DS Forums

 
 

How long can the australian soap opera last?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 29-06-2014, 15:12
chloe07
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 236

Soap opera such as neighbours and home and away. I hope neighbours last a very long time. Feel free to comment
chloe07 is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 29-06-2014, 16:50
sally_bowles
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 1,264
it will last as long as we let it. after all we bank role them both. i am not sure it is worth it anymore to be honest.
sally_bowles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-06-2014, 18:54
Joey Boswell
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Down South
Posts: 21,866
As long as possible
Joey Boswell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-06-2014, 18:55
lionkingonstage
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,947
If its lasted 30 years, i'm sure it'll carry on for another 30. I hope when the channel 5 deal is over they will transfer it to itv. It could rate well on ITV.
lionkingonstage is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-06-2014, 21:06
Andybear
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 7,951
If its lasted 30 years, i'm sure it'll carry on for another 30. I hope when the channel 5 deal is over they will transfer it to itv. It could rate well on ITV.
It could if ITV were willing to put the money into it that Channel 5 does and I don't know if they would as they already have 2 prime time soaps of their own.
Andybear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-06-2014, 23:26
Danny_Francis
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Emmerdale
Posts: 4,291
hopefully for a good while yet
Danny_Francis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 16:20
dd68
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: London
Posts: 16,810
As long as the UK bank rolls them
dd68 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 17:13
CPW4EVER
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,125
It could if ITV were willing to put the money into it that Channel 5 does and I don't know if they would as they already have 2 prime time soaps of their own.
If Loose Women were to be axed, I could see ITV trying to pick up Neighbours or H&A in order to anchor their afternoon and early evening schedule with a relatively high rating show. Five's current deal with Neighbours ends in 2017 I think. Not sure what their deal with H&A is.

What I'm wondering is, will we ever see a new Aussie soap again? There hasn't been one since BBC made a shambles out of scheduling the pretty good Out of the Blue back in 2008.
CPW4EVER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 17:47
Deschanel
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: London
Posts: 4,532
Five's current deal with Neighbours ends in 2017 I think. Not sure what their deal with H&A is.

What I'm wondering is, will we ever see a new Aussie soap again? There hasn't been one since BBC made a shambles out of scheduling the pretty good Out of the Blue back in 2008.
C5 have a life-of-series deal to screen H&A, so it won't be able to jump networks.

I don't think we'll see any new soaps at all. Aussie, UK or US. There just isn't the backing to fund new soaps like there was in the 90s. Networks don't have the patience to build up an audience and they often miss judge the scheduling.
Deschanel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 17:56
CPW4EVER
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,125
C5 have a life-of-series deal to screen H&A, so it won't be able to jump networks.

