Brookside one-off special return date revealed

Familiar faces from Brookside will return to the small screen next week for a one-off special episode.

Camera crews descended on the famous cul-de-sac last month to film the crossover episode to mark Hollyoaks’ 30th anniversary.

TV royalty Sue Johnston and Ricky Tomlinson are among the cast reprising their roles for the long-awaited soap’s revival.

The episode will air on E4 at 19:00 BST on 22 October.

Johnston and Tomlinson were joined on set by Brookside favourites including Paul Usher as Barry Grant, John McArdle as Billy Corkhill, Philip Olivier as Timothy “Tinhead” O’Leary, Suzanne Collins as Nikki Shadwick and Michael Starke as Thomas “Sinbad” Sweeney.

Louis Emerick, who played Mick Johnson in Brookside between 1989 and 2001, is currently playing the character of detective Donny Clark in Hollyoaks.

He said the episode would be “fun for the viewers” as he teased the storyline.

“Well, the character of Froggy Black recently arrived and is rattling Donny’s cage because he knows a big secret Donny’s been hiding,” he said.

“All is not as it seems and we can safely say it’s connected to the Brookside crossover.

“The house of cards is going to start collapsing.”

This will be the first time that Brookside Close has been on air since the final episode was broadcast on 4 November 2003.

The show, set in Liverpool, was known for its hard-hitting storylines and took on issues surrounding subjects including rape, bullying and incest.

The series famously concluded with Jimmy Corkhill, played by the late Dean Sullivan, daubing a letter “d” on to the sign, leaving it as “Brookside Closed” before driving out of the cul-de-sac.