The Cast of Brookside: THEN & NOW

Alex Fletcher – Then

Having starred in over 400 episodes from 1990 to 2003 until the series ended, Alex Fletcher became the face of Brookside. Her acting skills were spot on, portraying the typical suburban British woman coping with the daily struggles of life while coming across strange elements that plagued our country. One can also argue that she redefined the fashion trends of the time and subsequently became the crush of so many young men and older guys alike. After the show ended, she didn’t pursue an acting career in a way we expected her to.

Alex Fletcher – Now

While it is true that Alex didn’t acquire any notable acting roles after retiring from Brookside, it should be noted that she starred in a few minor roles in television which are as follows, Doctors, MIT: Murder Investigation Team and Hollyoaks. She is happily married to fellow Brookside costar Neil Davies and has two children, a boy and a daughter with him. It seems she loves the quiet life, but does welcome the occasional paparazzi cameras that come knocking on her door for interviews. She also trained as a fitness instructor in the late 2000s and after she got the requisite qualifications and certifications, she began to teach her newfound skills at a number of locations. It seems the retired actress has finally found her true calling. This isn’t to say she completely shied away from television and media, she has worked as a television presenter as well, having appeared on The Wright Stuff alongside Matthew Wright. She is an awesome amateur cook, having appeared in a number of cooking shows as a participant, she placed second in Come Dine with Me and also appeared on BBC’s Celebrity Masterchef.

Simon O’Brien

Simon played the character of Damon Grant from 1982 to 1987. He is known for his characteristic mullet hairstyle which at the time was a popular fashion trend. This allowed audiences to become further acquainted with the character and empathize with his situation.  Damon’s character explored enormous social issues such as vandalism, theft and the ensuring consequences. Perhaps the most controversial issue was his relationship with Debbie McGrath who was an underage school girl. Although Damon became an instant heartthrob with the fans, he was written off by producers at O’Brien’s request. They chose to have him stabbed unexpectedly, which was met my massive backlash by fans of the show.After the end of his role as Damon Grant in Brookside, Simon played the rather minor role of BJ the lighthouse keeper in the British version of Fraggle Rock from 1989 to 1990. Either he couldn’t capitalize on his role as the overly popular Damon Grant, or simply didn’t have the desire to pursue greater fame on television, Simon quickly fell off everyone’s radars.

Simon O’Brien – Now

Before he completely exited the show business, he had a number of brief stints on television. These include his role as a television presenter on the BBC football show Standing Room Only. After that didn’t work out, he tried his luck with entrepreneurship and opened up Liverpool Cycle Center, a hub which combined a café, cycle shop and provided cycle parking space among other resources. He showed some interest in property development as well, having participated in a few projects related to real estate which were quite successful. It seems he was bitten by the ‘media bug’ and wanted to try a shot at fame one last time. He returned to television presenting on the football quiz show, Do I Not Know That, from ITV Digital, least to say the show didn’t last very long. He was hired as a presenter alongside Lucinda Moore on BBC Radio Merseyside’s show Breakfast. Things were looking really great for the now aging actor, but a broadcast clip of him swearing on the show went live, it said, “f*** the government, f*** the planner.” After the end of this show, he voluntarily resigned. He briefly retired before returning a few years later as presenter on TV series “MY Dream Derelict Home”. Here’s hoping he manages to keep his job for the long haul.

Ricky Tomlinson – Then

Ricky played Bobby Grant from the very first episode in 1982 until the character’s departure in 1988. Bobby was the kind of man everyone loved to hate, was the typical drunkard who regularly engaged in violent bouts of domestic violence over the smallest of excuses. His role was that of a sadist – a sadist with an ideology. His political views mirrored that of a socialist, a fact which became resoundingly clear when served as an activist of a trade union. Although he liked to parade around as the protector of his family, Bobby’s views were challenged after his wife Sheila was raped. After that happened, his marriage fell apart and he separated from his wife.The way his character exited was a depressing moment for most viewers. It showed hopelessness from a character who represented the patriarchal elements of society, which was rather shocking for most viewers who thought he was impossible to crack.

