| George Jackson | |||||||||||
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| Brookside character | |||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Cliff Howells | ||||||||||
| Duration | 1983–1984 | ||||||||||
| First appearance | 2 February 1983 | ||||||||||
| Last appearance | 30 October 1984 | ||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||
| Created by | Phil Redmond | ||||||||||
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George Edward Jackson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, played by Cliff Howells. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 2 February 1983. George was introduced as the brother-in-law of established character Petra Taylor (Alexandra Pigg), following the death of her husband, Gavin Taylor (Daniel Webb). Writers soon introduced viewers to the remainder of The Jackson family, including his wife Marie Jackson (Anna Keaveney), their sons Little George Jackson (Allan Patterson), Gary Jackson (Steven Patterson) and his sister-in-law Michelle Jones (Tracy Jay). George, a firefighter, is portrayed as a easygoing and unassuming.
Producers featured George in a criminal injustice storyline in which he is imprisoned for a warehouse robbery he did not commit. George is framed for the crime by a gangster, Tommy McArdle (Malcolm Tierney) and his associate Victor Scott (Robbie Dee).
Writers created a fictional campaign titled "Free George Jackson", which is started by Marie. With legal help, she attempts to have her husband freed from prison via the publicity it generates. The story was popular with viewers and Brookside's production company Mersey Television tried to capitalise on the story's popularity by created a real life campaign. They funded thousands of posters, created t-shirts, badges and banners. They created an information telephone number for viewers to receive updated information on the campaign and released a commercial song via an LP vinyl and radio play.
Howells left the series when George was imprisoned. He was unhappy with the campaign's publicity and producer's using his image on posters without his consent. Howells sought help from the actors union Equity, who helped him build a case against Mersey Television. They changed the posters and despite the campaign being well known nationally in the United Kingdom, George was not released from prison. In the story, he is transferred to a Leeds prison and Marie and their children leave Brookside following the actors being written out. The "Free George Jackson" campaign gained infamy and become one of the show's most recognised storylines.