Angels1981
Julia Smith was responsible for Angels, the early evening BBC1 soap about Heath Green Hospital. Corking Alan Price theme tune, attention grabbing state of the art graphics, and look out for Rentaghost's former Mrs Mumford, Betty Alberge affecting a very poor Midlands accent, as the sweet little old lady fretting over her geriatric husband's brunchytisss.
The Bill1998
The Bill is set around The Sun Hill police station in a fictional London borough of Canley in East London.
left clip complete with Channel TV ident
Brookside1981 - 2003
Channel 4's long-running soap, created by Phil Redmond, which started on the channel's opening night.
(Mersey TV for Channel 4)
Coronation Street1960
The classic Granada series made its debut in 1960, created by Tony Warren. These clips show (left) the very first episode, and (right) an edition from 1961.
Coronation Street2002 Widescreen arrives to Corrie in 2002. Special effects were used in every shot of this sequence to give the illusion of the street appearing in a real community. High angle shots were taken of the Granada set whilst the same angles were shot in Salford and the two were matched, to create a seamless, totally believable environment. Brilliantly executed sequence produced by inhouse designers Paul Kearton and Sue Frost. 15 shots featuring a variety of weather conditions for the beginning and end of parts were also created, to complement different storylines
Crossroads1969
ATV's famous soap opera began life in 1964, starring Noel Gordon as Meg Richardson, the manager of a Midlands motel. These titles and credits are from the last monochrome edition in 1969.
Crossroads1970
More early titles and credits, this time from 1970 and in colour... Ah, the music is fantastic!
Crossroads1985
Time has moved on in the Crossroads Motel.
right clip - The closing credits from 1986.
Crossroads Kings Oak1988 (Central)
In a final attempt to boost ratings, the soap expanded to include the goings-on of the villagers of King's Oak, where the Motel was based. But it wasn't enough, the same year the soap ended. Jill Chance drove off into the sunset with her new man, John Maddingham, and Crossroads had finished forever. Or had it?Here's some photographs of The Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Sutton Coldfield where the exterior shots were taken
Crossroads2001
It's back, relaunched on ITV1 by Carlton, now the owners of Central. The end titles (right) come complete without a continuity announcer talking over them.
Crossroads2003
ITV1 relaunched the soap again in 2003, deliberately camped up in an attempt to appeal to gay viewers. Dismal!
Eastenders1987 / 1991
The original 1985 titles from EastEnders (left), plus a slight reworking of the theme using the same graphics in 1991.
Eastenders1993
From 1993 there came new titles (left) and a new version of the theme, so unpopular with viewers that a more subtle update of the original theme was created for use in 1994 - as can be heard in the right clip.
Eastenders2007
Here's the full widescreen titles, featuring the O2 Arena the renamed Millennium Dome
Eldorado Coming Soon Promo1992
A promotional trailer for Eldorado - the brand new BBC soap opera that would become a ratings flop. The series only broadcast for one year - July 6th 1992 until July 9th 1993.
Emmerdale1998
Two sets of titles from 1998, when "Farm" was dropped from the name to include more of the village life.
Emergency Ward Ten1957-67 (ATV London)
British TV's first ever medical soap opera, set in the fictional Oxbridge Hospital, was shown twice weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The cast included 21 year-old John Alderton as Dr Moore, and Richard Thorp as Dr Rennie - Thorp is now better known as Alan Turner in Emmerdale. Other doctors and specialists were played by Gabriel Woolfe and Desmond Carrington Among the patients were Albert Finney, Joanna Lumley & Ian Hendry. The clip is from a particular episode that caused a stir in the early 60s, containing British TV's first ever multi-racial kiss...
Meanwhile, the 60-second trailer was shown on ITV in 1957, with two members of the cast addressing the camera in character. A nurse tells us which patient annoys her the most, while a smug-looking doctor tells her to tell us not to miss the show. They don't make 'em like this anymore!
Howards Way1987
OK, so Howard's Way is NOT a soap in the strict sense, just one of those Sunday night 'continuing drama' series. Point taken. But it affected soap glamour and sensation, ending up as a load of old soapy t** w***! Maurice Colbourne starred in it, giving the lead character Tom Howard a certain gravitas, but he was backed up by most of Equity's poorest....