Ricky Tomlinson – Now

Ricky has a prolific acting career. He didn’t let the ugly demise of his character pull him down a couple of notches. After being written out of Brookside in 1988, he played the character DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker, Jim Royale in The Royal Family and Mike Bassett in Mike Bassett: England Manager. Least to say, he is now a career actor with several roles under his belt, many of which are award winning. In 1993, he met Rita Cummiskey and married her 10 years later, she also works as his manager. His family life unfortunately, was marred with daily struggles. His son Clifton died at the age of 33 in 2004 after drug and alcohol abuse.He always showed a desire to become a comeadian as well. That is precisely what he got from his patriarchal role as Jim Royale in The Royale family. This successfully comedy drama was cowriten by Caroline Aherne. A prominent movie role that he starred in was the 51st

 State alongside Robert Carlyle and Samuel L Jackson. He starred in several movies and continues to work in many projects, this includes “The More You Ignore Me”, “Thomas”, “Mike Bassett: Interim Manager”  and “Fighter from the Docks”. He is one of the few actors who managed to capitalize on his time at Brookside.

Ray Quinn – Then

Unlike most actors on this list, Ray doesn’t owe his success to Brookside, instead he achieved more recognition after he auditioned for The X Factor, more on that later. On Brookside, he played the role of Anthony Murray from 2000 to 2003. Anthony was regularly bullied by two girls, Imelda Clough and Paige. These two girls would instigate him to steal money from passerbys and give it to them for a reward. The show focused entirely around how the boy would try to pull himself from his bootstraps after getting repeatedly humiliated and bullied by the girls. One time Imelda chased after him into the woods and in the ensuing struggle, the two fell into a pond where Imelda hit her head on the rock. Her death caused him immense distress afterward.Anthony was later charged with Imelda’s murder, but after a lengthy trial the verdict was announced that Anthony was not guilty. Anthony’s character was eventually written off in 2003 after three years. But Ray wasn’t about to let the light get taken away from him, he wanted to accomplish much in life and eventually auditioned for The X Factor in 2006 and instantly skyrocketed in popularity.

Ray Quinn – Now

After auditioning for The X Factor in 2006, he became a favorite of both the judges and fans. His performances were so good that he went on to finish second place, only behind the extremely gifted and talented Leona Lewis. This established him as an immensely popular figure among fans. Not satisfied with being the runner up of the show, he went onto audition for Dancing on Ice in 2009 and was the winner of the series. He was also the finalist in the series All Stars. He was the winner of Get Your Act Together in 2015.He never disappeared from the spotlight after his streaks of victories. He played Peter Pan at the Liverpool Empire and made numerous TV appearances. The more notable ones include shows like Ready Steady Cook, Songs of Praise, Britain Sings Christmas, All Star family Fortunes and Dare to Dream. He also has a rather successful personal life as well, having dated Emma Stephens for over 6 years from 2009 until their separation in 2015. The couple had no children and cordially parted ways. It is unclear who he might be dating at the moment, or whether he is satisfied with the bachelor life.

Brian Regan – Then

Brian played the prominent role of Terry Sullivan. The character appeared after the first few episodes of the series began in 1982. He had a tumultuous relationship with his father but had a committed career trajectory, as a promising football players who could make a professional career out of it. But he fell in with the wrong crowd and was simply unable to pursue his dreams because of all those scams and schemes that Barry Grant would cook up. He grew up without a mother but Barry’s mother Sheila filled that role for him. One of Brian’s love interest was Sue, but after she fell (read pushed) off the scaffolding of the Brookside shop parade, he plunged into depression and eventually joined a cult. His story was about the typical trials and tribulations that unguided youth typically fall prey to.He eventually learns that his mother is still alive and left once more to find her. His final appearance was in a special episode where he helped out his old friend, the two got along with each other despite the difficult past that they shared. And that was the end of Terry Sullivan on Brookside. While the cherished memories of the character are still vibrant in our minds, Brian Regan himself seems to fade off our radars. After the end of the show, he fell into drug and alcohol abuse, a strange coincidence which seems to mirror the circumstances of the character he once portrayed.

