News in Brief: Christmas Day Soap Edition 2008

Welcome to the penultimate Soap File of 2008 looking back at the recent soap news, oh and… Merry Christmas!

Did Santa bring you anything nice? We hope that over at Emmerdale he has sprinkled his magic and maybe next year will see the show return from Dallas in the Dales to sensible. He may have finally popped over to Weatherfield and deposited some industrial size pliers which will help the majority of the younger Coronation Street cast remove each others heads from their arses and for Walford we hope he will get some naughty dwarfs to nick all the Christmas decorations from the EastEnders Square… just like the chavs would have done in the real East End of London if the council had dared to be that lavish with the festive lighting.

Spin is the ITV Thing

Goodness me, I don’t know what it is with ITV. They seem to be the television version of Max Clifford, there is more spin going on over there than in Mr Papadopoulos’ launderette. I’m not sure what they think the effect of this spin will be. Do they think if they spin out the old spiel often enough viewers will start to believe it? If they ignore the issues they’ll go away? Maybe, more worryingly, they actually believe what they come out with.

The most recent spin factor came courtesy of the rather appalling Emmerdale producer who has taken the soap even more into the realms of pantomime than even I thought was possible.

Just look back a few years and producers – even ITV ones – were happy to face the press and face up to criticism. Producers would appear on shows such as Open Air and Right To Reply to be verbally battered by disgruntled fans. These days however there seems to be – with the internet news services becoming increasingly popular – this stance of ‘we have to be nice or we won’t get a tedious picture special or video clip’ by some news sites and thus the spin goes on.

To avoid issues; to avoid what a lot of people are discussing about your programme does nothing but alienate these fans. They’re not going to be suddenly overwhelmed by spin and in a strange form of brainwashing believe it. Its all very well issuing such claptrap, but the bottom line is – viewing the product is what ultimately leads viewers to their opinions. Emmerdale is dire with its utterly ridiculous storylines, even worse acting and sensationalist slant. Its not even Brookside sensational – it’s a Emmerdale created slapstick sensationalist style. Its like Laurel and Hardy starring in a Die Hard movie; but the show lacks real humour, powerful scripts and is as predictable as a Janet and John book.

Lets be honest – even Eldorado’s worst episode was better than Emmerdale currently. So Turner, stop treating your audience as idiots and quit with the spin love because once people stop believing a word you say you’re a goner.

Why the decline?

It is simple really: University Students. Bits of paper may say you can do something, however whether you have the flare and the creative talents is another matter entirely. It was eye opening to see Michelle Buck – former ITV Drama boss – comment that they now only look to hiring Uni graduates to write dramas. That may explain why 9 out of 10 of them each year are utter shite.

When television began people came to work in the medium from all kinds of backgrounds, people who had learned crafts in various other industries first. Many of course coming from a theatre background. Its this that has been lost, and television is worse for it.

As for writers, it should surely be down to talent, not what a bit of paper says. Some of the greatest scenes have been written by working-class writers. The likes of Tony Jordan, a former truck driver who has given EastEnders some of its most memorable scenes and Jimmy McGovern who started writing for theatre and went on to become one of Brookside’s best writers.

News In Brief:

Beverly Callard, who plays Rovers Return landlady Liz McDonald in Coronation Street, has been forced to shut down her real-life boozer The Gallery in Hale Barns, Cheshire, after facing a financial crisis. Well if she employed the same number of staff the Rovers does no wonder she went bust.

Former Neighbours actor Dean Geyer has revealed that he is hoping to crack America next year. Two words spring to my mind: Chris Quinten.

Kenneth Cope – Coronation Street’s battered Jed Stone – has suggested that fellow cast member Eileen Derbyshire should be honoured with a damehood. Well personally speaking I don’t agree! Being on a show for a long time does not equate to quality. What has she done in recent years? Very little, really. I mean if they dish out damehoods for not replying to fan letters and appearing in a soap for six episodes a year, then fair enough but I think it takes a bit more than that personally.

Brookside DVD Update with Lee Brady

Welcome to the 1st news feature of ‘Brookside DVD update’ on the new ATV NEWS NETWORK website. Right just to let you all know, I am meeting up with Danny Burton in the next few weeks to talk about our Campaign a bit more. We have only had a phone call and it went really well, We will be doing a lot on it after Christmas. As we promised we would be putting money into it. Just be a little bit patient folks…

Right I will get straight to some other news; You probably know about the news of the Sale of Brookside Close has been hit by the Credit Crunch. Official previously the owners wanted to sell the whole 13 houses on the Close for 2 Million. Now since the credit crunch all the 13 houses will be getting sold for around half a Million pounds or just over. WHAT A BARGIN.

Since this has happened the close went up for Auction on the 17th December. But it was rumored that a TV Company is willing to buy it or even Phil Redmond himself; which I think he should have done ages ago.

And if he does then it would not be the first time he got the Close on the cheap, the first time being back in 1982. But That is not the case, Because this past week Brookside Legend ‘Dean Sullivan’ A.K.A Jimmy Corkhill wants to buy the whole close. And to make it into a tourist attraction. But Dean also claims ‘Brookside Will Be Back’.

Dean goes on to say: “In the present climate anyone who buys a self-contained cul-de-sac like Brookside at any price will get a bargain. It could be turned into a tourist spot. During my time with the soap there were always crowds of people turning up. It’s been neglected over the years, but a lot of the damage is superficial. There is still an enormous amount of interest in Brookside – it would be a tragedy to knock it down.”

You can hear where he talks about Brookside coming back etc on his radio show by clicking here for the You Tube clip.

Also a few days later he talking about being on the front cover of the Liverpool Echo about all the Brookside fuss and his plans/ideas. Click here for more.

We do know he has recently been seen having dinner with Sue Jenkins (Jackie Corkhill & Micheal Stark (Sinbad) and that was just after he had a night out at a event with Phil Redmond. Who Knows……. As yet the new buyer of the close is not known. We hope to find out what is happening with the close soon.

Also just a quick one to end this update with. Here is a Video of Brookside close from only a few days ago, its back open to the public. Looks good when its all frosty.

Thanks
Lee

And Finally Quote Of The Week:

Maisie Smith – the seven-year-old actress who plays Tiffany Jackson in EastEnders has spoken about fellow actress Patsy Palmer.

“I love being on EastEnders. I really get on with Patsy. She looks after me so well. It’s like I’m her real daughter some days. Everyone is really nice.”

Aww, how sweet. The file returns on New Years Eve. Until then, Merry Christmas.