| Simon Howe | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookside character | |||||
| Portrayed by | Lee Hartney | ||||
| Duration | 1993–1994 | ||||
| First appearance | 13 October 1993 | ||||
| Last appearance | 28 October 1994 | ||||
| Classification | Former; recurring | ||||
| |||||
Simon Howe is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, played by Lee Hartney. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 13 October 1993. Simon was written out the following year in a suicide storyline, making his final appearance on 28 October 1994.
Simon is characterised as a manipulative and maniacal cult leader who tries to convert people into following his religion. Writers used the character to manipulate Katie Rogers (Diane Burke) and Terry Sullivan (Brian Regan) into joining his cult. He also takes Barry Grant (Paul Usher) with a gun and intentionally causes an explosion in his home. Critics of the genre branded the cult storyline controversial and unrealistic. Gareth McLean writing for The Guardian branded the character "the least charismatic charismatic ever".
Casting[]
Hartney began playing the role in 1993.[1]
Development[]
Producers introduced the character as a leader of a religious cult. Simon believes that he is "God's Chosen One" and he moves into number 5 Brookside Close.[2] Hartney told an Inside Soap reporter that when Simon was introduced he only seemed to work at the petrol station and pray; Simon "never talked about doing anything else".[3] When Hartney joined the show he was unaware of the full extent of Simon's cult storyline. Hartney told Sam Taylor from The Observer that he initially thought Simon seemed like "a drip". Producers informed him that there was "something a bit more beneath the surface" of the character.[4] Hartney found it easy getting into character, explaining "as soon as I put on his awful check shirts and his disgusting baggy jeans... I just become Simon." He was so convincing as a cult leader that some viewers contacted him asking to join Simon's cult.[4]
Hartney told Richard Arnold (Inside Soap) that Simon is an "absolute control freak", a "megalomaniac" who "loves power" and wants others to "look up to him and respect his beliefs."[5] Simon surrounds himself with people of a similar age. This is another manipulative trait as he knows that his followers will better relate to him. Simon is "maniacal" and this causes him to behave erratically.[5]
Writers developed the cult storyline over six months worth of episodes.[6] Simon soon manipulates Katie Rogers (Diane Burke) and she agrees to move in with him. He then recruits Terry Sullivan (Brian Regan) and he moves in with them.[2] As the story progressed it became clear that praying was only a small part of Simon's religious rituals. He always appears with around six other people who hang onto his every word. The basis of Simon's cult is the born again Christian movement but he choses to leave his sect unnamed.[3] Hartney explained that Simon wants to convert Katie into his cult. Simon "enjoys manipulating people and loves the power. He really likes people listening to him." Hartney likened the character to the American cult leader David Koresh.[3] Simon finds it easier to manipulate Katie because she is still grieving the death of her father. Katie's best friend, Jacqui Dixon (Alex Fletcher) becomes the only one capable of saving her. Hartney added that Jacqui is "trying to catch Simon out."[3]
Burke told Josephine Monroe from Inside Soap that writers chose the correct character in for Simon to target. She explained that Katie is "the most naive person I know. She's so childlike and believes anything anyone tells her."[7] Burke was concerned that viewers would not think the story was realistic. Burke herself could not believe some of the things Katie was agreeing to do for Simon; but cults were more frequently reported on in news and she thought that added realism.[7] Burke was unsure if Simon really believed in God or if he "just gets a buzz out of manipulating other people." She enjoyed portraying the issue and often looked forward to receiving advance scripts, which she branded "dramatic and exciting". Bruke concluded that she was unsure of what would happen to Katie if Jacqui could not save her from the cult.[7]
Barry Grant (Paul Usher) is introduced into the story as a new enemy of the cult. He buys number 5 and tries to evict the cult members, but they do not leave. He then tries to scare them with a gun, which Simon and Terry then use to hold Barry hostage.[2] Hartney told Arnold that the climax to the cult story is "great stuff". Simon is completely "maniacal and he could go over the edge at any time."[5] Barry wants revenge on Simon because he told everyone that Barry was a murderer. Simon is convinced that Barry is the devil and must deal with him. Hartney described Barry as "a nasty piece of work" but "no match for Simon".[5] Barry is also a threat to Simon because he "knows his own kind" and could potentially out Simon as a con man. Hartney believed that his character genuinely wanted to protect his "flock" and sees Barry as a bad influence on Terry. Simon thinks he is "protecting Terry to a certain extent, and he believes there's a legitimate reason for what he does."[5]
They later decide to make a bomb which detonates and causes damage to the house.[2] The explosion was a "spectacular" stunt which created by the production team. It was achieved by placing two air cannons in each of the bedroom windows. Sugar glass was fitted into the wooden window frames for the shattering effect.[6] Smoke machines were deployed and stacks of paper were placed in front of the cannons. When the stunt was filmed, the cannons had so much force that the roof of the house did visibly rise.[6] Hartney praised the story for being a "typical" Brookside plot that had been "done very well and very gradually".[5]
Storylines[]
Howe preyed on people who had personal tragedy. Katie had experienced personal tragedy through the death of her father Frank (Peter Christian) in a car crash in November 1993. Simon indoctrinated her into his cult and took her virginity as initiation into the group. Despite his initial reluctance, Terry soon proved easy prey for Simon after the death of his wife Sue (Annie Miles) and son Danny. In indoctrinating Terry, Simon however invokes the wrath of Terry's friend Barry. With Barry already disliking Simon for brain-washing his best friend Terry, Simon further antagonises Barry by handing out leaflets warning of the 'perils of drink' outside Barry's bar. Barry threatens Simon, leaving Simon deciding to get him back. When the lease on No.5 expires Simon decides he wants to buy it to use it as his church. Barry however buys back his old house before Simon can and begins eviction proceedings.
