Brookside (TV series)

Brookside is a British television soap opera, set in Liverpool, England, which began on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003. It was produced by Mersey Television and conceived by Grange Hill and Hollyoaks creator Phil Redmond.

Brookside was Channel 4's highest rated programme from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, with audiences regularly in excess of seven million. Initially notable for its realistic and socially challenging storylines, Brookside is remembered for broadcasting the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss on British television, and a domestic abuse storyline resulting in murder. From the mid-1990s the show began raising more controversial subjects under producers Mal Young and Paul Marquess, and experienced an extreme backlash from viewers in 1996 following a hugely controversial storyline focusing on an incestuous sexual relationship between two siblings; from thereon the show became synonymous with outrageous and improbable storylines that affected its popularity. Viewing figures were in terminal decline by 2000, and low ratings eventually led to its cancellation, with the final episode airing on 4 November 2003.

From February 2023, Brookside has been available to stream from the first episode on STV Player.

Brookside's location and former cast members were involved in a crossover episode with Hollyoaks on 22 October 2025, as part of the latter's 30th anniversary. Elements from the show were also included in the late night Hollyoaks Later special that also broadcast on 22 October 2025 with Brookside Close featuring at the beginning of the episode.