Brian Regan – Now

Brian’s story is rather grim. He had an interest in an acting career but didn’t quite know how to properly leverage his fame. He once left the show midway in 1997 to pursue his dreams, but things didn’t work out. With no options left, he decided to return to the show where he was eventually written off. The flair that he once had was dying off, his reputation just wasn’t the same as it used to be. He became depressed and turned toward alcohol and drugs to relive the high he once enjoyed as a popular person. Unlike other actors and actresses who had help to cope with their depression, he had no one to call for help. His last hoorah was a measly mention on an article in Daily Mail in April 2011 where he was credited as the inspiration for comedian Harry Enfield’s Scousers.Things came to a head for the man when he was charged with the murder of an Iranian bouncer Bahman Faraji in Liverpool. His criminal history became more enriched when he was charged with ‘counts of possession with intents to supply a controlled drug”. The drug, which is believed to be cocaine, is highly addictive and illegal in the UK. In 2012 he was sentenced to 4 years and 10 months for his involvement in the murder of Bahman. The story goes like this, he was the designated driver to drop the gunman to the scene and provide a getaway vehicle for him after the deed was done. Brian first tried to evade his imprisonment by fabricating a false alibi, and thus he got a harsher punishment than what is typically given to criminals who have played a part in the murder but haven’t actually done the deed itself. He is currently aged 60 and is possibly still serving the sentence. His once thriving career is now just a mirage that once hooked us to the edge of our seats.

Anna Friel – Then

Anna played the controversial role of Beth Jordache from 1992 to 1994. Beth was a lesbian in an era when it was unacceptable by mainstream society. This frowned upon role stirred up quite a bit of controversy and made headlines in many tabloids. Anna’s story was rather grim since she coped not only with a sexual orientation which was on the fringes of society, but she also dealt with a bully of a father who sexually assaulted her. Things came to a head when Trevor physically beat her mother, Anna promptly and rather bravely, issues an ultimatum to her mother to throw the man out of the house. But the monster threatened to kill them both.So the two of them hatched a plan to kill the bully once and for all. They tried to kill him by using weed killer, but their first attempt failed, but managed to make Trevor ill. In their final attempt, Trevor caught them both putting the pain killers into his drink. He went into an explosive fit of rage and violently beat Beth. This caused the mother to pick up a kitchen knife and stab Trevor with it. The two of them found a way to dispose of the body and keep the murder away from law enforcement. The storyline was one on of the more memorable ones which were well received by audiences, since it explored various taboo elements, including sexual assault and murder.

Anna Friel – Now

Anna is one of the most popular actresses and easily lived up to the hype that her character created for her. She starred in a long line of movies which were both critically and commercially successful, including The Land Girls, The Trine and St. Ives. She has a respectably large following on social media, with over 33 thousand followers on Twitter and 16 thousand on Facebook. She can also be reached on her personal website, annafriel.org. Anna first began a relationship with actor David Thewlis when the pair first met on a flight. She got married to him but things didn’t last long between them and they divorced. It was discovered that she suffers from endometriosis, which makes it more difficult than is normal to bear children. This didn’t prevent her from giving birth to Gracie Mar Friel in 2005 who was named after her great grandmothers.Friel also campaigns for many causes and charities such as the Breakthrough Breast Cancer and WWF wildlife charity. She has a long list of movies and television roles, which suggests that she is an extremely successful actor who wasn’t typecast as ‘that lesbian actress from Brookside’. She can play many diverse and versatile roles such as that of Erica Myles in the sexually explicit American drama The Girlfriend Experience, in which she is a Republican fundraiser who engages in relationships with other women. If that wasn’t enough to add flair to her career, she also plays the lead character Detective Sergeant Marcella Backland in the crime drama Marcella which can be seen on Netflix.

