A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Jason Hope

Jason Hope was born on the 5th of March 1970 in Liverpool and joined the cast of Phil Redmond's soap 'Brookside' (1985-2001) as a teenager. When John McArdle secured the role of Billy Corkhill, Kate Fitzgerald was hired to play Billy's wife Dorenn with Jason and Justine Kerrigan then cast as their children, Rod and Tracy respectively. In an interview about his casting, Jason recalled that he had to meet with McArdle and Fitzgerald to ensure they "could pass off as family members." Rod was the final member of the Corkhill family to be cast after a successful audition and was required to do a screen test with 14 year old Justine to assess their compatibility in the sibling roles. Brookside producer Stuart Doughty revealed that Kerrigan and Hope were only allowed to film a limited number of episodes because they were still at school.

Teenage son Rod was played by Jason throughout his time on the show and featured in 352 episodes. Rod and Tracy were described as appearing 'ordinary enough' until viewers learnt that Rod wanted to become a policeman and Tracy had aspirations of becoming a model. During his time on the show, Rod earned the nickname 'Rod the Plod' after he opted to join the police but the family were affronted when thet learnt their son wanted to join up. Rod 'The Plod' Corkhill was one of a gamut of smallscreen giants who felt like after they'd been cast at local bus stops they'd made their name. He switched on the Liverpool Christmas lights with co-stars Danny McCall, Jenny Hesketh and Sunetra Sarker. In 1989 when aged just 18 he was taken to Liverpool's Broadgreen Hospital after an overdose of sleeping tablets.
 

While on the show, Rod's main storyline revolved around his fledgling relationship with Diana.  However after leaving the show, Jason opted for a completely different career, trading the soap for the barber shop. He moved abroad to Bermuda, as he had family out here, and became a hairdresser in 2001 working for a shop in the capital, Hamilton, called Squires. Soon after this, Jason featured on an ITV series called 'After They Were Famous'.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2025/04/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians.html