Garnock Way [01/04/76]
The future of the pit hangs in the balance.
Worrying times lie ahead for the residents of Garnock Way in this short-lived soap opera broadcast weekly on Scottish Television (STV) from 1976 to 1979. This first episode introduces us to the Ross and Baxter families. With rumours that the local coal mining pit may close, tensions are running high. Domestic conflicts, job insecurity and money worries drive the men of Garnock Way to the local pub. Familiar storylines of generational conflict, secrets, gossip and romance all feature. In addition, Garnock Way also takes a serious look at the political and social aspects of working class lives in Scottish mining communities.
While Garnock Way’s popularity rose with audiences in Central Scotland, there were pressures for STV to depict the more visually palatable Scotland that wider UK audiences expected. The result was that in 1979 Garnock Way was cancelled, making way for the perhaps better known Highlands-set Take the High Road. One hundred seventy-three episodes of Garnock Way were produced, and only four are known to have survived.
Television soap opera focussing on the lives of those in a Scottish mining town.
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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