Soap ghosts are mainstream nowadays....was Bobby the first ever?!

Bobby coming out of the shower in Dallas in 1986

Vera Downend getting written out of Crossroads in 1977

Dirty Den getting shot by a bunch of daffs in EastEnders in 1989

I'm going with Ross being alive in Emmerdale I thought he was dead

I remember a huge one on this forum a few years back in Emmerdale when it was Cain Dingles exit. He had kidnapped Tom King and Sadie King and then shot Sadie in the stomach. The forum went crazy with a ton of people posting "OMG he killed her". Of course it turned out to be a fake gun and blood as Sadie was in on the kidnapping with Cain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpFG06bzB1Y

Holly dying (Emmerdale)
Tess getting killed (Emmerdale)
Jill forcing Val to commit suicide (Knots Landing)
Jill committing suicide and framing Gary for it (Knots Landing)
Kevin being Micheal's brother (The Young and the Restless)
Natalie being Viki's daughter and Jessica's twin (One Life to Live)

Jane's return in 2014 when she wasn't on the cast lists. I remember it crashing this website.

Claudette being found alive after Vincent believed he buried her.

Tess dying was a shock yes, I'd assumed Nicola Stephenson was in for a long stint.

I can imagine the Knots ones you mention would have been but unfortunately we were so far behind America on transmission by that stage (about 2 years I think) that I knew all about the Jill plot from friends that lived in California In fact I think I knew before she'd made her first appearance here!

Sid dying however happened within weeks of US transmission so hadn't leaked.

I was further behind than you I didn't watch Knots till it was in reruns on Soap Net in 03.

Kristin being the person who shot JR Ewing!

The car crash with Susanna in Brookside that killed her 2 children.

The cot death of Ali and Sues baby in EastEnders,

Both completely unexpected to me.

The Good -

The reveal that Den was Vicki's father - EE
Lyndsey nolan's death - Hollyoaks

The bad -

Bobby as lucy's killer
Dodger and sienna having a baby together and not even realising it when they met again a few years later

Danielle EE

Oh wow.

Had hou managednot to hear/kniw about the major plots and developments then? That's good.

I think Karen being shot at the end of Season 5might have been a shock but again I knew she was still alive in America which were 3 seasons ahead so there was no susoense re her dying.

It was common knowledge that Lisa Hartman returned as Cijis double as well. Otherwise I imagine first sight of Cathy would have been a WTF moment.

Well Knots actually started airing before I was born so even when I was born I was way too young to watch it. But once I started getting into soaps my mom told me how good Knots Landing was and that if they ever show reruns that I should watch it. So I did watch the reunion in 97, which was ok, but when Soap Net started showing Knots reruns I watched it and fell in love with it.

The season 5 cliffhanger was a shocker, because you didn't expect Karen of all people to get shot.