Max Farnham
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| Max Farnham | |||||||||
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| Brookside character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Steven Pinder | ||||||||
| Duration | 1990–2003 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 2 July 1990 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 25 May 2003 | ||||||||
| Created by | Phil Redmond | ||||||||
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Max Farnham is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Brookside, played by Steven Pinder. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 2 July 1990. He remained in the show until just before it was cancelled in 2003.
In 1998, Pinder chose to leave Brookside after eight years. His decision was intended to be permanent, as he focused on securing new roles.[1] He stated "When you're an actor, doing a soap can be very secure, particularly if you have a family to support, and one of the hardest things about acting is if you haven't got any work lined up in the immediate future. But I was a bit washed out and I thought the character had run its course. That's the actors' law – sometimes you've got to say no."[1] On-screen, it emerged that Max had been having a long-running affair with a woman named Faye, which led to his wife Susannah Morrisey (Karen Drury) throwing him out. After being written out of the show, Pinder returned to the stage and starred in three theatre productions.[1] In June 1999, he was asked to return to Brookside and he agreed to reprise his role. He was initially contracted for six months. Pinder admitted to being surprised by the offer, and was worried that others might see his return to the show "as a step back."[1] Pinder was pleased with the changes the writers made to his character and felt that he and Max had been well rested.[1] Drury was also glad about Pinder's return as she enjoyed working with him. She admitted that she was worried about her own future on the show when Pinder announced his decision to leave, but producer Phil Redmond reassured her that she would be kept on.[1] Drury explained that Susannah "is bitter" upon Max's return to the Close, but she doubted Susannah would remain that way, adding "Max and Susannah will never be how they were before, but I think they will come to some sort of arrangement for the children."[1]
Following the cancellation of Brookside in 2003, Pinder said "We should be celebrating the past of the programme in a positive way rather than a negative one because of fall the things that Brookside has achieved over the past 20 years. I started off on the programme in 1990 and spent about 10 years playing Max, so I was there for a fair bit of time and I went through a lot of storylines. I had already left the programme when it was announced that the show was going to end but there had been a lot of speculation up until that point so it didn't come as a big surprise. It was a difficult time. They didn't really know what was happening with the storyline and it was quite sad when the programme moved to a different slot. Some of the actors complained, asking how the audience were expected to see the programme when the actors didn't even know when it was on but I had a great time working on the programme and still keep in touch with a lot of the present and past actors, such as Louis Emerick, who played Mick Johnson, and all three of my wives - Gabby Glaister (Patricia), Karen Drury (Susannah) and Alexandra Fletcher (Jacqui). When I made my decision to leave the writing was on the wall. My part had diminished to virtually nothing. But during my time I loved working with Mick Starkey (Sinbad) and loved filming the bust-up scenes between the Farnhams and the Dixons." In closing, he added: "I haven't really watched any episodes of Brookside since I left because I have been working. But it was great working with so many people over such a long period of time. "It was hard work but we had a lot of fun and it was a happy time."[2]
