Those of you who remember Springhill might feel at home with Brookside. Luxuriant panning shots begin scenes, and soft fades conclude them and there is an eeriness to tonight’s episode that spookily resembles Sky’s supernatural soap. The tediously ridiculous ongoing deterioration of Jimmy Corkhill is dutifully advanced, yet his tale of woe serves merely as a verbalisation of the internal torment of Max Farnham (from the evidence of this episode, it looks as if it was Max who did for Susannah). Max’s shell-shocked behaviour is jarring for a soap that has in the past treated mortality as little more then a trump card. Jimmy’s narration is clumsy and contrived, yet allows us into the head of Max in a manner seldom attempted on British soaps. The dramatic devices employed seek to evoke other resonances too. As a bewildered Max Farnham stares at the trees at the top of the Close, we are reminded of the evocative opening shot of the “Sheila Grant Rape Aftermath” episode. Inviting comparison to one of the soap’s most lauded and respected periods may be a bullishly confident tactic on the part of the production team, yet it is clear that there is an intention to return the programme to something resembling these glory days.

Aftermath is the theme tonight (a soap opera having a theme?) Whilst Peggy Mitchell might be dealing with the adultery of departed Frank with typical soap stoicism, it is refreshing to see jilted Mick Johnson going at his ex-fiancée’s lover with understandable physical aggression. There is no exchange of soapy morals here, just an enraged man beating the hell out of his enemy. There is an aggression and willingness to portray the unpleasant emotional responses that situations can create that has not been seen in a British soap (outside Hollyoaks) for some years. Mick and Max are definitely part of the new Brookie.

So, the rehabilitation continues. My advice for its continuance? Well number one: ditch the Corkhills. Their family history is littered with so many ridiculous escapades (did anybody see “The Lost Weekend”?) that the characters are now hopelessly lost at sea. The best recourse would be to tie their emotional baggage around their necks and capsize the boat. Stop trying to copy or pre-empt Coronation Street and EastEnders would be suggestion number two. Hollyoaks has found a niche because it has found self-confidence and consequently refuses to follow the recipe of the big two. Brookside needs to push this envelope further and actually subvert modern soap conventions, both dramatically and stylistically. It must seek to entertain an audience disenfranchised from the prevailing soap morality. This would appear to be the plan for now and – for me – it will suffice. Brookside‘s rehabilitation is its most intriguing story in years. If Mersey TV can pull off the trick of producing two creditable soaps, then they will deserve our applause indeed. Tune in and see for yourself how this plot unfolds.

Albert Square has been rocked by the affair of Pat and Frank. Coronation Street‘s residents are still suffering from the after shock of the supermarket siege. Hollyoaks is still reeling from a double dose of male rape and “wife battering”. So what has Brookside to offer us? Tonight saw the first instalment of a week of special episodes. A murder mystery told (perhaps uniquely for a British soap opera) in flashback, invites the viewers to piece together events culminating in the death of resident toff – Susannah Morrissey. Typically for a classic whodunit there are a number of key suspects, and no real evidence available to allow us to work out for ourselves who the culprit actually is. Whilst the publicity may encourage us to believe otherwise, we will have to wait until Brookside is ready to disclose who the killer is.

Soaps love their counterpoints because it allows them to accentuate the lonely plight of the chosen victim. If Coronation Street is anything to go by, terrible things usually happen amidst a communal and joyous event involving most of the other characters. Contrasting scenes cut between a suicidal, pill guzzling Ken Barlow and a festive knees up in the Rover’s wrings out an irony that seems to underpin a very modern perception of tragedy. Here, Brookie opts for fireworks and Guy Fawkes Night. Yet – in this most self-conscious of soaps – there is an appreciation that an audience weary of ironic contrasts understands the rules only too well. During one scene, a loud explosion goes off, startling two (minor) characters. We are not with Susannah at this point, but know she is not ready to die just yet (after all this is only Monday). Nonetheless this is as subtle as soaps get these days, and – as an unspoken portent of doom – it is mildly effective.

By necessity the drama is unfolding in almost real time. This allows the programme makers to begin the inexorable heightening of tension as we idly flit from house to house, and get all the key protagonists into position. We expect – and get – to see a besotted Mick enthusing over his bride-to-be, and predictably, events begin to conspire to place all of our key suspects in the vicinity. Susannah is even allowed to utter the types of phrases that sealed the fate of Andy O’Brien (“Oh drop dead!”) way back when in EastEnders. So plot mechanics (as ever) undermine the naturalism of the drama. Yet, although fighting a losing battle, Brookside does emerge from this episode with some credit. More anyway, than it has achieved in the last three or four years. Leo’s run through of his “Best Man’s Speech” covers all the required bases, yet is not unduly mawkish, and is not even tonight’s most impressive scene. The confrontation between Susannah and Jacqui Dixon (the birth mother of Susannah’s son) plays out with a modicum of intelligence as – for once – a soap characters’ threats of legal action seem relatively plausible and well thought out. The argument concludes with a cliché-ridden catfight, though: the requirements of plot riding rough shod once again.

It has been reported that Brookside is keen to stop the rot. They have drafted in a new producer who is determined to bring the focus back onto the characters. The fireworks of this week will not testify to this strategy. Perhaps though, tonight might just be the first spark of a renaissance. There is not reason enough to trust Brookside just yet, but perhaps enough of an excuse to tune in tomorrow.