Deciding that if he couldn't have his house then nobody could, Simon decided to blow it up. When Barry breaks in trying to evict Simon, Simon captures him and ties him up. He then makes a homemade bomb, releasing Barry just before setting the bomb. The bomb explodes, however it only causes superficial damage. Barry escapes; however, Simon and Terry are standing too near to the house and are injured. Barry visits Terry, who, to Barry's surprise, stays loyal to Simon. After recovering, Simon tells Terry that their work is done and it is time to die. The two try to asphyxiate themselves with exhaust fumes in a car. Barry finds them and rescues Terry only, leaving Simon to die.
Reception[]
Gareth McLean writing for The Guardian stated that Simon's cult storyline was an example of Brookside failing to portray everyday life scenarios. He also branded the character "the least charismatic charismatic ever, intent on spreading his version of the word."[8] Another Guardian journalist branded him the "Koresh-style cultist 'Creepy' Simon Howe."[9] Mike Wallbank from the Tameside Reporter described Simon as "the leader of a bizarre religious cult who preyed on the bereaved and vulnerable."[10]
The Observer's Taylor described Simon as an "evil prophet in baggy jeans" and "a dangerous loony". They added that Simon and Beth Jordache (Anna Friel) are "larger-than-life, emblematic figures whose significance has outgrown even Brookside." He went on to add that Simon is "the soap's most potent hate figure".[4] In 2003, Frances Traynor from the Daily Record named Simon and his cult one of the show's "most controversial plotlines".[11] Inside Soap's Monroe profiled the character's gall stating "most men have a good line in chat-up when it comes to getting a girl into bed, but Brookside's Simon Howe takes the biscuit! He conned vulnerable Katie Rogers into sleeping with him (without using a condom) by telling her: 'God will protect us.' And she believed him!"[7]
References[]
- ↑ Kibble-White 2002, p.156.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lim, Madeleine (1994). "History of the house: No 5 Brookside Close". Brookside - the Magazine ((The Magazine Company)) (1): 9.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "What's Simon's secret?". Inside Soap ((Attic Futura UK Ltd)) (17): 26-27. January 1994.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Taylor, Sam (4 September 1994). "The angel and the antichrist". The Observer. Retrieved 25 February 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Arnold, Richard (August 1994). "High noon at Brookside Close!". Inside Soap ((Attic Futura UK Ltd)) (24): 12.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Kibble-White 2002, p.98.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Monroe, Josephine (February 1994). "Katie's the most naive person I know!". Inside Soap ((Attic Futura UK Ltd)) (18): 36.
- ↑ McLean, Gareth (27 October 2003). "Close encounters". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 February 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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- ↑ "Sacrificial hams". The Guardian. 9 July 1994. Retrieved 26 February 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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- ↑ Wallbank, Mike (24 April 2020). "Nostalgia: a star in the making". Tameside Reporter. (Quest Media Network). Retrieved 25 February 2021.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Traynor, Frances (31 October 2003). "Close encounters; as Brookside prepares for its final episode after 21 Years, TV editor Frances Traynor takes a look at the soap's most controversial plotlines". Daily Record. (Trinity Mirror via The Free Library). Retrieved 28 February 2021.
{{cite web}}:
- Kibble-White, Graham (2002). Phil Redmond's 20 Years of Brookside. Carlton Books. ISBN 1-84222-764-5.
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