Mick Johnson

Emerick had been unable to pay off a telephone bill and a woman named Rita offered to pay it. He refused and instead requested that Rita contact his agent should any acting work arise. He credits her for helping him secure the role of Mick. His first day on set was spent with Brian Regan (who played Terry Sullivan). Mick's first scenes involved him picking up a dead body in his taxi with Terry.{{cite web|last=Horsley|first=Jon|title=Life After Soap – Louis Emerick|url=http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/life-after-soap-%E2%80%93-louis-emerick.html|work=Yahoo!|access-date=12 March 2014|date=1 March 2012|archive-date=5 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305095948/http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/life-after-soap-%E2%80%93-louis-emerick.html|url-status=live}} By 1998, Emerick was on a £70,000 contract with the show.{{cite web|last=Vincent|first=Nigel|title=I know how tough it is being adopted... I spent eight years searching for my real mother; Brookside's pizza man Mick tells how soap plot mirrors his real-life agony|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/I+know+how+tough+it+is+being+adopted...+I+spent+eight+years+searching...-a060658665|work=Sunday Mirror|publisher=(Trinity Mirror)|access-date=13 March 2014|author2=Schaverien, Tracy|date=11 January 1998|archive-date=13 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313060121/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/I+know+how+tough+it+is+being+adopted...+I+spent+eight+years+searching...-a060658665|url-status=live}}

In 1992, producers created a new potential love story for Mick and Marianne Dwyer (Jodie Hanson). They spent months falling in love but being unable to act on their feelings. Writers then made the story more complex by creating a relationship between Marianne and Mick's brother, Ellis Johnson (Francis Johnson).{{cite journal |title=Will Marianne say I do? |journal=TVTimes |date=13-19 February 1993 |volume=148 |issue=7 |pages=18-19 |publisher=(IPC Magazines)}} Hanson told a reporter from TVTimes that Marianne and Ellis "got caught up in the whirlwind of romance." Their romance progresses fast and they get engaged. Hanson stated that Marianne tries to convince herself that her feelings for Mick is just "sisterly warmth" and that she loves Ellis. The two brothers have very different characteristics which both appeal to Marianne. Hanson described Mick the "solid and responsible" brother and Ellis as the "charming and vivacious" one. She can have a good time with Ellis but ultimately, Mick has the "steadfastness she needs in a husband."

Writers continued to play Mick as an integral part of the story. Mick and Marianne's romantic feelings did not wane, despite her protests. On New Year's Eve 1992, Mick and Marianne share a kiss and betray Ellis. They both decide to keep their infidelity a secret, and Marianne gets engaged to Ellis. Two months later, writers used the reintroduction of Mick's ex-wife, Josie Johnson (Suzanne Packer) to further complicate the narritve. When Marianne witnesses Mick and Josie together, she is "consumed with jealousy" and proceeds with her wedding in a state of upset.

Emerick told Tina Miles of the Liverpool Echo that he was fortunate to be given "great storylines" such as being stalked and committing an act of euthanasia.{{cite web|last=Miles|first=Tina|title=Liverpool actor Louis Emerick returns to Brookside Close as hopes are raised for 30th anniversary DVD|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-actor-louis-emerick-returns-3350949|work=Liverpool Echo|publisher=(Trinity Mirror)|access-date=13 March 2014|date=26 March 2012|archive-date=13 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313102911/http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-actor-louis-emerick-returns-3350949|url-status=live}}

Jon Horsley from Yahoo! stated "Louis Emerick added wit and humour to the often bleak soap and became one of its most loved and recognisable characters." He named Mick's most memorable storylines as being the victim of racial abuse and a steroid addiction. A reporter from the Manchester Evening News has branded Mick as "loveable" and admitted they missed watching the character.{{cite web|title=It's seven characters in one night for former Brookside actor Louis Emerick|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/film-and-tv/its-seven-characters-in-one-night-864451|work=Manchester Evening News|publisher=(Trinity Mirror)|access-date=13 March 2014|date=1 June 2011|archive-date=13 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313103631/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/film-and-tv/its-seven-characters-in-one-night-864451|url-status=live}} A writer from Hello! believed that Emerick was a Brookside favourite with viewers.{{cite web|title=A fairy-tale wedding for 'Brookside' favourite Louis Emerick and his beautiful bride Lisa Crawford|url=http://www.hellomagazine.com/magazine/2001/09/24/louisemerick/|work=Hello|publisher=(Hello Ltd)|access-date=13 March 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313044047/http://www.hellomagazine.com/magazine/2001/09/24/louisemerick/|archive-date=13 March 2014|df=dmy-all}} Author of Black in the British Frame Stephen Bourne opined that Mick was an inoffensive black character, much like Alan Jackson (Howard Antony), a character from rival soap opera EastEnders. Bourne described them both as "good, reliable, hard-working fathers, and as well-integrated members of their communities."Bourne 2001, p. 179. In the book, "The Guinness Book of Classic British TV", it was noted that accused other soap operas of tokenism in their portrayal of ethnic minority characters. They believed Brookside offered a more realistic portrayal via Mick's character. Authors Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping added that "Mick Johnson, for example, works entirely contrary to offensive black male stereotypes, being a good father, hard-working and honest."Cornell, Day & Topping 1996, p.52. Francesca Babb from All About Soap included the euthanasia storyline involving Mick, Elaine and Gladys in their "most memorable moments" of Brookside feature.{{cite magazine |last1=Babb |first1=Francesca |title=Brookside comes of age! |magazine=All About Soap |date=November 2000 |issue=14 |pages=41 |publisher=(Attic Futura UK Ltd)}}

Vicki Coppock, writing for the radical feminist magazine, Trouble & Strife was critical about Mick and complained that he was portrayed more positively than Josie and Marianne because they ended their relationships with him. She complained that Josie was villainised for daring to abandon her family, which "evoked sympathy for the long-suffering and ever-patient Mick."{{cite magazine |last1=Coppock |first1=Vicki |title=Race and black women |magazine=Trouble & Strife |date=1996 |issue=34, Winter 1996/97 |pages=25, 26 |publisher=(Sandypress)}}{{cite web |last1=Coppock |first1=Vicki |title=Soft soap |url=https://www.troubleandstrife.org/articles/issue-34/soft-soap/ |website=Trouble & Strife |access-date=14 April 2025}} Coppock was also annoyed with Marianne's sexual harassment storyline because it "focused mainly on Mick's angst over the situation." She added his reaction was "stereotypically spontaneous, aggressive and confrontational. The Black working-class 'male protector' of 'his' woman was set against Marianne's cool, scheming, feminine guile." She concluded that "the subtext of these storylines carried clear expressions of misogyny and racism." When Marianne leaves Mick, Coppock complained that instead of portraying it as a positive decision for her, writers created a "narrative which ensured maximum sympathy for Mick. Marianne was once again cast as the villain, deserting Mick in his hour of need."

{{reflist}}

;Bibliography

{{Refbegin|2}}

• {{cite book|title=The Guinness Book of Classic British TV|last1=Cornell |first1=Paul |last2=Day |first2=Martin |last3=Topping |first3=Keith|year=1996|publisher=Guinness|isbn=0-8511-2628-6|ref=refcornell}}
• {{cite book|last=Bourne|first=Stephen|title=Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television Second Edition|date=30 November 2001|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=0-8264-5539-5|ref=refbourne}}

{{Refend}}

{{Brookside}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Mick}}

Category:Brookside characters

Category:Fictional Black British people

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Category:Television characters introduced in 1989

Category:British male characters in soap operas