (IRRC) Lyndsey left with Barry Grant (Barry had just heard Damon's killer had neen released from Jail and was off to "sort him out" - we were supposed to get a DVD of that called "Unfinished Business" but it never appeared). The Gordon 'kids' left after both parent's died (the mother killed herself after the father died). the Murray's moved away somewhere else with the attitude of "good riddance". Jimmy left after a rant about censorship and the quality of programs on TV. Tim left after Emily died after the seige (but not before trashing and flooding all the houses). Er, I think that's it! Oh, the drug dealer was hanged from the bedroom window and the Milkman found him.
hmmm...imagine being the person that scrapped a soap and then brought it back after several year break...that would be a headline grabber...guarantee your seat on Phil n Fern and bring in the audiences...
hmmm...imagine being the person that scrapped a soap and then brought it back after several year break...that would be a headline grabber...guarantee your seat on Phil n Fern and bring in the audiences...
Phil Redmond didn't scrap it - in fact fought tooth and nail for it to be kept on air.
someone should buy the set, and base a reality show around it, in which the cameras follow the lives of the people (& maybe some former Brookside actors) who live in them
I would absolutely love to watch a re-run of the early years again, assuming Phil still has them somewhere. A smart move if Five got them. I think it has enough of a cult following to pull in some decent ratings.
Comments
me too a huge fan of the oaks have been watching since launch in 1995 haven't missed an episode.:)
and all the dramatic toryline epiode they had
He would know wouldn't he?
i agree would not mind watching them again use to love brookside
Brookside, as per the original concept, would simply not work nowadays and after the sheer awfulness that was the last 5-6 years of the show, nobody except die hard fans would even want it back! Channel 4 did treat the show badly, but they only did that after it had already declined. In fact, it took them years to firmly decide to cancel it, despite the year-by-year falling ratings since 1996/1997.
As a fan of Brookside, I sincerely hope it never returns!
But why would he say "Brookside is returning" if they're just releasing a DVD or two? Surely he'd say "classic Brookside is going to be available on DVD"?
I think if he bought it back, he'd fix any problems that plagued it and lead to it's decline and eventual axe.
So I hope it is true.
That's not to say that he couldn't hire in freelancer crews to make the show and lease all the equipment/production suites - it's what most small independent production companies do when they produce TV shows.
The biggest obstacle would be finding a channel willing to pay for it. Channel 4 is a non-starter, they're strapped for cash and only looking to commission one off dramas for the foreseeable.
ITV might be after a daytime soap - The Royal Today isn't coming back - but I'm not convinced Phil would want to make a show like Brookie for the tiny budget you get for daytime TV. It would be competition for Doctors - make of that what you will.
Channel 5 was looking for a soap - not sure if they still are. Again their budgets are very small but it's a possibility.
Be interesting to know the truth - I wouldn't discount it entirely but I also wouldn't hold your breath. If it did come back the biggest chance would be either as a daytime or early evening soap and as such it would be a very different creature to what it was... somethings are better left dead.
Does anyone remember the last few weeks of Brookie where Phil Redmond stepped in and turned it insane with strong language, violence, drug dealers etc.? It sounds bad but it was actually ten times better than what had been happening in it over the past couple of years. The way it ended with all the men on the Close secretly getting together and hanging the drug dealer was pretty good, quite bold even for Ch4. And Jimmy's rant at the end was the essence of Brookside and Liverpool. Then he added the 'D' to Brookside Close'D' sign which was a nice cool way to end.
If it returned it could never be as good. Everyone left the Close anyway. How could there be a credible reason for characters to return?
Bodies under patio's
Date rape drugs
Anna Friel's characters love life
We also have Brookside to thank for bringing us Jennifer Ellison
I would love for it to return as a new series.
The other reason to its demise were crap storylines.A police chopper getting shot down and landing on the parade..?I mean c'mon how unbelievable is that or Lyndsey Corkhill in a 3 way lesbian love triangle...lol
In a desperate attempt to grab viewers they introduced new families to the close, that did not work.Every conceivable attempt to bring it back from disaster failed.It was a financial failure in the end, and it will be a failure again, just like a certain other resurrected soap namely Crossroads.
If what Dean Sullivan is saying is true and it is coming back then why is he talking about getting Heritage to preserve the close and buy it on the 17th?Does that mean that a new location has already been decided along with a new cast?
I had to laugh at "heard it off someone who heard it from the horses mouth"...Thats hardly written in stone and he should know better than to listen to gossip and blab it on air until its confirmed!!!
I see Vince Earl(Ron Dicko) now and again, I will ask him when I next see him...
I totally agree with you there.
The last few weeks was probably the BEST i had ever seen Brookside. as obv im only 22 and i didnt see the early years. and cant remember much from the 90's. Thats mainly the whole point of our Brookside DVD petition which i have been running and have over 3,000 signatures on it including cast ( www.petitiononline.com/brooky07/petition.html ) Please add your signature. Like i said maybe this has had something to do with it??? i hope so lol...
But i have already met Phil Redmond and told him my storyline to bring it back. and he had already thought of that himself which would of been mainly the only good storyline i could think of. i will post it later.....
Yes please do ask Vince Earl, i have been trying to get a contact for him or his agent to support us on our Brookie DVD Campaign as he said last year on itv granads news that he would love to see it on dvd etc which we were running at the time (petition)... but i couldnt get hold of him.
i hope it gets bigger, how rare is it we see brookside articles or news?..... this could be the closest we have known since its axe to hearing its return...... why dont we milk it?
Its a shame, because with that cul de sac, they could bring it back, make it a bit like Neighbours, and it would work. I don't recall it ever raining on Ramsay street or Brookside Close!
Or they could make a spoof soap,
Max, Jacqui and kids kind of just dissapeared... Ron and Bev left together (IRRC) Lyndsey left with Barry Grant (Barry had just heard Damon's killer had neen released from Jail and was off to "sort him out" - we were supposed to get a DVD of that called "Unfinished Business" but it never appeared). The Gordon 'kids' left after both parent's died (the mother killed herself after the father died). the Murray's moved away somewhere else with the attitude of "good riddance". Jimmy left after a rant about censorship and the quality of programs on TV. Tim left after Emily died after the seige (but not before trashing and flooding all the houses). Er, I think that's it! Oh, the drug dealer was hanged from the bedroom window and the Milkman found him.
Phil Redmond didn't scrap it - in fact fought tooth and nail for it to be kept on air.