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When EE ruled soaps


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Old 17-07-2016, 22:18
Robbedin73
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Watching a programme on C5 called
20 moments that rocked 80s and when EE started in 85 according to Lord Michael cashman thst CS didn't know what has hit it and the very first epsiode proved that soaps never seen anything like it before.which culminated in the most watched soap epsiode in history in the 1986 Xmas day special by astonishing 28 million
So whilst CS dominated untill 85 being only soap after that EE took over in 80s since then it's been between the two
Agree anybody??
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Old 17-07-2016, 22:22
sheila blige
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Watching a programme on C5 called
20 moments that rocked 80s and when EE started in 85 according to Lord Michael cashman thst CS didn't know what has hit it and the very first epsiode proved that soaps never seen anything like it before.which culminated in the most watched soap epsiode in history in the 1986 Xmas day special by astonishing 28 million
So whilst CS dominated untill 85 being only soap after that EE took over in 80s since then it's been between the two
Agree anybody??
Brookside did it all already ... and a lot better.

Having said that - Brookside was dreadful towards the end.
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Old 17-07-2016, 22:28
Robbedin73
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Brookside did it all already ... and a lot better.

Having said that - Brookside was dreadful towards the end.
Good point there didn't thibk of that but I wouldn't say it was as good as EE very first epsiode den jumping over-the-bar and chucking Nick cotton & Ali out or.the way Pete beale den and Oscar got lcotton alone one night was chilling and brilliant script & scenes
Rip Julia Smith
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Old 17-07-2016, 22:38
CPW4EVER
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Brookside did it all already ... and a lot better.

Having said that - Brookside was dreadful towards the end.
Yeah, it was Brookside that really changed the face of soap in the UK. But because it was on a minority channel, it was never going to be a major threat to Corrie in terms of ratings.

BBC basically took their lead from Channel 4 when they created EastEnders. It's only because they had a greater audience share and could challenge ITV that the Corrie vs EE thing began.
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Old 17-07-2016, 22:44
sheila blige
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Good point there didn't thibk of that but I wouldn't say it was as good as EE very first epsiode den jumping over-the-bar and chucking Nick cotton & Ali out or.the way Pete beale den and Oscar got lcotton alone one night was chilling and brilliant script & scenes
Rip Julia Smith
I think the thing that Brookside had over all the other soaps was it truly was more realistic. It was about people living on a housing estate - they didn't all live in each other's pockets - and the pub wasn't the centre of the universe - in fact the pub was very much off-screen and barely ventured into in Brookside. Phil Redmond was much more in touch with reality. The makers of Corrie and Eastenders have created what they think is an ideal little world that has never existed. For instance - we've lived in our street for nearly 20 years and we only really know the people in the house to the right of us because they look after our cat when we're on holiday and we look after their fish and plants! We know no-one else in the street and we certainly don't drink with any of them.

I think that's what was so incredible about Brookside - true reality. Until the end when it got even more ridiculous than ... lets say - Sharknado!
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Old 17-07-2016, 22:44
0...0
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EE did feel like a force of nature then. I guess Brookie too.
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Old 17-07-2016, 22:49
vald
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It was all very overrated. Don't get me wrong I did like EE but getting double figures for a BBC programme was the norm. There was nothing else to do but watch TV. There were some great episodes but much of it was mundane and by the late 80s it was looking to be on it's last legs..
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:05
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The thing about EastEnders even in its supposedly "glory years" is that there is only 20 or so episodes within one year that are actually something to write home about. It is either mediocre at best or downright awful the rest of the time.

It is easy to look back say such and such a time was a brilliant period for the show when there was probably a lot of rot in there too.
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:19
Robbedin73
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The thing about EastEnders even in its supposedly "glory years" is that there is only 20 or so episodes within one year that are actually something to write home about. It is either mediocre at best or downright awful the rest of the time.

It is easy to look back say such and such a time was a brilliant period for the show when there was probably a lot of rot in there too.
Also it was then on twice week too Tuesday/Thursday
Corrie mon/wed so.no clashes eiher but thst was in the days when itv did have some good programmes in evenings not v rubbish it now churns out soaps 5 nights a week in some cases Hour each night which is far too much
IMHO
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:24
Robbedin73
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Going by this list EE features far more than any other soap.


http://indy100.independent.co.uk/art...me--e1YJKxTBHx
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:25
AuntieSoap
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EastEnders wasn't an immediate hit. In fact initially there was a slide after the launch. The show had some amazing moments back then but it wasn't perfect.
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:27
AuntieSoap
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Going by this list EE features far more than any other soap.


http://indy100.independent.co.uk/art...me--e1YJKxTBHx
How ratings were compiled back then was a bit controversial and weighed in the favour of the BBC
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:31
AuntieSoap
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Also it was then on twice week too Tuesday/Thursday
Corrie mon/wed so.no clashes eiher but thst was in the days when itv did have some good programmes in evenings not v rubbish it now churns out soaps 5 nights a week in some cases Hour each night which is far too much
IMHO
I agree quantity for advertisers nowadays trumps any desire for quality for ITV
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:31
Robbedin73
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How ratings were compiled back then was a bit controversial and weighed in the favour of the BBC
Says who ? I always remember Every Xmas BBC winning ratings war Always tho according to George coles autobiography minder on the orient express got more than OFAH thst year tho can't remember which epsiode it clashed with in
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:41
vald
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Going by this list EE features far more than any other soap.


