George Edward Jackson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, played by Cliff Howells.

George is framed for the crime by a gangster, Tommy McArdle (Malcolm Tierney) and his associate Victor Scott (Robbie Dee).

George is characterised as an "easy going" man who enjoys drinking bitter at the local pub and participating in quizzes.

[2] In the book, "Life in the Close", author Geoff Tibballs described George as an "unassuming man" and a heroic character.

The plot begins when George encounters local gangster Victor Scott (Robbie Dee) at The Swan pub and they get talking.

Unbeknownst to George, Victor intends to use the diagram to help his boss, Tommy McArdle (Malcolm Tierney) burgle the warehouse.

Victor forces Barry Grant (Paul Usher) and Terry Sullivan (Brian Regan) to provide him with an alibi.

Show creator Phil Redmond recalled that he was pulled over by a police officer and asked if George would be convicted of the crime.

[5] In September 1984, Roy West from Liverpool Echo reported that George was likely to end up being sent to prison in the story and Howells written out of the show.

Brookside's publicity officer Paul Kerr revealed that any personal from Mersey Television disclosing George's storyline details would face disciplinary action.

[7] The story progresses with George's neighbour, Annabelle Collins (Doreen Sloane) paying the money to have him released on bail.

When McArdle later encounters George in a street, he warns him to accept any sentence given to him in court and promises to look out for his family's interests.

[8][9] Barry and Terry also try to make a deal with the police to implicate McArdle and help George - but they are later badly beaten for their interfering.

[8] The "Free George Jackson" campaign gained considerable interest from viewers and began to blur reality and fiction.

The Brookside press office received a cake with a file about George's innocence hidden in-between the layers.

[11] Publicity officer Kerr revealed that they were organising a real life campaign for viewers to continue to enjoy.

[11] It was released as a seven inch vinyl single, featured the Brookside theme tune as a B side and gained airplay on British radio after producers contacted stations asking them to play it.

It featured pre-recorded voice messages and Liverpool Echo's Taylor revealed that upon calling the number she learned that George was feeling depressed in prison.

[18] Days later the campaign had spread to the British northern regions of Tyne Tees and the Scottish Borders with posters appearing there.

Robbie Dee (Victor) was confronted in a fish and chip shop by two men and a woman hit him with an umbrella, but escaped without injury.

A portion of these posters were accidentally distributed at the same time, confirming Brookside's claim they were not changing tactics to appease Equity.

[24][26] Ian Brandes from The Sunday People reported that Redmond originally tried to convince Howells to remain in Brookside, but this was unlikely because of their dispute.

[8] Keaveney revealed that newspapers reporting details of her and Howells' departures ruined the outcome of the "Free George Jackson" storyline.

[27] Carolyn Taylor from Liverpool Echo stated that the "Free George Jackson" campaign was "spreading like wildfire around the country.

[29] Frances Traynor from Daily Record included it second in her feature compiling Brookside's twenty-one classic moments.

[30] A writer from the Hull Daily Mail branded George "one of the Close's most popular residents" and his unfair imprisonment a "sensational storyline".

[31] Roy West from the publication assessed "the saga of George - a nice bloke who gets mixed up some nasty characters - is typical Brookside.

"[5] He also opined the story created "lots of drama" and thought it was the first time a soap opera character was written out of a series by being sent to prison.