The Collins family moved into Brookside Close during the first episode, having bought Number 8. From the start, there was conflict between the middle-class Collins family and the working-class Grants; in fact, the conflict between the families provided much of the early storylines. Upon arrival at Number 8, they found house had been vandalised by Damon Grant and his friends, and somebody had stolen the toilet. Whilst her husband, Paul, confronted the Grants, accusing Damon of being the toilet thief, Annabelle made an effort to befriend his mother Sheila. Unlike the Grant family, who had moved from a run-down council estateto live on Brookside Close, the Collins family had previously lived in a large, comfortable house on The Wirral, but were forced to downsize to something much smaller after Paul was made redundant. Initially, Annabelle found it difficult to adjust to life in her new, more modest surroundings and for a while she suffered from mild depression. She considered returning to her previous career as a French teacher to help support the family but Paul was against the idea. However, in 1983, after Paul had found another job and the family's financial situation improved, she began to throw herself more into life in the Close, even helping to form a 'rate-payers' association. In 1985, she set up an 'at home' catering business, which was moderately successful until some of her clients came down with food poisoning, at which point Annabelle decided to give up the catering business and train to become a magistrate.
Character
Although at times coming across as a bit of a snob, Annabelle was a polite and considerate woman, who made an effort to get on with her neighbours, often finding herself apologising for Paul's brisk and pompous manner. However, like Paul, she struggled to come to terms with Gordon's sexuality as well as Lucy's promiscuity. After becoming concerned about her mother's increasingly erratic and eccentric behaviour, she invited Mona to move in with the Collins family at Number 8. Eventually, however, it became clear that Mona was suffering from early stages dementia and she had to be moved into a Home. In 1988, Annabelle had a brief affair with Brian Lawrence. Unlike her husband who represents the conservative middle-class and the Grants who represented the socialist working-class, Guardian reading Annabelle represents the educated liberal middle-class.
Departure
Following Doreen Sloane's death from cancer, the entire Collins family were written out of Brookside in the summer of 1990, moving to the Lake District to help look after an increasingly frail Mona. At the time of their departure, the Collins were one of the few original families left in the soap, and the only household to have survived since the programme started. By the 1990s the dynamic of Brookside was changing and the show was gradually moving away from the 'gritty realism' that had defined its early years through families such as the Grant’s and the Collins’.
