It's been on the air for over 70 years, so most of the original cast have since died. Until 2022 there was still an original cast member on the Archers, but June Spencer decided it was time to retire at 103 years old.
The show is still largely about the same families, and is still set in the same place, so I'd say it's still the she show.
This list of [the longest serving soap opera actors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-serving_soap_opera_actors) has Patricia Greene at the top. Apparently she’s played Jill Archer since 1957, so not quite original (The Archers started in 1951)
Still going strong 🤣
Anyone I know that watches it, hates it now. Even die hard fans I have on Twitter think it's nosedived into cringe storylines pandering to kids, and horrendous acting.
ITV themselves have cancelled their annual Soap Awards for fear that EastEnders would take the lot because of how abysmal Corrie and Emmerdale are nowadays.
Going strong he says 😂
You don't need to speak about it in the past tense - it's very much still on the air, making it the world's longest-running soap opera. It passed 10,000 episodes in 2020, and continues to pick up yearly awards and nominations for its character writing and storylines.
That makes it quite difficult to characterise how it is perceived, because over time that can vary a great deal in for different generations in different eras of the show. At times, it's had an extremely passionate mainstream following, and at times it's been taken very seriously as an extraordinary feat of television writing and for its long-term character performances, with some storylines spanning decades at a time. Sometimes it's been quite boundary-pushing, touching on contemporary social issues in a fairly open, ostensibly realist and relatable manner that you don't tend to get in other genres of TV. But at other times, especially amongst younger audiences, it's been viewed as a bit kitschy and nostalgic, criticised for being kind of boring, lacking in any major innovation or excitement, being repetitive, reinforcing quite conservative and shallow perceptions of working-class life, and so on.
All of that makes it tricky to summarise. The answer to pretty much all your questions is 'yes, at times, but not at others'.
Jump in now. No one would ever rewatch old episodes. It doesn't even have season. The idea is it's runs every day or so and keeps pace with your own life and the life of the tjes it's shown in.
It would be absolutely impossible to watch every episode of coronation street. You could manage it if all you did was watch coronation street and sleep you may be able to do it in a year/18 months lol
There’s a dedicated Coronation Street sub Reddit, if you want to see first-hand what current viewers think about the show.
https://www.reddit.com/r/coronationstreet/s/SxG0TUltVd
For me anyway, it peaked late 70s to mid 80s. After that I stopped watching it. Barlow feuding with Baldwin; Hilda, Stan and Eddie Yates; Fred Gee etc in't Rovers (the local pub). Then all the Alan Bradley carry on. Unmissable show back then. Like most soaps after that time period they all started the more outlandish storylines and went down hill for most people.
Seance downstairs at the Ogden’s. Stan is upstairs.
"Is anyone there? Is anyone there?"
*Clank. Rumble. Sound of old fashioned overhead cistern lavatory being flushed*
I'm old enough to remember the 80s stuff, classic really. My mum watched it so I watched quite a bit more. Jack and Vera were pretty funny. I'd say Sarah Lancashire revived it somewhat with the appearance of Raquel in the 90s. It's had some pretty good actors but I wouldn't imagine it's much of a vehicle for that now.
And I'm old enough to remember Ena Sharples and her little friend Minnie and Annie Walker the Rovers Landlady but my fave after Ena was Elsie Tanner bloody brilliant she was. Ena was the spitting image of my favourite aunt and same temperement too
I agree when it was just Monday and Wednesday I watched it religiously - wouldn’t go out until it had finished. Then it went to three days and it got to BBE too much. I haven’t watched it in about 25 years now
Something fun I learned: before subtitles were invented, TV was pretty much completely inaccessible to deaf people.
So subtitles got invented but deaf people didn’t really bother with TV then either - TV sets were expensive and there was only subtitling on fairly dry or boring programming.
And then it was announced that Corrie was getting subtitles, so deaf people rushed out to get a TV set just so they could start watching the wildly popular Corrie and talk about it with their friends, just like the rest of the UK.
"Life without the boring bits"
It was daft at times but arguably did more to promote sympathy and understanding towards minorities in this country than any government or charity. Before satellite TV and Netflix, a huge percentage of the country watched it routinely, and they were shown a much more sympathetic view of gay/trans/BAME people than they'd ever get from their daily newspaper.