Leon Lopez – Then

Leon played the role of Jerome Johnson from 1999 to 2002. Jerome was a young lover who was head over heels for Nikki Shadwick. The two lovers were so happy with each other that even got into an engagement.Things don’t always go to plan and he eventually falls in love with Nisha Barta. Whether that was a brief fling or he got swayed by her looks temporarily, Jerome got busted in the act by Nikki and she broke off their engagement in their engagement party. Now that made for an explosive drama filled action which was rather fun to watch.

Leon Lopez – Now

He continues to pursue an acting career and even made a small guest role on EastEnders. While he didn’t really have a prominent career on television, he always managed to get a few roles here and there.The latest project in which he will be credited is “The Quiet One” where he will play the role of Lester. The project is currently under post production. He is still 36 years old and has plenty of years left in his acting career, here’s hoping he finds a way to increase his acting persona.

Jennifer Ellison – Then

Jennifer played the role of Emily Shadwick from 1998 to 2003. In one episode, robbers break into houses and try to take as many hostages as they can. Among the people they catch are Nikki (who almost gets raped again) and Emily. During the ensuing drama, Emily tries to escape from her captives and the only way out for her is to jump out of the bedroom window. This unfortunately results in her getting severely injured. The audience is left crying for the poor girl who spends the remainder of her fragile life in a coma. Although the doctors tried very hard to keep Emily alive, they couldn’t repair the damages she sustained during the heavy fall. Throughout the escapade, she was under the vigilant eyes of Nikki and Tim and eventually dies.The audience was clearly distraught at the sight of a helpless little girl dying. It created headlines across magazines and was a difficult pill to swallow for most. After her character was written off continued to pursue various projects, these included acting roles in both movies and television and a singing career which was rather short lived.

Jennifer Ellison – Now

Jennifer acquired professional training in dancing since the age of 3 and even pursued this as a fully fledged course at the Elizabeth Hill School of Dancing in St Helens. Her talent and skill allowed her to bag numerous competitions and even passed the difficult examination with the Royal Academy of Dance. She won the Ballet and Modern Dance titles at the IDTA Theater Dance Championships in 1996 and 1997 respectively. She released 2 singles, “Baby I don’t Care” which reached number 6 in the charts and “Bye Bye Boy” which made it to number 8. But she decided that singing wasn’t exactly where her passions lied and decided to pursue theater work instead.She got married to Robbie Tickle and has three children with him, Bobby Tickle, Harry Tickle and Charlie Tickle. Of note is her appearance on the reality television show Hell’s Kitchen which she went on to win. This means the girl has multiple talents, and cooking is one of those. In 2007 she appeared as a judge on the TV show Dirty Dancing – Time of your Life. She even served as a guest panelist on the popular show Loose Women. She recently made headlines after she lost a lot of weight and toned down to slim and slender figure. We have attached a picture of her recent transformation. (there are clearly no signs of Photoshop and the tiles and door frame are totally straight)

Sue Johnston – Then

Sue played the iconic motherly role of Sheila Grant from 1982 until the character’s departure in 1990. Her character allowed the producers to explore a host of terrible taboos that plague our streets. Her rape. Sue had expressed her desire to leave the show, but the writers wanted to retain her and decided that the best way to keep her interested would be a storyline involving her rape. While she was walking home from a pub, an unknown attacker assaulted her and proceeded to rape her. Sheila could not identify her attacked and soon bathed afterward to help relieve herself from the ordeal. In doing so, she inadvertently removed evidence which could have incriminated the rapist. Almost every male in her nearest vicinity was a suspect, including Pat Hancock, Matty Nolan and Alun, all three of them were involved in separate storylines with her. But it was later revealed that neither one of them raped her, and she was raped by a taxi driver instead. This busted the prevailing myth that most victims are raped by people they know.In order to cope with her ordeal, she initiates a fling with Billy and the two start an elaborate affair. Her marriage Bobby gets strained as a result. Eventually Sheila and Billy marry and leave Brookside to live in Basingstoke, Hampshire. And this is now her sad character gets written off. It was depressing for both audience and cast members alike to see her go

