Brookside DVD Campaign Goes On

Anniversary boosts DVD Campaign.

Today in 1982 Channel 4 went on air for the first time and with the new network arrived a new ‘soap opera’ – Brookside. The soap left the screens in 2003, but its fans are currently involved in a long campaign to get the iconic Liverpool saga on DVD.

The DVD campaign started nearly five years ago, and has gained much support from regular Brookside fans and former cast. While virtually every other programme in the genre has been released in some form on DVD, the Mersey Television production remains unreleased.

Since 2005 a large chunk of popular ITV serials have been released on DVD, including vintage hospital saga Emergency Ward 10, rural life in Emmerdale Farm, terraced tribulations in Coronation Street and Midland motel dramas with Crossroads, the latter having over 300 episodes released – proving long axed serials can still demand an audience.

In the UK the Australian serials of the 1970s and 80s have also proved a hit on DVD, including The Young Doctors and Sons and Daughters. Prisoner Cell Block H has also seen hundreds of episodes released and in recent times even the American 80s ‘super soaps’ such as Dallas and Dynasty have been added to the growing range on sale.

It therefore has been somewhat baffling to Brookside fans as to why the cul-de-sac set serial has failed to be released on DVD with the current appetite for soaps on the format proving a success. Channel 4 told us that ‘no one knows who owns the DVD rights for Brookside’ which is preventing a commercial release, however the broadcaster has placed selected episodes on their online and Virgin Media ‘On Demand’ service.

The Brookside Campaign team have recently opened a shop selling promotional items to help their cause – view the shop here – and make regular visits to the real-life ‘set’ of the show ‘Brookside Close’ to keep up-to-date with its redevelopment. A video taken in September can be seen here.

If you want to join the cause, or just chat about Brookside, then you can join with other fans at the Bring Back Brookside website here.