Terry Sullivan (Brookside)

Terry Sullivan
Terry Sullivan in 1986
Brookside character
Portrayed by	Brian Regan
Duration	1982–94, 1995–97
First appearance	17 November 1982
Last appearance	12 February 1997
Created by	Phil Redmond
Family Wife Sue Harper (1989-1991)

Terry Sullivan is a fictional character in the British soap opera Brookside, played by Brian Regan.

Storylines

Terry first appeared a few episodes after the series began in 1982, making his debut in episode six. Originally living off the close at home with his father (with whom he had an uneasy relationship), Terry was initially depicted as being a promising football player, playing as a goalkeeper and with a real chance of becoming a professional. However, his dedication to going along with the scams of friend Barry Grant (Paul Usher) (and notably the beating at the hands of villain Tommy McArdle (Malcolm Tierney)) eventually curtailed his footballing career.^[1] He was Barry's best friend, having grown up with him, and in many ways Barry's mother Sheila (Sue Johnston) was the mother that Terry never had. Barry and Terry worked together in the building industry and supplemented their wages by stealing materials from their company.^[2] In the early days Barry and Terry got up to numerous scams, including selling dodgy video recorders and driving Barry's car into the sea to claim the insurance. In an interview, Brian Regan described the duo as the "likely lads of the 80s".

In 1984 he is engaged to Michelle (Tracy Jay) - sister of close resident Marie Jackson (Anna Keaveney). Marie has suspicions that Terry is only with her good-looking sister for sex and is never fully convinced that he actually loves her. However, despite being engaged, the relationship ends when Terry comes home to find Michelle in bed with her aerobics instructor, who is revealed by a shocked Terry to actually be a former building site labourer. Terry takes the situation pretty badly and throws out Michelle and her belongings, including the mattress, stabbing it with a kitchen knife outside the front of the house on the lawn, where he is restrained by other close residents. The incident is a first glimpse of how Terry is eventually depicted as being prone to mental breakdowns.

In the same year in what was a big storyline, Terry and Barry got involved with the Liverpool gangster Tommy McArdle, who later had them viciously beaten up. Terry took many months to recover and after this time Barry did one of his numerous disappearances from the close. Terry then moved in with Pat Hancock (David Easter), a former hospital porter originally from London, and his girlfriend, nurse Sandra Maghie (Sheila Grier). Terry and Pat embarked on a new venture - a van-hire business - but the business falls foul of dirty tricks from competitors the Cleary brothers. It gets taken to a new level when Barry attacks the brothers after they made the mistake of threatening his sister Karen (Shelagh O'Malley) at knifepoint whilst attempting to vandalise Terry and Pat's van. Nevertheless, all of this doesn't prevent Terry from dating the Cleary's sister Vicki.

Following Sandra and Pat's (separate) departures from the Close, Terry became the lodger of solicitor Jonathan Gordon-Davies (Steven Pinner) at No.9. Terry then married Jonathan's former secretary Sue Harper (Annie Miles) on 2 August 1989, although in 1990 he learned he was not the father of her child Danny, born just weeks earlier.^[3] Sue later had a fling with Barry Grant, who was now something of a gangster, and Terry was devastated when on 4 October 1991 she fell off the scaffolding of the Brookside shop parade, then under construction. She and Danny both died.^[4] Terry was a suspect in the murders, although Barry later admitted that he killed Sue and Danny.

Terry did not take the opportunity to kill Barry with a shotgun that Barry passed to him. Instead he went into a gradual mental decline, culminating in him joining a cult. He then left the close for a year before returning as Barry's new club manager in 1995. During this period Terry took on the role of mentor for troubled Katie Rogers (Diane Burke), who had also been a member of the close cult and had failed to get her life back on track. He used his many life experiences as a way of offering comfort and advice and eventually Katie made a revovery and the two became very close friends afterwards.

After learning that his mother was in fact still alive and she had only left when Terry's dad had killed another person, Terry left once more moving to the Wirral, where he became a regular in the Bowler Hat pub. His final appearance was the special Brookside: The Lost Weekend video in 1997. Despite everything Barry had put him through, Terry was seemingly happy to come and help his old friend.

References