It’s a bumper Brookside New Year with STV Player

Brookie fans can look forward to double the drama this New Year..

Some of the show’s most memorable storylines will be revisited in 2024 – including the nurses’ siege and Sheila Grant’s devastating sexual assault. The former Channel 4 soap has received more than 12.7m streams since relaunching on STV Player.

There’s no better way of celebrating a new year than spending it with Close friends, so STV Player is kicking off 2024 by treating viewers to even more ’80s action from the residents of Britain’s most famous cul-de-sac.

Richard Williams, Managing Director of Digital at STV:

“Becoming the first streamer to bring Brookside back from the very start has been one of the highlights of our year.

 “Seeing the joy it has brought to the show’s passionate and dedicated fandom – many of whom campaigned for years for its return – has been very rewarding, so we’re delighted to be offering a Brookie Bonus this New Year and dropping extra episodes. 2024 is going to be an exciting year for Brookside fans, with some huge storylines and game-changing arrivals, so let’s kick it off with a bang!”

The free, UK-wide streaming service became the first to relaunch iconic soap Brookside earlier this year, with five classic episodes of the show dropping on the platform every week. And Brookie fans are in for a special New Year’s treat as ten episodes are set to land on STV Player on Monday 1 January – giving viewers double the drama as the new year begins.

STV Player viewers have now reached episodes of the show from March 1985, meaning they’ve watched the equivalent of two and a half years of the show’s original timeline – it launched in November 1982.

Some of Brookside’s most memorable moments and storylines are set to feature in 2024, including the dramatic nurses’ siege at Number 7, the arrival of the much-loved Corkhill family, and the harrowing rape of Sheila Grant played by Sue Johnston (Coronation Street, The Royle Family).

When STV Player relaunched the serial, which ran for 21-years, in February, it became the fastest show to ever reach one million streams on the platform, and “Brookie Fever” also helped STV Player score its best-ever streaming month to date back in March. Since then, it’s received more than 12.7 million streams.

As the relaunch was announced, Loose Women star Sunetra Sarker – who played Nisha Batra in the Liverpool based saga – said she was “thrilled”, while the late Dean Sullivan – who played Jimmy Corkhill and sadly died last month – said the relaunch would “give a whole new generation the chance to enjoy the show”.

Available for free to viewers across the UK, STV Player can be found on all major platforms, including Sky Q, NOW, Virgin Media, Amazon Fire TV and Freeview Play.

Five new episodes of Brookside are added to STV Player every Wednesday, and ten new episodes will be added on Monday 1 January.