After the Queen Vic fire on EastEnders: The worst soap disasters

To help keep EastEnders' ratings nice and hot, the show's chiefs are sending the beloved Queen Vic pub up in smoke. And that got us thinking: What other soap disasters have there been over the years that have gripped the nation? From plane crashes to, er, other fires, here's our pick of the bunch.

<span style="font-size:120%">Emmerdale's plane crash (1993)

Disasters in a quiet village would normally include such things as a horse bolting from a stable, rabbits chewing someone's prize marrows or perhaps someone's lawn being riddled with mole hills.

Not Emmerdale. The unlucky residents got a plane crashing into their picturesque hamlet, at a cost of £1 million to the show's producers.

It was surreal, but it worked, pulling in around 17 million viewers.

Casualty's train crash (2003)

Disasters of one sort or another are par for the course in Casualty, but in 2003 they ramped things up with a huge train crash. Comfort and fellow paramedic Fin were on board and they valiantly helped their fellow stricken passengers. The two-part episode took 24 days to shoot and involved a whopping 1470 extras.

Hollyoaks' pub fire (2006)

A roaring fire is a favourite way for soap bosses to cull unwanted characters, and so it was that new producer Bryan Kirkwood set about ousting some of Hollyoaks' residents – with a blaze at the Dog in the Pond pub. It was started by psycho Sam Owen after finding out that ex-girlfriend Sophie Burton was getting fruity with his brother.</span>

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Edited September 10, 201015 yr by Sylph

The plane crash was/is Emmerdale's defining moment. Surprised to see it there.

And The Dog Fire was epic for Hollyoaks, surprised to see that too.

I think this person has a hatred for those shows.

Not surprised they used something from 2004 from EastEnders and late 70's for Corrie...

The plane crash was/is Emmerdale's defining moment. Surprised to see it there.

And The Dog Fire was epic for Hollyoaks, surprised to see that too.

I think this person has a hatred for those shows.

Not surprised they used something from 2004 from EastEnders and late 70's for Corrie...

I don't think the word "worst" implies a bad review in this particular case.

Edited September 10, 201015 yr by Amello

I'm not sure worst applies to the horrid writing, but more like biggest disasters kind of thing. Dunno.

Looking at these, two things: the Vic fire will be collecting dust in two days and Bryan Kirkwood should be banned from doing fires for the rest of his career.

The Vic fire was actually pretty different from the Dog fire. Fires are very common -- they go back to Crossroads in 1981 or so. Then Corrie and the Rovers being torched by bad wiring (1986 or so). Hollyoaks is having another one later this month.

Emmerdale's plane crash was a huge game-changer and devastated many lives with consequences that went on for years and years. It was also very stark -- I still remember scenes like Kim Tate watching in despair as her beloved horses were burned alive.

One Emmerdale disaster which doesn't get as much attention but was pretty good was the 2004 storm which killed Tricia Dingle and injured several others. Poor Ashley almost bleeding to death in his car...

Corrie's tram crash in 1968 was riveting. They didn't actually kill any characters that viewers knew, but by letting us see the reactions of the main characters and the grieving of those who had lost their loved ones, they made us care.

Edited September 10, 201015 yr by CarlD2

I didn't read the article, just read what they listed.

EastEnders had to get rid of the Vic to rebuild it for the transition to HD, hence why it was burnt. The circumstances were completely different from the pub fire on Hollyoaks.

Corrie's tram crash in 1968 was riveting. They didn't actually kill any characters that viewers knew, but by letting us see the reactions of the main characters and the grieving of those who had lost their loved ones, they made us care.

I wonder how that looked with 1968 production values.

I didn't read the article, just read what they listed.

EastEnders had to get rid of the Vic to rebuild it for the transition to HD, hence why it was burnt. The circumstances were completely different from the pub fire on Hollyoaks.

I know, but if we see a third fire, it'll just be too much. Think of something else, BK. It was a very good fire, but one can't say there were no other ways to dismantle it.

I wonder how that looked with 1968 production values.

I wonder how old Carl is.

I know, but if we see a third fire, it'll just be too much. Think of something else, BK. It was a very good fire, but one can't say there were no other ways to dismantle it.

Well, it also served as a catalyst to get Peggy Mitchell to leave the show. All her memories and the thing she loved the most were gone and there's nothing left for her in her mind.

I don't think they'll be doing another fire anytime soon.

I wonder how old Carl is.

I think Carl just does his research very thoroughly.

The clips are out there of some 60s Corrie.

The production values weren't great but then I find a lot of drama of that time is effective no matter what the budget. Sometimes less money means more focus on emotions and atmosphere. It's one of the reasons I am enthralled by the early Hartnell stories on Doctor Who).

Another Corrie disaster was the 1969 coach crash. This was supposed to be broadcast in color, but it was too complicated, so the lovely tour of the countryside and the crash were filmed in black and white, and the hospital scenes the next day were shown in color.

I think Carl just does his research very thoroughly.

I thought so too, but then he mentioned the emotions and I was like: He must've seen it then. How I never thought of YouTube is beyond me...

The clips are out there of some 60s Corrie.

And there you go.

Emmerdale 2006 - The Home Explosion. That was epic.

Another Corrie disaster was the 1969 coach crash. This was supposed to be broadcast in color, but it was too complicated, so the lovely tour of the countryside and the crash were filmed in black and white, and the hospital scenes the next day were shown in color.

Yeah such a shame the location shoot in colour didn't work out and the first ever Corrie scene in colour endedup being Hilda Ogden walking around the hospital all bloody and bruised! Lol

I know this isn`t really a disaster but Cain kidnapping Sadie & Tom. I thought this was a great week.