Brookside (Brookie, to its fans) had become tough viewing, even for a Merseyside exile like me. I stopped watching a while back, when one storyline had become so plain nasty that I decided I couldn't stand it any more. Brookie disappeared from my life just as Neighbours and others did before it. But in its day, it was formidable television, with gritty narratives that made little concession to entertainment. Coronation Street offered Manchester-suburbia through rose-tinted spectacles, Dallas provided Hollywood glamour and sun-tanned stars, Neighbours was just one long beach barbecue, but Brookie gave you verisimilitude.