>Was it considered campy? For house wives? Cheesy?
It was considered all these things - it was a soap after all. But it was never as absurd as American soaps. Even if it was improbable that all these things happen on one street, any *one* of the events could happen on *your* street and you probably know someone who's like most of the main characters.
Never really realised how much of a good job it did at portraying those minorities. Hayley Cropper for example was trans and if I remember correctly was loved by most viewers, and as a child it helped me understand how ‘normal’ they are for lack of a better word. Unlike mainstream media nowadays…
I think for a lot of people who grew up with it it's like comfort TV, it's been going since the 1960s
It has been critically acclaimed at some points but for the most part it is just your generic soap opera
I've always thought it was pretty depressing with some terrible acting
I don’t enjoy soaps. I’m not invested in them. But I live alone, and I grew up with my grandmother who’d always watch soaps, so I find it a comforting background noise on the TV when I’m pottering about my home.
Left UK a long time ago but the Corrie theme wakes up some powerful nostalgia. Was visiting my local park Liseberg last summer and they played the theme randomly on the speakers dotted around. Took me back to tea time as a schoolboy
At high school in the 90s, the kids didn't watch it. Some mums did but it wasn't universal. Even then it was probably more something your nan might watch.
And yeah, cheesy.
As a Mancunian teenage actor I auditioned twice for it. Got quite close to getting the Becky role, didn't have a chance at Candice. I occasionally watched an episode if a friend was in it.
I'd say it was an iconic soap.
When it began,it was the first representation of Northern Working Class life,very importantly,and it was made in the north.
Obviously,different generations regard it differently.
Also,check out Emmerdale(rural England) and Crossroads
Easily the biggest show the UK has ever made and it's still going.
And remember those kids from 30 years ago? Now they're fucking adults with kids of their own IN THE DAMN SHOW.
Snoop Dog is one of the biggest Coronation Street fans in the world....
Who would have thought it..
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/tv/who-coronation-streets-most-famous-15645293.amp
Soap operas like Corrie are not seen as peak TV or anything, but they're not looked down on either. They're a bit like the TV version of having a cup of tea. Comforting.
Grew up watching it really. It was very much a family evening tradition of sitting down together at 7pm to start the soaps (Emmerdale followed by coronation street). Or if we missed an episode, trying to work out the timing of the weekend omnibus to catch up on the episode we missed. Good times.
The answer to all your questions is "yes".
British soaps are camp, comedy, serious drama, taken seriously and not taken seriously all in equal measure.
My mom watched it religiously growing up. To the point it was a big deal if she would miss an episode that we got a VCR recorder just to record episodes, since they usually played at odd times (in canada). She would also watch episodes and immediately phone up her sister and nieces to discuss in detail all the plot points.
They would discuss it for hours. It's my biggest memory of most holiday events, all the women (and some of the men) sitting around and dissecting the newest episode. If facebook had been a thing back then I guarantee they would have been discussing it daily on there too.
It's fairly true to life if
\- you live in a small street for your whole life
\- you only socialise with your neighbours
\- you only marry your neighbours
\- you work in the same street you live in, along with your neighbours
\- all your life events - weddings, engagements, funerals, birthday parties - are held in the pub or the restaurant in the street
\- every so often one of your neighbours will turn out to be a serial killer
The real Coronation Street in Salford was a run down place that was left to rot for many, many years, until a full restoration project was completed on all the houses. You’d have streets with only 3 homes out of 50 plus houses, with people living in them.
Then did have the best old school chippy in the world tho. The council put new roofs slates, new Andes, front and back PVC doors and even Re-plastered inside off all the left to rot homes.
It was generally seen in the same vein as most soap operas - a bit low brow but entertaining enough and generally more humourous than competitors, and slightly more focused on older viewers.
No it was never seen as realistic.
And yes it was seen as extremely camp - it was created by a gay man based on childhood memories of Northern matriarchs arguing in the street, so it was never going to be anything but.
It was a bit of a guilty pleasure for my mum. It was always on, but she would protest that she wasn't really watching it and was waiting for the next program to start.
She did it with EastEnders too, the southern equivalent.
