Much-loved Merseyside soap Brookside is set to return to our screen for the first time in 20 years.
Affectionately known as 'Brookie,' the show was based in Liverpool and first hit our screens over 40 years ago on November 2, 1982. For millions of fans, life on Brookside Close was as much a part of their daily routine and drew audiences of nine million viewers at its peak.
By 2003, the Liverpool-based soap was axed - but now, 20 years on from the last episode, the series will finally return to screens on the free streaming service, STV Player. It will now be possible to stream the soap from the start for the first time ever after STV Player struck a major new deal with distributor, All3Media International.
Read More:
- 28 photos capture lost city-centre hotel and the celebrities who went there
- Scandal hit nightclub and celebrity haunt that sold '30-litre Champagne bottle' for '£125K'
Brookside had its fair share of memorable storylines in its 2,915-episode run - and who could forget sweethearts Damon Grant and Debbie McGrath. The young couple, played by Simon O'Brien and Gillian Kearney also helped make Channel 4 make history by starring in Britain's first mini-series spin-off from a soap opera.
In November 1987, the three-part series, Damon and Debbie, hit our screens and was described as TV's first "soap bubble." The series, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, followed the sweethearts leaving Brookside and deciding to elope.
The couple settled in York, with Debbie visiting an open day at the university and Damon finding work at a burger joint called Dick Turpin’s. But things didn't go smoothly - Debbie didn't tell Damon about her diabetes and when the barge they were staying on went missing, she was left panicked about her supply of insulin.
But like Shakespeare's lovers, their story had an unhappy ending. After a mock marriage in a hotel room, Damon is stabbed by an unknown assailant on the streets of York and dies in Debbie's arms.
Do you remember the Damon and Debbie spin-off? Let us know in the comments section below.
After the spin-off show, both actors went on to carve out careers in the entertainment industry and also start families. Post-Brookside, which she had been on since age 14, Gillian Kearney completed her O and A levels and then went on to drama school.
A former member of the Liverpool Playhouse Youth Theatre, she went on to add a wealth of television credits to her name. Other TV credits have included Casualty ,Clocking Off, Shameless, Lilies, The Forsyte Saga and daytime courtroom drama Justice, which she partly filmed in the ECHO’S Old Hall Street offices in November 2010.
She also starred on stage in Hedda Gabler, King Lear, The Flint Street Nativity at the Playhouse and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the West End. But many will also recognise Gillian for playing the young Shirley Valentine, starring in Suspects and going on to join the cast of Emmerdale.
In December 2014, the ECHO reported how the Liverpool actress landed the role of Finn Barton’s long-lost mum, Emma. The role led to a nomination for Best Serial Drama Performance at the 2016 National Television Awards.
In 2019, Gillian also directed the 5Star woman's prison drama Clink. In 2010, she welcomed her first child with her husband.
Join our Liverpool memories and history Facebook group here.
Simon O'Brien began acting in 1982 in the first episode of Brookside, at the age of 16. Since Brookie, he has continued to act and also become known as a radio presenter, as well as a a property developer.
He has hosted his own TV children's shows, appeared in films like Willy Russell’s Dancing In The Dark and serendipitously landed the role as presenter of BBC 2’s The Rough Guide travelogues alongside Magenta Divine. According to his website, he also scours Europe "seeking out derelict properties to renovate: all done from an ecological perspective."
After a spell presenting football show Standing Room Only on the BBC in the 90s, Simon also became known in the States for his role in American sitcom Out All Night and presenting on BBC Radio Merseyside. He also opened a vegetarian café and cycle shop in Liverpool, before returning to acting after a career break, appearing in Grange Hill.
In December 2014, the Liverpool actor and environmentalist was appointed chair of Green Strategy Group to scrutinise city's green space. The married dad-of-one, as the cycling and walking commissioner for the Liverpool City Region, is a key face for promoting active travel around the region.
In 2022, fans were thrilled to see Simon appear on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as guest character Frank Bardsley. At the time, the ECHO reported how Simon was introduced to The Rovers, seemingly as a new love interest for Sean Tully (Antony Cotton).
For more nostalgia stories, sign up to our Liverpool Echo newsletter here.
In more recent years, we have seen the Brookside duo reunite. In January 2015, Gillian Kearney made her directorial debut movie for the Sunday ECHO, which went viral on the internet.
Brookside’s Damon and Debbie reunited on screen as a posh couple who "turn Scouse" after moving to Liverpool and reading the ECHO seven days a week. The film, created to celebrate the anniversary of the first Sunday edition, was produced by Colin McKeown and written by Echo columnist Gary Bainbridge.
In April 2018, the actors who helped Channel 4 make history by starring in Britain's first mini-series spin-off from a soap opera also urged the broadcaster to move to their city. It is now possible to relive the Brookside drama and stream the soap from the start for the first time ever on STV Player.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
Read Next:
- 22 photos show early days and staff at demolished Liverpool hotel
- Liverpool's 'coolest' Chinese restaurant you may have forgotten existed
- 22 photos show lost Liverpool factory and those who worked there
- Liverpool's 'electric heated roads' that tackled the 'ice and snow menace'
- 'Chock-a-block' venue that was 'the place' everyone wanted to be
