Brookie cast and crew set for first ever Liverpool reunion on board the Daffodil

Around 400 cast and crew are set for a first ever reunion on board Phil Olivier’s floating restaurant, the Daffodil.

There’ll be themed cocktails, live music, and ‘plenty of reminiscing’ when the stars and production teams get together on the former Mersey Ferry based in Canning Dock tomorrow evening.

Sue Johnston, Michael Starke, Jennifer Ellison, Steven Cole, and Suzanne Collins are among the actors heading to the waterfront: “And there are cast members from as far back as 1982 that I don’t even know,” says Phil Olivier, who’s organised the get-together with fellow Brookie star Louis Emerick.

“I’ll have to stand there as they come in, checking their names on the guest list and handing out wristbands,” he smiles.

“It’s just going to be a great night of nostalgia.”

Father-of-five Phil says the idea for the evening came from a chat with Louis while recently filming for Hollyoaks. He and Suzanne Collins have just finishing recording a breakout storyline in which we find out what Tinhead and Nikki have been up to for the last 22 years and which is due to conclude on Valentine’s Day.

Phil says:

“While I was in Hollyoaks I was working with Louis, who played Mick Johnson, and we asked should we have a Brookside reunion? There hasn’t ever been one and so we set up a chat and started inviting people, and now there’s nearly 400 people coming, from cast members, to writers, cameramen, anyone who worked on the show.”

The idea was sparked by the Hollyoaks and Brookside crossover which brought back iconic characters from the close for Hollyoaks’ 30^th anniversary in October last year.

“The crossover got us together, Louis, Suzanne, Ricky, Sue and Mickey Starke who plays Sinbad, and the feedback was great, it was so well received.

“I don’t think we realised until then how much love there was for Brookside – and for each other!

“Your lives take different paths. We’ve all gone on to different jobs, some people aren’t in the acting industry anymore and others are raising families, so we never thought we’d be back together.

“We knew Brookside couldn’t come back because the close was sold – it was a huge set up and I don’t think there’s anything in budgets for something like that now unless it’s already there. And that’s why when they mentioned the crossover, we jumped at the chance.

“And why we wanted to get everybody together after that.

“There were only a few characters who went back on the crossover episode, and we thought this was an opportunity now for us all to get together.”

Kicking off at 6pm, guests from the groundbreaking Channel 4 drama will be able to enjoy cocktails like The Redmond Royale in homage to its creator Phil. There’ll be The Jimmy Corkhill – in tribute to late actor Dean Sullivan who played him and sadly passed away a few years ago – and The Patio: “That needs no introduction or explanation, although I’m not sure what’ll be in it, maybe a smattering of concrete dust,” laughs Phil.

“We’ll have a live band and a good folk singer, Laura Carr, who’s actually learned the Brookside theme tune and will be playing it on a violin.

“We’ve got a DJ, there’ll be canapes going round and it’s basically a chance to give everyone a good night. It’ll be a night of reminiscing, and I’ve got a feeling that everyone will just want to chat – we’ll probably have to do like a speed-dating thing where you get five minutes with each person.

“But we’ve got the singer, we’ve got the mic set up, and I’m hoping there’ll be people there who’ll want to get up and give it a go too … Mickey Starke will definitely be up!

“It’s just the family back together again.”

While Phil’s said he and the cast had always accepted Brookside could never come back, like most people, he’d love it if it did.

“It would be welcomed. There’s always scope for it because it was such a good show; and that’s the reason people received the Hollyoaks crossover so well.

“It’s nostalgic, you’re looking back on good times and you have good memories of those because we’re living in a scary world at the moment.

“But also, Brookside was pioneering, it was groundbreaking, it tackled issues that were current. It was raw and I don’t think there was anything out like that – and the only person who could do it is Phil Redmond. He’s an absolute genius so Phil, if you’re looking at this, bring it back!

“It’s a shame. Liverpool’s got such a pool of talent and it’s crying out for another show like it.”