Ricky Tomlinson to return to Brookside for one-off special episode

Ricky Tomlinson is to return to Channel 4’s Brookside for a special one-off crossover episode celebrating the 30th anniversary of the show’s successor, Hollyoaks.

The 85-year-old will reprise his role as Liverpudlian trade unionist Bobby Grant in the episode, while the previously announced Sue Johnston, who also starred alongside Tomlinson in BBC sitcom The Royal Family, will return to the role of Bobby’s wife, Shelia.

Tomlinson said: “It will be lovely to take part in Brookside again especially to work alongside Sue Johnston. I’m looking forward to being on the close again after all these years.”

The Grant family launched Brookside when it began on the first night of Channel 4 in 1982, with the launch showing Shelia and Bobby as they settled into their first owned home with their three children.

Johnston, 81, added: “It’ll be so lovely to go back and be Sheila for a day as it was such big, enjoyable part of my life.”

Brookside was known for tackling sensitive issues such as incest and domestic abuse, and it was also one of the first TV soaps to show a rape storyline, when Shelia was attacked by a taxi driver in 1986.

In 1987, the couple’s youngest son, Damon, was stabbed to death in London, in one of the show’s most memorable and tragic moments.

The show is known for its last ever episode which saw Jimmy Corkhill, played by the late Dean Sullivan, adding a “d” on to the road sign to read “Brookside Closed”, before leaving the street in 2003.

The new episode, which will be the first time Brookside Close has been on air since the series ended, will be shown in October, when Hollyoaks celebrates its 30th anniversary, and will also celebrate Sir Phil Redmond, who created both shows.

All Brookside episodes are available to stream from the start on STV Player, after they were digitally restored in a joint project between Lime Pictures and All3Media International.