One of Brookside’s most iconic characters is set to join its TV return.
A crossover episode featuring former cast members from the iconic Liverpool soap is set to air later this year as part of Hollyoaks’ 30th anniversary celebrations.
Sue Johnston will reprise her role as Sheila Grant, the matriarch of the Grant family which appeared in the first-ever episode of the Channel 4 show back in 1982.
She was at the centre of one of the programme’s early hard-hitting storylines in 1986 when she was raped by a taxi driver and fell pregnant as a result.
A year later, her youngest son Damon was stabbed to death in London before she left the Close in 1990 with new flame Billy Corkhill to move to Basingstoke.
Sue, who later appeared in The Royle Family and Coronation Street, was awarded an OBE in 2009 and received the Freedom of the City of Liverpool in 2022.
She said: “It’ll be so lovely to go back and be Sheila for a day as it was such big, enjoyable part of my life.”
More former ‘Brookie’ characters are set to make cameo appearances as viewers discover what they have been up to since leaving the famous Liverpool cul-de-sac.
Filming for the special episode will take place on the close’s former set in West Derby, which is now home to residential properties, from next month.