Liverpool’s Lime Pictures has remastered all the episodes of soap favourite Brookside ahead of a repeat of the its entire 2,915 run on Scottish streamer STV, beginning next month.
The soap began back in November 1982, when Lime Pictures was just a twinkle in the eye of its forerunners Mersey TV, and ran for 21 years until November 2003, originally airing on Channel 4.
Lime said in a statement: ‘Brookside is a programme that is held in deep affection at Lime Pictures. Its strong social conscience combined with a powerhouse of Northern acting talent and writers made it unmissable viewing and formed a model of storytelling that has stood the test of time. We are delighted that audiences will be able to revisit or enjoy investing in this era of ground-breaking television that put Liverpool into the television landscape.”
STV is based in Glasgow, but viewers across the UK will be able to relive their favourite moments all over again as the channel will be repeating the long-running show from the very beginning on its streaming service, which is available nationally.
The first 10 episodes of the soap will be added to the STV Player on Wednesday, February 1, with five more episodes added weekly thereafter. If you just can’t wait until February, meanwhile, selected highlight episodes of the soap already feature on Channel 4’s All 4 player.
The soap, set in Liverpool, chronicled the lives of characters living in 13 houses on a cul-de-sac called Brookside Close. Conceived by Grange Hill and Hollyoaks creator Phil Redmond, it drew in audiences of nine million at its peak. It followed the lives of the residents of Liverpool’s fictional Brookside Close, and made household names of actors including Anna Friel, Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston.
Friel, who is now doing very nicely indeed in Hollywood, famously took part in the UK’s first prime-time lesbian screen kiss alongside co-star Margaret Clemence in January 1994.