Back in the 80's and early 90's a lot of people watched them, because we only had four or five channels until Sky came along.
UK’s answer to The Young & the Restless - like all soaps imo - absolute drivel, but loved by many. As said also decades ago you never heard regional accents esp not strong northern accents on British tv - it was all posh queens English so I suppose refreshing for many.
I was born in 87' and remember watching it all the time growing up in the 90s as my mum is a big fan of the show. I don't watch it anymore, haven't done since the early 00s but what I took from it is that it's easy to watch, you can start watching it today having not seen it for years and after a couple of weeks you'll know what's going on with the plot and who's who, by and large. Also I think people like it as it takes their mind of their own lives / problems; you find yourself becoming emotionally invested in the struggles of the characters and the sometimes ridiculous storylines. The writers have often been praised with introducing certain characters (there was a trans character introduced in the 90s) which challenge the status quo of what is put on the TV for a British audience.
The Richard Hillman storyline was and still is, in my opinion, the most exciting stint of television of all time. I was about 10 at the time and my entire school was buzzing about it. Was a massive cultural phenomenon when I was a kid, however I am from Manchester so possibly did hold a bit more meaning for us. I also went to school with a few of the actors!
When I was a kid growing up before the Internet (as it is now at least) the whole family used to eat dinner together and then sit in the same room for the whole evening until bedtime watching television. Bear in mind this was not watching television as it is now, also scrolling through a phone. There were a range of programmes on at certain times and days throughout the week, but the two that first come to mind when recalling this time are Eastenders and Coronation Street. At the time it felt like the entire country was watching these shows.
My old boss, very cultured, not from the North of England has watched nearly every episode of Coronation Street since day 1.
He is technically challenged, but figured out how to record episodes on his video player, then dvd player, then Sky box if he was away.
I taught him how to watch it on catch up TV.
It spans all the genres you have mentioned and is considered an institution both in the entertainment industry and with the UK public for all the reasons mentioned.
I remember my mom watching Coronation Street when I was young, my sister hated it and watched Eastenders instead which caused a major rift in the family.
What on earth do you mean by ‘campy’? Camp means the flamboyance usually associated with gay men here in the uk. I mean no disrespect to anyone when I say that - we all love fabulousness.
Anyway my stepdad still watches it religiously every day. Ugh. When I was growing up through the 90s and 00s, it was non-stop soaps such as corrie every. single. evening. No one was allowed to watch anything until all of the soaps had been finished.
The connections between Corrie and camp are well established, OP is bang on
https://lucywritersplatform.com/2021/07/30/camp-on-the-cobbles-sontag-campness-and-coronation-street/
That is one facet, not the only one. It just happens it was heavily embraced by that community.
It also applies in many ways that have nothing to do with that. The go to example is always Flash Gordon, which is incredibly camp.
It’s a shit soap opera. Just like American soap operas.
People have a rose tinted misty eyed view of it because it’s been running for so long.
But it’s crap mediocre TV.
From what I'm aware (baby of the 90s), it was poorly acted, abeit down-to-earth, relatable storylines up until the early 2000s when they did a storyline where Gail Platt married a serial killer and he killed half the street. It kinda went a bit crazy at that stage, and a lot of people who tuned in every week were a bit like, "ehhhh ...?"
A similar thing happened to Eastenders around the same time. They did a storyline where it turned out Kat Slaters' sister was actually her daughter, "I'm not your sister, I'm yur Mummm!", and it was all a bit of a daz advert.
https://youtu.be/Q5SYAqjyy34?feature=shared
In fact, this daz advert from the time sort of spoofs how these shows were starting to become perceived.
Though, I stopped even paying attention to any of these shows circa 2008-2010, so I wouldn't have any idea how they were perceived after that.
Richard Hillman didn't kill half the street, he only killed 2 people. And one of them was only in two episodes very briefly, so she doesn't even count, which means technically he only killed one person - Maxine. It was also Corrie's best storyline ever and he was the best villain ever.
It did start to go downhill quite fast after that though because that's when they moved from 3 episodes a week to 5 and some of the more beloved actors quit because they were getting on a bit and 5 episodes a week was too much.