Sue Johnston - Now

Sue always wanted to pursue an acting career and wanted to leave Brookside for other projects. But the writers somehow managed to keep her character running by spicing things up with the rape storyline. After the character’s eventual departure from the show, Sue immediately went on to star in numerous series and films including My Uncle Silas, Who Do You Think You Are? And Jam & Jerusalem. Although she didn’t have any lead roles in any projects, she has enough acting roles under her belt so boast a large portfolio, making her one of the more successful actors on this list. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honors.  Her latest creditable role is the TV series The Good Karma Hospital (2018) as Virginia.Sue has always championed for gay rights and campaigned on behalf of the Labour Party. One thing that should be of interest to note is that Sue was sexually assaulted at the age of 27, and this is what inspired the controversial storyline in Brookside. She has one son Joel from her second husband David Pammenter. Sue wrote her autobiography, “Things I couldn’t Tell My Mother” due to popular demand and reveals many interesting tidbits from her life.

Michael Starke – Then

Michael played the popular role of Thomas Henry Edward Sweeney from 1984 to 2000. He started out on the show two years after it began. Thomas was also known as Sinbad and was a professional window cleaner but that was a cover up for him because he had several streams of revenues from his illegitimate deals. He decided to become an entrepreneur instead and invested his money into a shop on Brookside Parade which specialized on selling used Kitchen Appliances. The shop was called Sweeny, which is where he got his nickname from.Michael was getting a little tired of the show’s difficult schedules and wanted to resign. The writers decided to come up with a fitting storyline for the character’s eventual departure. One fine day, a gang of racist bigots decided to attack the area and assaulted Mick, when Sindbad tried to be the good Samaritan, he was also beaten to within an inch of his life. His injuries were so severe that he became partially deaf. This made him a target of bullies who resented him for some reason. They eventually tried to accuse of sexual abuse, possessing child pornography and other heinous charges. Although the charges were later dropped, the neighbors were hesitant to apologize. Sindbad then realized it was time for him to move on and the character bid is farewell to Brookside.

Michael Starke – Now

Michael played that role for 16 years and quite frankly, was getting a bit tired of it. He didn’t want the role to remain the one singular thing to be remembered for. His character wasn’t part of any major arcs and was used to provide much needed filler to the audience. After his departure from the show he worked in several projects including The Royal as Kenneth Hopkirk , as policeman Arthur in The 51st

 State and as Jerry Morton in Coronation Street. He really loved his time on the show but a new producer wanted to change the direction and decided to write off the Morton family. This took a toll on the old actor.After Coronation Street, he was unable to get any more major roles in television. He has two daughters, Hayley Hampson who finished sixth on the ITV show Grease is the Word and Jamie who appeared in one episode of The Royal. Both his daughters have shown an interest in acting careers. As for Michael, he is currently trying his luck in music along with fellow songwriting partner Joe Wynne.

Paul Usher – Then

No list on Brookside characters is complete without mentioning Barry Grant. You haven’t seen true evil until you’ve seen this monster. This guy is the very definition of the word ‘villain’ with no remorse for his actions. From the murder of Sue and her young child Danny to placing the blame on Graeme, he was a mastermind criminal, whose only purpose in life was to hurt others and get away with it. Barry was once so overcome with guilt that he finally decided to open up about his criminal past – to an priest. He confessed of his crimes to the pastor and smoothly moved on from that episode of his life. He is one of only few characters to appear in both the first and final episodes of the show.

Paul Usher – Now

The former bad boy appeared in few television roles after that, the more notable ones include Liverpool 1, London’s Burning and Six Bent Trap.  

He found a girl, got married and settled down into a relatively quiet life.He recently made headlines when his first and only son, James, died aboard a vessel at the age of 25. James worked as a trainee rigger on the vessel. His body was found by workmates in a recreational area. Police haven’t been able to find out all the answers, prompting Paul to search for answers as to what really happened with James. We certainly hope he can find out answers and move on from the tragic tale.If you like this article please feel free to share it with your family and friends and don't forget to let us know what you think in the comments.