[chrisdafur]

Would be interesting to compare with tge ITV soaps of the time - if anything I suspect Brookside was intended to feel pacier.  It is quite different to what we expect now but I quite like the focus on fewer characters.

Here is Coronation Street from a similar timeframe. It certainly feels dated compared to Brookside, but benefits from a bigger cast and social spaces where families can interact.

youtu.be 

[James2001]

Yes, we have a long wait until there's any sort of actual regular work/social spaces on Brookside- nearly 8 1/2 years from the point we're currently at. Probably one of the reasons the show feels so sparse.

[James2001]

I wonder if the fact that Corrie episode's entirely studio based doesn't help things in comparison to Brookside, there isn't even a brief location segment in that episode- it was very common right until the end of the 80s to have entirely studio based episodes (and the location work being scratchy and grainy film doesn't help with it looking more dated even when there is location work) and the studio work from that era always feels artificial. Compared to Brookside which was entirely location based, and even Emmerdale Farm which had lots of location work, and on video rather than film, Corrie probably seemed dated compared to the other soaps even in 1983. The End of Part One/Part Two captions and Granada endcap being obviously cardboard doesn't help matters either, compared to to the electronically generated Brookside ones- something else that was the case until the end of the 80s.

Production techniques have come on hugely though, and the modern studio based work on the soaps doesn't look anywhere near as fake as it did in the 80s, but it still doesn't beat the actual buildings, natural light and real views out the windows of Brookside (which we've already seen them make use of several times), rather than the net curtains and frosted glass of the other soaps to disguise the fake backdrops (especially in HD!).

[Alf Stewart]

I was going to say much the same as James2001.

I think the fact Brookside are using real houses at this point makes a massive difference. Corrie's sets looked like sets back in those days and of course the outdoor street set was three quarters size I believe (certainly smaller than it would really be) at this point and always looked utterly ridiculous. At least Brookside was on a real street with real actual sized houses even if no-one really lived there.

[James2001]

Episode 72 is missing from the batch uploaded this morning, hopefully it's a glitch and will appear later.

[Stuart]

Episode 72 is missing from the batch uploaded this morning, hopefully it's a glitch and will appear later.

Yes, it is missing. 

It's very confusing though because when I download from the STV Player on Sky they are listed as S2 ep25+, but by the time they appear in my planner they revert to S1 ep71+.

       

[James2001]

Would be good for STV to at least provide us an explanation for why it's not there. And if it is unavailable for whatever reason, would have been good for them to at least give us episode 76 so we get 5 episodes this week.

[chrisdafur]

Episode 72 is available on the web based stv player and also on my android app. Is this just an issue with the episode on Sky?

[Stuart]

Episode 72 is available on the web based stv player and also on my android app. Is this just an issue with the episode on Sky?

S1 ep72/S2 ep26 has now appeared on the STV Player on Sky, but fails to download as 'not available'.  I can't start my binge-watch if the second episode is missing.  

   

EDIT: Now downloaded. I'm off for a 'Brookie Binge-Fest'. 

[James2001]

Episode 72 is available on the web based stv player and also on my android app. Is this just an issue with the episode on Sky?

It wasn't on the web, Virgin or Roku ones these morning, I don't have access to Sky.