Billy Corkhill<\/a> became a household name in the 1980s, moving into the Close with his wife Doreen and their teenage children, Rod and Tracy. Billy was portrayed as a devoted family man whose struggles with unemployment highlighted men\u2019s mental health, leading to a breakdown that fractured his marriage. Later, Billy found happiness with Sheila Grant (Sue Johnston, OBE), marrying her in 1990. As part of the crossover, Billy will also step into the world of Hollyoaks, making appearances in the village.<\/p>\nBilly\u2019s brother Jimmy, played by the late Dean Sullivan, became the longest-serving Brookside character, with the show\u2019s final moments in 2003 famously ending with Jimmy altering the sign to read \u201cBrookside Closed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Usher\u2019s return as Barry Grant will also delight long-time fans. The eldest child of the Grant family, Barry grew from cheeky youngster to charismatic businessman \u2014 and one of soap\u2019s most notorious villains. His criminal exploits and dramatic storylines, including the infamous 1991 murder of Sue and her son Danny, made him one of Brookside\u2019s most talked-about characters.<\/p>\n
With Sue Johnston already confirmed to reprise her role as Sheila Grant, viewers will get the chance to see where these much-loved characters are now, decades after leaving the Close.<\/p>\n
Of his return John said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a nostalgic visit back to the famous close. Also I\u2019ve got to try and find the character of Billy Corkhill again as I haven\u2019t played him for 35 years!\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul added:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to seeing all of the old faces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Filming has begun for the anticipated crossover, which will air in October, to celebrate Hollyoaks\u2019 30th\u00a0anniversary and the legacy of both show\u2019s creator, Sir Phil Redmond.<\/p>\n
Filming will take place in September with exceptional permission granted by the owner of the close and the Liverpool Film Office \u2013 as the former set and production offices, as the unadopted road in West Derby is now home to residents.<\/p>\n
Executive Producer Hannah Cheers said of the crossover: <\/p>\n
\u201cThis episode is a love letter to both Hollyoaks and Brookside.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrookside gave birth to Hollyoaks \u2014 it grew up on the same site and eventually took over its sets.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor everyone at Lime Pictures (originally Mersey TV), Hollyoaks\u2019 history is deeply rooted in Brookside, and its legacy lives on through our crew and, of course, some of our cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis special feels like both a moving and fitting tribute to our origin story and a chance for fans to revisit much-loved Brookside characters in honour of that legacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese iconic Brookside characters are soap archetypes that helped define British TV; soap archetypes that new generations are still discovering now through Hollyoaks.<\/p>\n
As a lifelong soap fan who grew up watching with my mum, I was passionate about revisiting Brookside for the anniversary. With Sir Phil\u2019s blessing \u2014 after I had the privilege of pitching the idea to him \u2014 and the support of Channel 4, we\u2019re able to make it happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWriter Steve Hughes, who began his career on Brookside, has reimagined where these characters are more than twenty years on. We hope audiences will enjoy welcoming these old friends back into their homes once again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Phil said: <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is always bitter sweet thinking back to Brookie, the reminders of its success and impact, but the thoughts of many, like Dean Sullivan and Bill Dean, who are no longer with us.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it is great that Lime Pictures are paying homage in their Hollyoaks anniversary cross over episodes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to see how all the gardens are coping in the heatwave and, who knows, what might pop up if someone decides to re-lay their patio. I know we left something else down there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brookside episodes are available from the start on STV player, after they were digitally restored in a joint project between Lime Pictures and All3Media International.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Brookside returns in special crossover to celebrate Hollyoaks\u2019 30th anniversary<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two more familiar faces from Brookside have been confirmed for this autumn\u2019s special crossover marking Hollyoaks\u2019 30th anniversary.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-105881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}