http://indy100.independent.co.uk/art...me--e1YJKxTBHx
Those figures were a cheat because they included the omnibus that was shown the following Sunday. The BBC was renowned for cheating in this way so that they could pip programmes that did not show a repeat.
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:51
Robbedin73
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Those figures were a cheat because they included the omnibus that was shown the following Sunday. The BBC was renowned for cheating in this way so that they could pip programmes that did not show a repeat.
Not Xmas editions as There were No omnibus at Xmas
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Old 17-07-2016, 23:58
CPW4EVER
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EastEnders wasn't an immediate hit. In fact initially there was a slide after the launch. The show had some amazing moments back then but it wasn't perfect.
I've seen documentaries where they credit the "Who's the Daddy" storyline involving Michelle Fowler as the turning point of the show. They maintained that it was the one that hooked viewers in as they began to care about the outcome of the plot and it just took off from there with Den and Angie becoming the biggest couple on TV in the process.
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Old 18-07-2016, 00:00
vald
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Not Xmas editions as There were No omnibus at Xmas
Xmas was repeated. The figure for Xmas alone was about 19m, still good, but nowhere near 30m.
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Old 18-07-2016, 00:22
albiex
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Watching a programme on C5 called
20 moments that rocked 80s and when EE started in 85 according to Lord Michael cashman thst CS didn't know what has hit it and the very first epsiode proved that soaps never seen anything like it before.which culminated in the most watched soap epsiode in history in the 1986 Xmas day special by astonishing 28 million
So whilst CS dominated untill 85 being only soap after that EE took over in 80s since then it's been between the two
Agree anybody??
No. I watched an early episode of EE. My first and last - never again!
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Old 18-07-2016, 00:29
AuntieSoap
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Says who ? I always remember Every Xmas BBC winning ratings war Always tho according to George coles autobiography minder on the orient express got more than OFAH thst year tho can't remember which epsiode it clashed with in
Because networked omnibus was added to the numbers when Corrie didn't have a networked omnibus
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Old 18-07-2016, 00:30
AuntieSoap
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Xmas was repeated. The figure for Xmas alone was about 19m, still good, but nowhere near 30m.
My point exactly!
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Old 18-07-2016, 00:50
kitkat1971
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Brookside did it all already ... and a lot better.

Having said that - Brookside was dreadful towards the end.
Exactly.

EE being innovative and shocking Corrie out of its 'cosiness' does tend to be over stated.

Brookside really was the game changer but it was on a minority channel - EE by virtue of being on BBC1 was always going to get a much larger audience than anything on Ch4 and was therefore deemed more of a threat to ITV so is seen as being the show that forced Corrie to update.

Of course, it is also worth remembering that corrie was gritty and revolutionary when it had started 25 years earlier and arguably people have complained over the past few years that EE is now stuck in a time warp and not representative of modern day London.

ETA. Just seen CPW4ever made most of these points in an earlier post.
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Old 18-07-2016, 00:56
kitkat1971
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EastEnders wasn't an immediate hit. In fact initially there was a slide after the launch. The show had some amazing moments back then but it wasn't perfect.
Yes, I think it was Hassan's death a couple of months in that first got it noticed critically but it wasn't until the reveal that Den was the father of Michelle's baby that it really started to take off which was in the September so 8 months in.
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Old 18-07-2016, 01:02
Robbedin73
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26 million in think for den/angle divorce no soap before or since has matched it although tbf that was with 3 channels and All 3 channels had good programmes on top
Not like the crap of all channels now and even more crap
Golden age of TV I well as truly in past sadly
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Old 18-07-2016, 01:09
kitkat1971
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Says who ? I always remember Every Xmas BBC winning ratings war Always tho according to George coles autobiography minder on the orient express got more than OFAH thst year tho can't remember which epsiode it clashed with in
Probably 'To Hull and Back' which i think was the first Xmas OFAH which was longer than standard length and also didn't have a laughter soundtrack.

OFAH Xmas specials only really became 'event' tv in the late 80s by which time Minder had finished - or at least waterman had left and it was no longer the ratings smash it had been.

Many posters have raised some very good points about how different ratings were back then (Doctor Who was axed in 85 because they said the ratings weren't good enough and it was getting over 7 million) - with only 4 channels, two of which were considered 'niche', few multiscreen cinemas so there was only one film shown for weeks on end, no internet, no Playstation etc, mostly only one or two tvs in the house and home video players fairly new and expensive - choice as to what you did really was limited so shows did get huge ratings.

The omnibus did help EE ratins a great deal. And there was a Xmas repeat - the omnibus never missed a week, not even at Xmas.

Ratings were still collated by means of selected households filling in a book as to what they had watched that week (we did it once - they just knocked on the door and asked if you would be prepared to do it) and then multiplied up to get the figures so arguably they could be manipulated depending on what type of areas they had doing - typically more affluent areas would be considered to ne be more BBC than ITV so it was a far from perfect or accurate system.
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