Machair
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Machair
Watch the first three episodes of Scotland's iconic Gaelic language soap opera, Machair.
Episodes 1-3 of Scotland's first Gaelic-language soap opera, set on the Hebridean island of Lewis
Machair was written in English and translated into Gaelic, then given English subtitles and broadcast at peak viewing time. Peter May and Janice Hally were commissioned to come up with an idea for a Gaelic-language soap opera by Scottish Television when government funding became available for Gaelic programming in the late 1980s.
Shown at peak viewing time on Tuesday evenings, it became one of the top 10 most-watched shows in Scotland, and won a 33% audience share (and this was at a time when Channel 4's flagship soap, Brookside, was getting a 16% share in Scotland). More than 150 episodes were produced from 1993 to 1999.
Among the Gaelic writers employed on the series were Donald Smith, Iain Finlay Macleod, and Aonghas 'Dubh' MacNeacail. A cast and crew of around 60 people brought much-needed revenue to the island, and with much of the annual £3 million budget being spent locally, it provided a huge boost to the local economy. And this was all without being allowed to work on the Sabbath!
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TV Soap: Selection Box
Continuing drama on the small screen: explore how TV soap has changed over the decades.
The UK is a nation of soap addicts, with programmes commanding audiences of millions every week. Since they first appeared on British television in the 1950s, British soaps have given us hundreds of memorably distinctive characters in many different settings. But while they take many forms, there are some common characteristics.
Where in the US soaps tend to favour glamour and frothy fantasy, here they typically centre on relatable communities and families and reflect life in (usually) contemporary Britain, exploring sometimes thorny social issues and attitudes to class, race, gender, sexuality and more. While originally steeped in real-life domestic conflict, soap marched into the new millennium with hard-hitting storylines, sensationalist plots and issue-driven narratives highlighting pressing matters of the day.
This collection showcases a variety of soaps; rural or urban, north or south and everything in between. Some were shortlived and are much missed, while others are longstanding favourites embedded in our collective memory.
So settle in and prepare for drama!
24 videos in this collection
1
2
General Hospital [19/10/72]
3
Garnock Way [01/04/76]
4
Emmerdale Farm [05/04/76]
5
A Stitch in Time
6
Coronation Street [14/11/77]
7
Crossroads (Promotion)
8
Pat Phoenix &Tony Booth (Live from Two)
9
Mary Whitehouse Reacts to Brookside Scenes
10
Emmerdale Farm [14/05/85]
11
Coronation Street[01/11/1961]
12
Crossroads [23/05/85]
13
Albion Market
14
Coronation Street [13/08/86]
15
Yorkshire Television
16
Brookside [13/04/87]
17
Families [14/01/91]
18
Family Pride [08/09/91]
19
Emmerdale [10/10/91]
20
Coronation Street [06/07/92]
21
Sus
22
Machair
23
Sus
24