Brookside legend 'gets £3.58 in the post' for famous role

Brookside legend Philip Olivier says he is still making money for his iconic role as Tinhead in the soap - but it would barely stretch to cover the cost of a meal deal.

Chatting to the ECHO during Ladies Day at Aintree racecourse, Philip explained how he reacted when he found out the show was available for viewers to enjoy again. The Liverpool-based soap is available to stream on STV Player - but when he first heard the news of the show's return, Philip had other ideas.

He initially thought he might be able to reprise his role as Tinhead, before realising it was only re-runs of the original episodes being made available. Speaking to Liverpool ECHO reporter Ryan Paton at the racecourse, Philip said: "I keep on getting teased! When that announcement came out everyone said 'Brookside is coming back' and I was like 'brilliant, it's in the city, I'll do it. I've got five kids now, I want to stay in the city'."

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"It's not the actual Brookside coming back it's the old reruns of the episodes. and now I get £3.58 in the post every six months for repeats."

All jokes aside, Philip said he is happy to see the show back on screens again: "I'm over the moon people get to see it because it's such an iconic show. I think it was groundbreaking what (creator) Phil Redmond did. He changed the face of soaps because he brought out topics which were in the press and needed to be spoken about like the first [televised] lesbian kiss and euthanasia, which he dealt with."

He added: "I miss Brookside, I think it was integral for the city. But I think the city's on the up and the up - I'm not really doing much acting