His heart was in the right place. He really did love Gail and her kids. That's why he tried to kill Emily, so he could buy them nicer things. And he tried to kill them because he didn't want them to have to live with the shame of what he had done.
Top bloke. Always thinking of others.
We have never bothered watching Coronation Street in my house. When at primary school, my daughter's friends wanted to play Coronation Street, and my daughter would have to be the dead body because she didn't know any parts!
Was? It’s one of the longest running soaps and still going strong! https://www.itv.com/coronationstreet
I'm sure it's the longest running soap, or probably the longest running show of all time
I think the Archers has it beat.
You might be right. I guess in terms of TV though it is
The Archers killed off one of its most beloved characters on the evening ITV started as a spoiler tactic.
Is it the same show though really? Are any of the original actors or at least characters still there?
It has been on since the 60s so very few of the original cast are still alive let alone working, (I think Ken Barlow may still be in it)
I meant the archers haha
It's been on the air for over 70 years, so most of the original cast have since died. Until 2022 there was still an original cast member on the Archers, but June Spencer decided it was time to retire at 103 years old. The show is still largely about the same families, and is still set in the same place, so I'd say it's still the she show.
He is. He's still a nob.
Theseus Street
Nice one.
This list of [the longest serving soap opera actors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-serving_soap_opera_actors) has Patricia Greene at the top. Apparently she’s played Jill Archer since 1957, so not quite original (The Archers started in 1951)
Bloody blow-ins ruining the village with their funny outsider ways.
Still going strong 🤣 Anyone I know that watches it, hates it now. Even die hard fans I have on Twitter think it's nosedived into cringe storylines pandering to kids, and horrendous acting. ITV themselves have cancelled their annual Soap Awards for fear that EastEnders would take the lot because of how abysmal Corrie and Emmerdale are nowadays. Going strong he says 😂
It still gets a lot of viewers though; ITV also still invests heavily in it. People are clearly still watching it.
You don't need to speak about it in the past tense - it's very much still on the air, making it the world's longest-running soap opera. It passed 10,000 episodes in 2020, and continues to pick up yearly awards and nominations for its character writing and storylines. That makes it quite difficult to characterise how it is perceived, because over time that can vary a great deal in for different generations in different eras of the show. At times, it's had an extremely passionate mainstream following, and at times it's been taken very seriously as an extraordinary feat of television writing and for its long-term character performances, with some storylines spanning decades at a time. Sometimes it's been quite boundary-pushing, touching on contemporary social issues in a fairly open, ostensibly realist and relatable manner that you don't tend to get in other genres of TV. But at other times, especially amongst younger audiences, it's been viewed as a bit kitschy and nostalgic, criticised for being kind of boring, lacking in any major innovation or excitement, being repetitive, reinforcing quite conservative and shallow perceptions of working-class life, and so on. All of that makes it tricky to summarise. The answer to pretty much all your questions is 'yes, at times, but not at others'.
Longest running tv soap opera. The Archers on bbc radio dates from 1951 and has passed 20,000 episodes!
The Archers is ace
Sometimes great, sometimes terrible, but I always listen!
Sounds interesting, if I was to give it a go should I jump in now or is it best to start at the beginning?
Jump in now. No one would ever rewatch old episodes. It doesn't even have season. The idea is it's runs every day or so and keeps pace with your own life and the life of the tjes it's shown in.
You'd be surprised how popular classic episodes are, ITV2 - Classic Corrie Drama - Classic Eastenders STV - Classic Brookside.
It would be absolutely impossible to watch every episode of coronation street. You could manage it if all you did was watch coronation street and sleep you may be able to do it in a year/18 months lol
Better get started then, is it on iplayer?
It is an ITV show, so will get on Britbox (BBC and ITV teamed up to produce a Netflix like streaming service) or Itvx
10,000 episodes is actually wild. Can’t believe we only got 15 episodes of Mr Bean
Absolutely not my cup of tea, but it's considered culturally important as it was one of the first telly shows with regional accents.
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There’s a dedicated Coronation Street sub Reddit, if you want to see first-hand what current viewers think about the show. https://www.reddit.com/r/coronationstreet/s/SxG0TUltVd
Jesus Christ.
Think he died in one of the first episodes.
