Other stories include his association with gangster Tommy McArdle (Malcolm Tierney), his relationship with Tracy Corkhill (Justine Kerrigan) and her subsequent pregnancy.

The character has proved popular with television critics and journalists, who often commented on Barry's numerous crimes and "bad boy" persona.

Brookside creator and executive producer Phil Redmond began workshopping the original cast, to see which actors built a rapport and could work well together on-screen.

[2] McGann, Johnston, Ricky Tomlinson, Simon O'Brien and Shelagh O'Hara were grouped together and informed they were successful and would portray the Grant family.

[6] Prior to the series' debut, Channel 4 publicity described Barry as a twenty-three year old "football fanatic and a carpenter on a building site.

Originally depicted as Sheila's protector and a "Jack the lad" type character, with money making scams alongside his best friend Terry Sullivan (Brian Regan).

[11] He told Geoff Tibballs, author of Brookside - The First Ten Years, that "I'm glad we're seeing the nasty side of Barry Grant, I wanted to make him more evil.

The power Barry gains corrupts him and with stories involving shot gun toting threats and murder, they showed he was unpleasant and nasty.

Redmond decided a good was to portray Barry's descent into serious crime was to have him kidnap a pet dog belonging to an amusement arcade owner, Ma Johnson (Mary Cunningham).

[16] In 1999, Redmond recalled "I will now admit publicly, was a deliberate injection of shock therapy to a storyline chronicling Barry Grant's descent into serious crime.

It was designed to remind viewers that although Barry was a loveable rogue and the gangsters he was involved with at the time were an entertaining bunch, he was still about to sell his soul to the devil.

"[16] In November 1984, Peter Holt from the Evening Standard reported that Usher had decided to leave Brookside to concentrate on his music career.

Usher told an Eleanor Levy from the Record Mirror that "I think I've just exhausted the character, the part's already there, it's written for you and there's nothing really to test your acting ability.

"[21] In an interview with McLaren (TV Guide), Usher stated that he was exhausted because of the role and would not bother changing out of Barry's costumes when he got home.

[23] Mal Young decided to kill off Sue in a mystery whodunit murder storyline, following Miles' decision to leave the series.

[27] Regan had to film new scenes by himself, including throwing a pan of hot fat onto the kitchen floor and pretending to approach Barry with a knife.

[32] Of his return, a Brookside publicist stated that "he will be back just as he left, in his Armani suit, his four wheel drive and a bulge in his pocket - a gun.

Neil Crossley branded Barry a "nefarious" character, Catherine Wilson believed he was a "garrulous" man and Hilary Bower viewed him as a "heart-throb".

He tormented Jacqui Dixon, toyed with Lindsey Corkhill's affections and made Sue Sullivan take a tumble of some scaffolding to her death.

"[42] Another Guardian writer assessed "from his early days as a cheeky youngster at number 5, Barry Grant developed into a money obsessed 'scally'.

[22] Discussing his alleged walk out, Francke added "if Usher wants to bargain with Redmond and co, at least there is the huge popularity of Barry in his favour.

He commented that the show "has shown sign of revival to returning to what it is good at (violent, tragi-comic crime stories), with the escapades of Barry Grant and the hapless Jimmy Corkhill.

They added that "barmy Barry" has a "stretch-limo mouth", a "bubble-car brain" and is the type of man that "orangutan mothers" warn their daughters about.

"[55] Kathryn Flett wrote that Barry was like the junior version Den Watts played by Leslie Grantham, a villainous character from the rival soap opera EastEnders.

[35] Barbara Ellen, also from The Observer said that by 1997, typical archetype males in soap opera had evolved from "blue-collar love-thugs with beer guts" such as Terry Duckworth (Nigel Pivaro) to "smouldering Heathcliff's" such as Barry and EastEnders' David Wicks (Michael French).

[56] Noticing the void caused by Barry and David's departures from their respective shows, the Evening Standard's Phillips stated "love rats they may have been but, as pets, rodents are more fun than worms.

"[57] Mark Lawson from The Independent bemoaned the amount of criminal stories that were being created for Barry and EastEnders character Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp), believing they were influencing society.

[30] In the book Real Soap: Brookside, author Kay Nicholls likened Barry's early style to a "70s footballer, with a wardrobe that would shame Mr Byrite.

"[63] Di Hollingsworth from Soaplife included Barry killing Sue and Danny in their list of top ten soap storylines in which characters get away with committing crimes.

[70] Their colleague Justin Harp called Barry an "evil" character and Simon Timblick from Radio Times described him as the "baddie businessman".