Brookside DVD campaign news
FORMER stars of Channel 4 soap Brookside are backing an internet campaign to bring out a "Best of" DVD.
An online petition already has more than 4,500 fan signitures and now previous cast members are calling for episodes to be re-released including, Dean Sullivan, Louis Emerik, Suzanne Collins, Bryan Murray & more.
Gritty storylines included Soaps first lesbian kiss and the murder of wife-beater Trevor Jordach who was buried under the patio.
The last episide was aired in 2003 after 21 years on TV screens. Brookside launched the careers of Jennifer Ellison, Ricky Tomlinson and Anna Friel.
Now past stars from The Close say a whole generation of Soap fans have missed out and are calling for Channel 4 to bring out a box set.
Dean Sullivan, who played lovable rogue Jimmy Corkhill, said: "I would love to be involved in any initiative to keep the Brookside name alive."
Lynsey McCaffrey who starred as Ruth Smith added: "It's great news regarding the Brookside DVD campaign its great to hear that Brooky hasn’t been forgotten!
"I was brought up watching it as a child so the show is very close to my heart."
And Steven Fletcher who played Ste Murray said: "I believe that there is probably still a massive audience of hardcore brookside fans out there who would love to have access to some, if not all of the episodes that went out over the 21 years it ran for.
"For me working on the show was such a great experience and a fantastic form of training infront of a camera, it brought alot of opportunity to actors in the city and made headlines for its groundbreaking storylines.
But there's confusion over who actually owns the rights to the Scouse Soap Opera. Creator Phil Redmond owns the name "Brookside" but Channel 4 are not clear if they own the show.
Brookie fan Lee Brady from Liverpool & Danny Burton from Essex both came up with the idea of running a Campaign to get Brookie released onto DVD after a visit to the close in 2007.
Lee, 23, said: "Our aim is to get anything onto DVD really, we would love Box sets, spin-offs, Classic episodes, The Best of Brookie.
"All other soaps have DVD's of Classics out on sale, They have Crossroads, Corrie classics to buy on DVD. Why not Brookie? Brookside was probably the Biggest ground breaking soap of all time. Brookside done everything first but it seems to be last bringing out a DVD.
I grew up watching Brookie, and for me Brookside is regarded as an academy of excellence, not just for its behind-the-scenes teams, but for the sheer volume of acting talent that has come and gone through its doors over the 21 years, To support their Campaign please go to www.brooksidefans.webs.com." |