I don't think we'll see any new soaps at all. Aussie, UK or US. There just isn't the backing to fund new soaps like there was in the 90s. Networks don't have the patience to build up an audience and they often miss judge the scheduling.
Pacific Drive, Breakers, Out of the Blue and Something in the Air were four great Aussie soaps that could still be on air now were it not for idiotic scheduling decisions both in the UK and Australia.
CPW4EVER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 17:59
abbottab
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 525
The current two Aussie soaps have outlasted their old soaps by decades, so they must be doing something right. Sons and Daughters ran for 5 years and The young Doctors ran for about 6 years back in the day.
abbottab is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 18:07
CPW4EVER
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,125
The current two Aussie soaps have outlasted their old soaps by decades, so they must be doing something right. Sons and Daughters ran for 5 years and The young Doctors ran for about 6 years back in the day.
Yeah, aside from the two currently on air, I think A Country Practice was the only other one to last longer than ten years.
CPW4EVER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 18:19
abbottab
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 525
Yeah, aside from the two currently on air, I think A Country Practice was the only other one to last longer than ten years.
I think Prisoner Cell Block H ran for 7 years, although with an episode shown once a week in my ITV region it seemed more like 20 years!
abbottab is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 18:21
abbottab
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 525
Yeah, aside from the two currently on air, I think A Country Practice was the only other one to last longer than ten years.
I think Prisoner Cell Block H ran for 7 years, not sure, but it seemed more like 20 years in my ITV region because it was only on once a week!
abbottab is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 18:24
JamieHT
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,287
Home and Away just won the Logie for Most Popular Drama so it's still doing well in Australia.
JamieHT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 19:03
CPW4EVER
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,125
I think Prisoner Cell Block H ran for 7 years, not sure, but it seemed more like 20 years in my ITV region because it was only on once a week!
Yes Prisoner ran for 7 years and The Sullivan's ran for 6. Some of them seemed like they ran forever when aired in the UK because they were stripped into half hour episodes for international broadcast while in Australia they often aired as one hour episodes twice a week so the episode counts can vary dramatically. Bellbird was actually the fourth longest running at 10 years. It only aired briefly on ITV. I've only recently finished reading the book Super Aussie Soaps and they've had nearly 50 soaps on air over the years with only a portion of those ever making it to air in the UK.
CPW4EVER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 19:40
inverness1967
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Inverness
Posts: 869
Yes Prisoner ran for 7 years and The Sullivan's ran for 6. Some of them seemed like they ran forever when aired in the UK because they were stripped into half hour episodes for international broadcast while in Australia they often aired as one hour episodes twice a week so the episode counts can vary dramatically. Bellbird was actually the fourth longest running at 10 years. It only aired briefly on ITV. I've only recently finished reading the book Super Aussie Soaps and they've had nearly 50 soaps on air over the years with only a portion of those ever making it to air in the UK.
Brilliant book for any Aussie soap lovers
inverness1967 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 20:39
MelSingleton
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,653
Bellbird ran ten years but with only one hour of content each week it was quickly overtaken by Number 96, which, when it ended in 1977 with 1218 half hour episodes, was Australia's longest running soap.

The Young Doctors (1976-1983) broke that record in 1982 and aired a total of 1396 half hour episodes.

Prisoner ran eight years (02/1979 to 12/1986) but with 692 one hour episodes didn't overtake TYD's record. That was broken by A Country Practice which ran 1981-1993 for 1088 hour episodes and a 30 episode revival on Network Ten in 1994.

Neighbours currently is the longest running Australian drama.

Neighbours will run as long as the UK bankrolls it. It isn't very popular in Australia so can't live off its Australian revenue.

Home and Away has strong figures in Australia so long term prospects look secure, though the UK extra budget probably helps them pay for all the location shoots and slick visual quality that helps gain those ratings.
MelSingleton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 20:48
abbottab
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 525
How many Episodes did Sons and Daughters have? I can remember my ITV region being very vocal about dropping 250 episodes of the Young Doctors to catch up with an adjoining region!
abbottab is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 22:04
inverness1967
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Inverness
Posts: 869
How many Episodes did Sons and Daughters have?
972 episodes
inverness1967 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 22:10
abbottab
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 525
blimey, not as many as it seemed...always preferred the Pat the Rat years of this show.
abbottab is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 30-06-2014, 22:15
inverness1967
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Inverness
Posts: 869
It certainly had a limited shelf life and probably finished at the right time but still love to have a look back at it every now and then. Pat the Rat was certainly a soap classic.
inverness1967 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-07-2014, 06:58
CPW4EVER
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,125
It certainly had a limited shelf life and probably finished at the right time but still love to have a look back at it every now and then. Pat the Rat was certainly a soap classic.
Pat the Rat is my favourite Aussie soap bitch ever. EE clearly borrowed heavily from her when creating Pat Butcher between the hair, heavy eye makeup, the name and the treachery surrounding the paternity of her children.
CPW4EVER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-07-2014, 07:03
CPW4EVER
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,125
Brilliant book for any Aussie soap lovers
It is such a good book. I especially love the behind the scene tidbits about the cast and crews antics and the various power struggles between producers and networks as they battled to keep the shows on air. We all know that Neighbours was axed by it's original network before being revived and turned into a global success but I didn't know that the same fate befell The Young Doctors before it was given a second chance and went on to become a super success in Australia and abroad.
CPW4EVER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-07-2014, 08:55
Creamtea
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,649
I reckon one day we'll end up with "soap channel" on free view, filled with old soaps to pad out the schedules, and all the soaps will eventually migrate to that and online services as they become more niche.
Creamtea is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 13:13.