Several Brookside stars are reprising their roles for a special Hollyoaks crossover episode

Brookside's Paul Usher has revealed the "phone went down" when he received the call asking him to return as Barry Grant.

The Channel 4 soap concluded in 2003 but viewers will get another peek at the Liverpool close in a special crossover episode celebrating fellow soap Hollyoaks' 30th anniversary.

Paul, who portrayed Brookside baddie Barry on and off from 1982 until the programme's finale, is amongst the original cast members returning for the milestone episode, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Speaking on ITV's This Morning on Tuesday (October 21), he confessed that when initially contacted about the comeback he questioned: "What's the point?"

Presenter Cat Deeley asked the star: "Was there ever a moment where you thought, 'You know what, no I'm not going to do this, I'm not up to this', when they first made the phone call?"

"Yeah," he responded. Mimicking hanging up the telephone, he continued: "When they first made the phone call I went, 'Are you kidding?' Phone went down." Cat asked: "Why?"

"I just thought, what's the point?" said the performer. "You know, and how are they going to do it. But like, then when I found out, they called me back up and said Ricky (Tomlinson) and Sue (Johnston) were doing it."

"I do see them every now and again but it was just, it'd be nice to be all back together," he revealed.

Paul appeared on This Morning's sofa alongside fellow returning cast member Philip Olivier, who portrays Timothy "Tinhead" O'Leary.

Recounting how he was approached for the return, Philip shared: "My agent called me up and said, 'Would you like to do Hollyoaks?' I was like, 'Again?' Did something years ago... They said it's only for a couple of days, it'll be September and I went, 'Yeah all right, brilliant, get to see all the the guys I know there.'

"And then they went, 'Yeah and you're coming back as Tinhead.' 'What? Send me the script, how do you mean?'"

Hollyoaks originally emerged from Brookside, so the anniversary episode will feature characters from Hollyoaks visiting Brookside Close, where they encounter some of its stars.

Brookside star 'phone down' when they were asked to reprise iconic role - The Mirror