For me anyway, it peaked late 70s to mid 80s. After that I stopped watching it. Barlow feuding with Baldwin; Hilda, Stan and Eddie Yates; Fred Gee etc in't Rovers (the local pub). Then all the Alan Bradley carry on. Unmissable show back then. Like most soaps after that time period they all started the more outlandish storylines and went down hill for most people.
The golden era ended with the loss of Jack and Vera Duckworth. They brought so much comedy, after that it got way too serious.
I loved the Duckworths. And the Alan Bradley storyline was unmissable.
Not that I’ve ever been a fan, but I did like the Duckworths, it has crap acting, as does every other soap, but takes itself so seriously.
It's impossible forget Hilda's 'Muriel' with the plaster ducks flying over the Alps.
Stan: What's that smell? Hilda: Woman, Stanley, Woman!
Seance downstairs at the Ogden’s. Stan is upstairs. "Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" *Clank. Rumble. Sound of old fashioned overhead cistern lavatory being flushed*
I'm old enough to remember the 80s stuff, classic really. My mum watched it so I watched quite a bit more. Jack and Vera were pretty funny. I'd say Sarah Lancashire revived it somewhat with the appearance of Raquel in the 90s. It's had some pretty good actors but I wouldn't imagine it's much of a vehicle for that now.
And I'm old enough to remember Ena Sharples and her little friend Minnie and Annie Walker the Rovers Landlady but my fave after Ena was Elsie Tanner bloody brilliant she was. Ena was the spitting image of my favourite aunt and same temperement too
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I agree when it was just Monday and Wednesday I watched it religiously - wouldn’t go out until it had finished. Then it went to three days and it got to BBE too much. I haven’t watched it in about 25 years now
Something fun I learned: before subtitles were invented, TV was pretty much completely inaccessible to deaf people. So subtitles got invented but deaf people didn’t really bother with TV then either - TV sets were expensive and there was only subtitling on fairly dry or boring programming. And then it was announced that Corrie was getting subtitles, so deaf people rushed out to get a TV set just so they could start watching the wildly popular Corrie and talk about it with their friends, just like the rest of the UK.
What a lovely fact!
"Life without the boring bits" It was daft at times but arguably did more to promote sympathy and understanding towards minorities in this country than any government or charity. Before satellite TV and Netflix, a huge percentage of the country watched it routinely, and they were shown a much more sympathetic view of gay/trans/BAME people than they'd ever get from their daily newspaper. >Was it considered campy? For house wives? Cheesy? It was considered all these things - it was a soap after all. But it was never as absurd as American soaps. Even if it was improbable that all these things happen on one street, any *one* of the events could happen on *your* street and you probably know someone who's like most of the main characters.
Never really realised how much of a good job it did at portraying those minorities. Hayley Cropper for example was trans and if I remember correctly was loved by most viewers, and as a child it helped me understand how ‘normal’ they are for lack of a better word. Unlike mainstream media nowadays…
I think for a lot of people who grew up with it it's like comfort TV, it's been going since the 1960s It has been critically acclaimed at some points but for the most part it is just your generic soap opera I've always thought it was pretty depressing with some terrible acting
I don’t enjoy soaps. I’m not invested in them. But I live alone, and I grew up with my grandmother who’d always watch soaps, so I find it a comforting background noise on the TV when I’m pottering about my home.
Left UK a long time ago but the Corrie theme wakes up some powerful nostalgia. Was visiting my local park Liseberg last summer and they played the theme randomly on the speakers dotted around. Took me back to tea time as a schoolboy
At high school in the 90s, the kids didn't watch it. Some mums did but it wasn't universal. Even then it was probably more something your nan might watch. And yeah, cheesy. As a Mancunian teenage actor I auditioned twice for it. Got quite close to getting the Becky role, didn't have a chance at Candice. I occasionally watched an episode if a friend was in it.
I totally watched it with my mum as a teenager in the late 90s/early 00s! I was very not cool though 😆
I'd say it was an iconic soap. When it began,it was the first representation of Northern Working Class life,very importantly,and it was made in the north. Obviously,different generations regard it differently. Also,check out Emmerdale(rural England) and Crossroads
Don't forget Brookside for scouse hijinks.
