Top 10 Brookside Characters (1980s)
Brookside had quite a turnover of actors. In the 1980s, there were some pretty good ones who were either established or newcomers who would become household names.Here is a list of what I consider to be the best 10 characters of 1980s Brookside, with some background information on each character included.
Played by: Amanda Burton. Heather Huntington, née Haversham, was an accountant who stayed in Liverpool after graduating from its university, where she met her husband, Roger. They bought a house in Brookside Close and were original cast members of the show.
Heather's time living at Number 9 Brookside Close was rarely happy. She was married twice and had several failed relationships in between. Her first marriage ended when she found out Roger had been seeing another woman. Her second marriage was to a city council architect who was secretly a functioning heroin addict. He was eventually found dead in a city park after overdosing on heroin.
After years of disastrous relationships with men, this proved to be the final straw for Heather. She left Brookside Close in the middle of the night, never to return. Her exit - driving away in tears - was one of the best character exits in Brookside history. It showed how living on Brookside Close could destroy someone, even as successful as her. For that extra bit of class in her exit, Heather tops my list as the best Brookside character of the 1980s.
Played by: Brian Regan. Terry did not feature until a few episodes in (episode 6 to be exact), and he was not even given a surname for the first few months. However, once he was introduced, he became a mainstay of the show, lasting 15 years and being involved in many of the top storylines throughout that period. He also holds the distinction of living in the most different houses on Brookside Close.
He lived at (listed in chronological order) numbers 10, 7, 9, and 5, respectively. Originally cast as a mate of Barry Grant, Terry eventually had his own separate storylines that developed his character and made him really popular with viewers. He also had quite a few girlfriends while on Brookside! His most famous and best storyline of the 1980s was being embroiled in a plot involving the villain Tommy McArdle.
Terry was rarely out of the episodes in the 1980s, and that puts him second on my list.
Played by: David Easter. Pat Hancock was a Londoner working as a hospital porter in Liverpool. He had a degree in food science and drove an old 1950s NHS ambulance. He moved to Brookside and rented a house at Number 7 (belonging to Harry Cross) with two female nurses who were his colleagues.
Pat's time in Brookside was eventful, to say the least. Initially employed in a secure job at the hospital, he was sacked after assaulting a worker who had harassed his girlfriend, Sandra. He was later involved in a siege when a crazed gunman held him and his housemates hostage. One of them, Kate Moses, was shot and killed during the ordeal.
After that, he set up a van hire business with his friend Terry Sullivan and took on a darker role, occasionally losing his temper, suggesting he could be a badass when he wanted to be. A man of a few talents, including football and music, he eventually got signed to a record label as part of a band and left Brookside to perform in clubs in Dubai.
His flare-ups while working in the van hire business suggested he could have become a memorable villain if the writers had chosen to alter his character. As it was, they did not, and Pat Hancock remained a solid addition to Brookside in the 1980s, making him number three on my list.
Played by: Bill Dean. The introduction of Harry Cross to Brookside was one of the best additions of the 1980s. Harry originally moved to the Close with his wife, Edna, and they owned two properties: Number 7 and the bungalow at Number 6. Harry was the landlord of Number 7. After Edna was written out, Ralph Hardwick (Ray Dunbobbin) became Harry's companion, and together they made great characters.
Harry Cross was portrayed as a miserable, controlling, and sometimes vindictive old man. However, on two separate occasions, he revealed that this was just a front. Deep down, he was a decent person who longed to be a grandparent, a wish that came true when his son Kevin's wife gave birth to a son (after having lost her first baby a year earlier).
Harry's time on the Close was eventful, and while he wasn't involved in major storylines, nearly every scene he appeared in was entertaining for one reason or another. He even made a cameo return to the Close in 1999. Harry Cross added depth to Brookside's cast, and for that reason, he's placed fourth on my list.
Played by: Steven Finch (later Steven Pinner). Jonathan took over the role vacated by Heather's sudden departure as the Close yuppie, arriving with his fiancée Laura. They were both city-based lawyers, and Jonathan was depicted as highly regarded in his field. However, the strange phenomenon that is living on Brookside changed much of what fate had in store for him.
His newlywed wife, Laura, died after being in a coma for three months, caused by a tragic accident. They had only been married for three months when it happened. Jon - as he was casually called - turned to Terry Sullivan for companionship, and they became good friends and housemates.
While on a skiing holiday in Austria, Jon met a Canadian girl named Cheryl, and they ended up living together at Number 9. However, the pressures of daily life on Brookside Close became too much for her, and she returned to Canada.
