Paul Collins is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, played by Jim Wiggins.

Writers portrayed the Collins's marriage as a troubled one resulting in Annabelle having an affair with Brian Lawrence (Vincent Maguire).

[1] In the book 20 years of Brookside, author Graham Kibble-White revealed that they intentionally cast "relative unknown" actors to create "an added element of freshness" for the show.

[3] In a character profile published in TVTimes, Paul is described as "just been made redundant, and has been warned about heart strain and heavy drinking.

He wore British Home Stores clothing, failed to understand modern popular music and fashion trends.

Wiggins told Nick Fisher from TV Guide that "I suppose it's because he's rather aloof and conservative, with a small c."[7] Geoff Tibballs, author of Brookside - Life in the Close likened him to an "early Victor Meldrew" because he was likely to write a letter of complaint if he sensed any trouble.

[6] Paul and his family were forced to leave their large home on the Wirral and downsize to the smaller house, number eight Brookside Close.

Paul and Annabelle's son Gordon (Nigel Crowley, later Mark Burgess) comes out as gay and they find it difficult to accept him.

Gordon faces homophobia from the house cleaner, Carol Thompson (Geraldine Griffiths), when she assumes she will develop AIDS after cleaning the family toilet.

[10] Writers portrayed Paul being supportive of his daughter Lucy Collins (Katrin Cartlidge), who begins a relationship with a married man James.

[11] Another story for Paul was dealing with Annabelle's affair with fellow JP Brian Lawrence (Vincent Maguire).

[13] Paul's neighbour, Sheila Grant (Sue Johnston) discovers Annabelle's affair but decides to keep it a secret.

He told TV Guide's Nick Fisher that "the story of the infidelity of my wife and the effect it had on me enabled me to really put something into my character as an actor.

[17] Their final episode and story together featured Paul and Annabelle's plans to adopt Louise Mitchell (Jenny Hesketh).

[19] The family's exit story from the series featured Paul deciding to move to the Lake District and his departure was broadcast in June 1990.

[21] James Moore and Clare Goldwin from the Daily Mirror described Paul's best storyline as him being a "former military man constantly at loggerheads with his neighbours.

"[23] In his book The Who's Who of Soap Operas, author Anthony Hayward described the character as "the redundant middle management man forced to leave his large house on the Wirral.

"[24] Matt Wolf from The Sacramento Bee branded Paul and Annabelle "right-wing social climbers" and opined that characters such as these represent the British working class and their problems.

"[26] Summarising Paul's time in the show, an Inside Soap columnist wrote "Downwardly mobile ex-headmaster.

[27] In 1985, the Record Mirror's Eleanor Levy branded Paul and Annabelle the show's "upper middle class slummers".

[28] Dee opined that Paul's "memorable moments" were being hit with a trowel by Mona and being arrested at the road safety demonstration.