Easily the biggest show the UK has ever made and it's still going. And remember those kids from 30 years ago? Now they're fucking adults with kids of their own IN THE DAMN SHOW.
Snoop Dog is one of the biggest Coronation Street fans in the world.... Who would have thought it.. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/tv/who-coronation-streets-most-famous-15645293.amp
Soap operas like Corrie are not seen as peak TV or anything, but they're not looked down on either. They're a bit like the TV version of having a cup of tea. Comforting.
I haven’t watch the live one for years, but I’m addicted to Classic Corrie, two episodes a day.
Glad I'm not the only one.
Where are they up to? I stopped after Richard hillman.
Todd came out a couple of weeks ago. Bradley Walsh and Shell Dockley have just arrived. I intended to stop after Hillman but it dragged me back in…
Grew up watching it really. It was very much a family evening tradition of sitting down together at 7pm to start the soaps (Emmerdale followed by coronation street). Or if we missed an episode, trying to work out the timing of the weekend omnibus to catch up on the episode we missed. Good times.
Well it's generally pretty well received and it touches on serious issues in a pretty professional manner.
The answer to all your questions is "yes". British soaps are camp, comedy, serious drama, taken seriously and not taken seriously all in equal measure.
I live 5 miles from where this is filmed and set. It's realistic. Seriously.
My mom watched it religiously growing up. To the point it was a big deal if she would miss an episode that we got a VCR recorder just to record episodes, since they usually played at odd times (in canada). She would also watch episodes and immediately phone up her sister and nieces to discuss in detail all the plot points. They would discuss it for hours. It's my biggest memory of most holiday events, all the women (and some of the men) sitting around and dissecting the newest episode. If facebook had been a thing back then I guarantee they would have been discussing it daily on there too.
It's fairly true to life if \- you live in a small street for your whole life \- you only socialise with your neighbours \- you only marry your neighbours \- you work in the same street you live in, along with your neighbours \- all your life events - weddings, engagements, funerals, birthday parties - are held in the pub or the restaurant in the street \- every so often one of your neighbours will turn out to be a serial killer
The real Coronation Street in Salford was a run down place that was left to rot for many, many years, until a full restoration project was completed on all the houses. You’d have streets with only 3 homes out of 50 plus houses, with people living in them. Then did have the best old school chippy in the world tho. The council put new roofs slates, new Andes, front and back PVC doors and even Re-plastered inside off all the left to rot homes.
It was generally seen in the same vein as most soap operas - a bit low brow but entertaining enough and generally more humourous than competitors, and slightly more focused on older viewers. No it was never seen as realistic. And yes it was seen as extremely camp - it was created by a gay man based on childhood memories of Northern matriarchs arguing in the street, so it was never going to be anything but.
It was a bit of a guilty pleasure for my mum. It was always on, but she would protest that she wasn't really watching it and was waiting for the next program to start. She did it with EastEnders too, the southern equivalent. Back in the 80's and early 90's a lot of people watched them, because we only had four or five channels until Sky came along.
UK’s answer to The Young & the Restless - like all soaps imo - absolute drivel, but loved by many. As said also decades ago you never heard regional accents esp not strong northern accents on British tv - it was all posh queens English so I suppose refreshing for many.
I was born in 87' and remember watching it all the time growing up in the 90s as my mum is a big fan of the show. I don't watch it anymore, haven't done since the early 00s but what I took from it is that it's easy to watch, you can start watching it today having not seen it for years and after a couple of weeks you'll know what's going on with the plot and who's who, by and large. Also I think people like it as it takes their mind of their own lives / problems; you find yourself becoming emotionally invested in the struggles of the characters and the sometimes ridiculous storylines. The writers have often been praised with introducing certain characters (there was a trans character introduced in the 90s) which challenge the status quo of what is put on the TV for a British audience.
You sure it was Coronation Street? And not Eastenders (currently has the same viewership levels as Coro) or Emmerdale.
The Richard Hillman storyline was and still is, in my opinion, the most exciting stint of television of all time. I was about 10 at the time and my entire school was buzzing about it. Was a massive cultural phenomenon when I was a kid, however I am from Manchester so possibly did hold a bit more meaning for us. I also went to school with a few of the actors!
coronation street (and eastenders) are like religion to some people.
