Ron Dixon (Brookside)

Ronald William "Ron" Dixon is a fictional character in the British soap opera, Brookside, played by Vince Earl^[1] from 1990 until the final episode in 2003, during which time he was involved in several major storylines including his marriage to DD, being charged with murder and his feud with Jimmy Corkhill. His final words on the programme were to tell Jimmy that he hoped he would never see him again.

Storylines

Ron and DD arrived in Brookside Close during the autumn of 1990 with their three children, but separated two years later. In January 1993, he began a relationship with Bev McLoughlin and in December 1993 she gave birth to a son called Josh, but they split up soon afterwards when she revealed that Josh wasn't his son. He was actually Ron's grandson and the son of Ron's son Mike.^[2]

In early November of that year, at the wedding of Frank Rogers to Bev's sister Lyn Matthews, Ron and DD got into an argument after Bev turned up. Frank took Tony in the wedding car to the reception to get him away from his warring parents. During the journey, Frank (who had been allowed to drive the luxury car as a gift from Lyn) crashed after he swerved to avoid an oncoming car which was being driven recklessly by neighbour Jimmy Corkhill. Frank died soon after arriving at the hospital and Tony was left in a coma with a fractured skull. At Frank's funeral, Ron learnt that Frank's post mortem had included a blood test which showed him to be over the drink-drive limit, although the full truth about the crash was still three months away from being revealed.

One morning at the beginning of December 1993, Tony opened his eyes for a few minutes while Ron was visiting him. Ron was ecstatic by what he saw and was confident that Tony would be out of hospital in time for Christmas, only to return to the hospital hours later and be told by the doctor that Tony was in a persistent vegetative state and was unlikely ever to recover. Ron was determined to help Tony recover, at whatever cost, wanting to find a medical cure which he had heard was possible at clinics in the USA, while DD was determined for him to be cured at Lourdes, which Ron did not think was possible. Unlike DD, Ron was not a Roman Catholic.

A guilt-ridden Jimmy helped out with endless fundraising efforts, with nobody else knowing that he had caused the accident. Tony then contracted pneumonia and had to stay in hospital over Christmas, and showed no further signs of improvement.

In January 1994, Ron came to visit Tony in hospital and found him being given the last rites. DD explained that Tony was being giving the last rites at her request, which outraged Ron, who was still determined that a medical cure could be found. Tony's doctor, who had already discussed the situation with DD, then persuaded Ron that there was no chance of Tony ever regaining consciousness, and Ron soon accepted that Tony would never recover. Ron was now talking of the possibility of having Tony's treatment withdrawn and allowing him to die (echoing the recent real life right-to-die case involving Hillsborough disaster victim Tony Bland), although DD was still determined that Tony might still recover if he was taken to Lourdes, even though she had accepted that there was no medical cure. Ron then gave DD permission to take Tony to Lourdes in hope of curing him, despite not believing that Tony could be cured this way, but Tony died in hospital just before DD and Jackie were due to take him to Lourdes.

Jimmy broke down at Tony's funeral, unable to contain his guilt any longer, and confessed to Ron at the graveside that he was driving the other car while high on cocaine.

Ron later married his former girlfriend Anthea Brindley, who had revealed to him that he was the father of her daughter, Megan, by now in her thirties.

In December 2000, only a few days before Christmas, his life was hit by another tragedy when his son Mike was badly injured in a car crash caused by neighbour Tim O'Leary, who had fled the scene after crashing the stolen car that he had been driving. Mike suffered spinal injuries and was unable to walk for six months.

In May 2001, after a succession of robberies at his house, Ron finally snapped and bought a gun off Sotto, an acquaintance of neighbour Tim O'Leary, which he eventually used on a burglar who had entered his house. The burglar was Clint Moffat, the brother of his daughter Jacqui's boyfriend, Robbie. Ron did not realise who he had shot until it was too late. Robbie turned out to be the burglar; Clint was only in the Dixons' house to get Robbie out. Ron was charged with his murder. He was released on bail but following his trial in December 2001 he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to nine months in prison. He was freed four months later. After the verdict, Anthea left Ron and he found himself on his own again.

In 2003, Ron married Bev and in the final episode, Ron, Bev and Josh moved away from the close.^[3] His final words on the programme were telling Jimmy he hoped he never saw him again.

Feuds

Throughout his time on Brookside Close, Ron Dixon was often an unpopular man. He also had many petty feuds with neighbour Max Farnham. Like many of the neighbours he despised Jack Michaelson and was assaulted by him in 2003.

Ron and Jimmy

Ever since Jimmy was involved in the death of his son, he had an ongoing feud with him. The two however reconciled when Ron's son Mike and Jimmy's daughter Lindsey were arrested in Bangkok after drugs are planted in Lindsay's daughter's teddy bear. Later on, Ron has an affair with Jimmy's wife, Jackie. Jackie leaves Ron after Jimmy's son is killed by drug dealers.

Although Ron never forgave Jimmy for his actions, he noted in his wedding speech in 2003 that he knew he was not a callous killer.

Politics

Ron is one of the few politicised characters in the later years. Although unlike socialist Bobby Grant and Chrissy Rogers and Conservative Paul Collins, his beliefs aren't fervent, Ron often makes off-the-cuff right wing political remarks as a reaction to something he has heard. In the series he has supported taxing the poor more than the rich to incentivise hard work, bring back hanging, arming the police and claiming that nobody is truly addicted to anything. His outbursts are usually treated with bemusement by others. During the siege he claimed that hanging would deter the criminals from shooting their victims to which Bev pointed out that no deterrent stopped him from 'pulling the trigger' when he shot an intruder.

References