Jonathan's character was well-developed and became a key member of the show for a while. He was also one of the few characters not intimidated by Barry Grant, who tried to push him around on a couple of occasions. Even though Jonathan Gordon-Davies is still perhaps a bit underrated with Brookside fans, the storyline surrounding Laura's death and his relationship with Cheryl was strong. He was also a likeable character with a ruthless streak when necessary. I've decided that he is the fifth best Brookside character of the 1980s.
Played by: John McArdle. Billy and his family arrived in 1985, buying the infamous number 10 Brookside Close. Like the previous two occupying families, it was not long before things started going wrong for them as well. Regarded as a pivotal moment in the development of Brookside, the arrival of the Corkhills brought a sense of added realism to the show, with a nuclear family that was a bit more chaotic than the existing one of the Grants.
Billy was involved in some of the best storylines of the 1980s while living on Brookside Close, as he suffered one setback after another, whether it was being out of work or getting involved in criminal activities because he was up to his eyes in debt. The most famous and iconic scene of the whole 1980s Brookside was when Billy Corkhill snapped and drove his car around the close, over other residents' gardens.
In fact, John McArdle himself credits this storyline as his personal favorite during his time on Brookside. 1987 was a particularly strong year for Billy Corkhill's storylines, and for these reasons, he makes the list as one of the top 10 Brookside characters of the 1980s.
Played by: Malcolm Tierney. Brookside's most infamous villain was Tommy McArdle. Although he was not in the show for many episodes, the stories he was involved in were top quality, and his character was so nasty that he has retained cult status among Brookside fans.
When the character was first introduced, Brookside was still developing and had not really featured any villainous plots yet. However, the first one involving McArdle became one of the most memorable of the 1980s. Not only did he frame family man George Jackson for armed robbery, but he also had Barry Grant and Terry Sullivan badly beaten up for good measure.
A classic hard-knock villain with a charming glint in his eye, Tommy McArdle was one of the highlights of 1980s Brookside and would be in anyone's top 10 characters. He ranks seventh on my list.
Played by: Kaitlen Cartledge, Maggie Saunders. Lucy Collins was portrayed by two different actors, but the original casting was the best. Still at school and dealing with changes in her upbringing, social life, and problems with bullies, Lucy was a great addition to Brookside as one of the most active original cast members.
Most of her storylines focused on her rebellious nature, whether it was against her parents or fighting for causes she believed in, such as campaigning for CND. With her sarcastic wit and brilliant one-liners, Lucy Collins, in her first portrayal, was one of the best-acted characters in Brookside at the beginning, earning her a spot on my list of top 10 characters from the 1980s.
Played by: Paul Usher. No list of Brookside characters would ever be complete without Barry Grant in it. However, the concept of his character being at the center of the show is actually a misconception, mostly because the storylines he was involved in were highly memorable and original for UK soap operas.
Barry tended to be involved in good storylines that would conclude, and then he would disappear for months on end. In the 1980s, this usually meant reappearing back on the Close in time for Christmas. Barry's initial role portrayed him as self-sufficient and a ladies' man, driving a Jaguar. As the years progressed, events affecting his family also impacted him, and his character began to change.
Although in the first couple of years as a Brookside regular his backstory was explained, by the end of the decade it was not really clear what he was up to - apart from still being self-sufficient and someone not to mess with. Like his friend Terry, he also lived in several different houses on the Close during the 1980s and was involved in some of the best and grittiest storylines.
The darker side of his personality first surfaced in 1988 at Christmas while playing a game of poker with Jonathan and Terry. He had a strong dislike for the Corkhills, especially Billy, and had a strained relationship with his father, Bobby. Despite this, Barry showed fierce loyalty to his family and friends.
While not as frequently featured as some other original members, Barry Grant was a character who helped shape the direction of Brookside and is easily one of the best characters of the 1980s.
Played by: Dicken Ashworth. Alan Partridge was introduced as a character that could bring light comic relief (before Harry Cross eventually took on that role), but he also had a lot of depth, and some of his storylines were among the best of the early years. A smart computer programmer and tough rugby league player, Alan was a man of principle and not to be taken for granted.
He was in a relationship with Samantha, who was the love of his life, until she jilted him on their wedding day. This sent Alan into a downward spiral of self-destruction, affecting nearly every household on Brookside Close. Eventually, things turned out right for him, as he married Sam and landed a decent job in Kuwait. However, for those few months of alcohol-fueled self-pity and rage, Alan Partridge earns a spot as one of the best Brookside characters of the 1980s.