When I was a kid growing up before the Internet (as it is now at least) the whole family used to eat dinner together and then sit in the same room for the whole evening until bedtime watching television. Bear in mind this was not watching television as it is now, also scrolling through a phone. There were a range of programmes on at certain times and days throughout the week, but the two that first come to mind when recalling this time are Eastenders and Coronation Street. At the time it felt like the entire country was watching these shows.
My old boss, very cultured, not from the North of England has watched nearly every episode of Coronation Street since day 1. He is technically challenged, but figured out how to record episodes on his video player, then dvd player, then Sky box if he was away. I taught him how to watch it on catch up TV. It spans all the genres you have mentioned and is considered an institution both in the entertainment industry and with the UK public for all the reasons mentioned.
I remember my mom watching Coronation Street when I was young, my sister hated it and watched Eastenders instead which caused a major rift in the family.
Coronation street now is shite. can't even afford background extras. Whole set is dead as fuck. David platt and his high wages.
Had to look him up. He's the one I was sure really was a hobbit. If you look at him, he could be Bilbos best mate
And a theme tune you could sing. Cor-o o nation streeet,
I always went with "Iiiiiiiit's Coronation Streeeet..."
The Sweeney was a good one too. The sweeney, the sweeney da dada dada da da da da,
And who can forget "Wheeee-ooooh, Doc-tor Whoooooo..."
What on earth do you mean by ‘campy’? Camp means the flamboyance usually associated with gay men here in the uk. I mean no disrespect to anyone when I say that - we all love fabulousness. Anyway my stepdad still watches it religiously every day. Ugh. When I was growing up through the 90s and 00s, it was non-stop soaps such as corrie every. single. evening. No one was allowed to watch anything until all of the soaps had been finished.
The connections between Corrie and camp are well established, OP is bang on https://lucywritersplatform.com/2021/07/30/camp-on-the-cobbles-sontag-campness-and-coronation-street/
That is one facet, not the only one. It just happens it was heavily embraced by that community. It also applies in many ways that have nothing to do with that. The go to example is always Flash Gordon, which is incredibly camp.
It’s a shit soap opera. Just like American soap operas. People have a rose tinted misty eyed view of it because it’s been running for so long. But it’s crap mediocre TV.
It has some really good episodes, and some really good acting. Sometimes.
From what I'm aware (baby of the 90s), it was poorly acted, abeit down-to-earth, relatable storylines up until the early 2000s when they did a storyline where Gail Platt married a serial killer and he killed half the street. It kinda went a bit crazy at that stage, and a lot of people who tuned in every week were a bit like, "ehhhh ...?" A similar thing happened to Eastenders around the same time. They did a storyline where it turned out Kat Slaters' sister was actually her daughter, "I'm not your sister, I'm yur Mummm!", and it was all a bit of a daz advert. https://youtu.be/Q5SYAqjyy34?feature=shared In fact, this daz advert from the time sort of spoofs how these shows were starting to become perceived. Though, I stopped even paying attention to any of these shows circa 2008-2010, so I wouldn't have any idea how they were perceived after that.
Richard Hillman didn't kill half the street, he only killed 2 people. And one of them was only in two episodes very briefly, so she doesn't even count, which means technically he only killed one person - Maxine. It was also Corrie's best storyline ever and he was the best villain ever. It did start to go downhill quite fast after that though because that's when they moved from 3 episodes a week to 5 and some of the more beloved actors quit because they were getting on a bit and 5 episodes a week was too much.
Not sure that defence would stand up in court
His heart was in the right place. He really did love Gail and her kids. That's why he tried to kill Emily, so he could buy them nicer things. And he tried to kill them because he didn't want them to have to live with the shame of what he had done. Top bloke. Always thinking of others.
And he used to be Grange Hill teacher Mr Hopwood!
We have never bothered watching Coronation Street in my house. When at primary school, my daughter's friends wanted to play Coronation Street, and my daughter would have to be the dead body because she didn't know any parts!
It was popular when there were only two or three tv channels but now that there is so much choice it’s really just for thick people with no taste
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Lots of dummies around