I hope this post finds someone! This is a good promo, but still doesn't do the show justice. The drama, complex characters, and storylines are great. I'm so impressed by the writing! I think South Africa is the only country where soap operas (not novelas) are the highest rated series, and it's not hard to see why.

Edited December 21Dec 21 by vote4llama

24 minutes ago, vote4llama said:

I hope this post finds someone! This is a good promo, but still doesn't do the show justice. The drama, complex characters, and storylines are great. I'm so impressed by the writing! I think South Africa is the only country where soap operas (not novelas) are the highest rated series, and it's not hard to see why.

Thanks (and for your writeup on 157). Good promo, and such interesting characters in those early days. It's a shame almost all the "soapies" of those days are gone (I think Generations is left - I'm not sure).

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks (and for your writeup on 157). Good promo, and such interesting characters in those early days. It's a shame almost all the "soapies" of those days are gone (I think Generations is left - I'm not sure).

Of course. Thank you for reading. Yes, the characters are great. Most of them are grey, but still likable. There are some outright villains though. Cherel killed at least 6 people through her run...literally a serial killer. I still love her though! The US soaps forgot the skill it takes to have enjoyable characters do and say bad things.

I agree. It's a shame about the "soapies." Generations is now Generations: The Legacy. After the cast went on strike, they were all fired and the show was retooled. There are plenty of soap operas on air, and new ones premiere all the time, but it's so competitive.

Isidingo was so great and grabbed my attention .. I was more a Generations and Rhythm City Type of Guy but it was still enjoyable

12 hours ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

Isidingo was so great and grabbed my attention .. I was more a Generations and Rhythm City Type of Guy but it was still enjoyable

I've been watching Rhythm City on evod.co.za. The first 3 years are on there. It's interesting so far.

I love what I've seen of classic Generations. I'm dying for it to be available for streaming.

I hope you check out the first year of Isidingo that has been made available. I'm glad to read you used to enjoy it. It's so special.

I’m always on the hunt for new soaps and drama to watch, especially since Beyond The Gates is the only other that I watch now.

When there was an African Channel here in the UK, this show and Tinsel were shown on it so I got a sense of it, but I didn’t stick with it.

I might find time to fix that.

16 hours ago, vote4llama said:

I've been watching Rhythm City on evod.co.za. The first 3 years are on there. It's interesting so far.

I love what I've seen of classic Generations. I'm dying for it to be available for streaming.

I hope you check out the first year of Isidingo that has been made available. I'm glad to read you used to enjoy it. It's so special.

Wait. They actually released classic episodes of it? I have to Check that out. David from RC has always been the funniest and most badass Villain of that show and I loved Suffocate.

I was a Big Fan of Scandal too but it was hard to keep up cause on YouTube they released weird episodes and sometimes not in the Right Order and the official Site was poorly organized

When I’m Done with August 2015 of Young and the restless I will give isidingo a go. I’m definitely interested . I was quite shocked how many soapies got cancelled from the oldies. Is 7De Laan still a thing? That was another one I watched for Like 2 Years in the mid 2010‘s lol

On 12/22/2025 at 8:53 AM, AMCOLTLLover said:

Wait. They actually released classic episodes of it? I have to Check that out. David from RC has always been the funniest and most badass Villain of that show and I loved Suffocate.

I was a Big Fan of Scandal too but it was hard to keep up cause on YouTube they released weird episodes and sometimes not in the Right Order and the official Site was poorly organized

When I’m Done with August 2015 of Young and the restless I will give isidingo a go. I’m definitely interested . I was quite shocked how many soapies got cancelled from the oldies. Is 7De Laan still a thing? That was another one I watched for Like 2 Years in the mid 2010‘s lol

David's actor on RC also plays a villain on Isidingo!! He says the first line of the series as a matter of fact. Yep, the first three years of RC are streaming, as well as the most recent years of Scandal on eVod. 7De Laan ended a couple of years ago too :( but a ton of old episodes are streaming on SABC+. I am watching some of season 2 because that's when the English subtitles start. I'd love to hear your opinion on Isidingo when you're ready!

On 12/22/2025 at 3:57 AM, LondonScribe said:

I’m always on the hunt for new soaps and drama to watch, especially since Beyond The Gates is the only other that I watch now.

When there was an African Channel here in the UK, this show and Tinsel were shown on it so I got a sense of it, but I didn’t stick with it.

I might find time to fix that.

I'm really behind on BTG. It's interesting to see the beginning of Isidingo vs Beyond The Gates.

You'll like it ;)

@DRW50

I've never seen this clip before from Cherel's trial for Duncan's murder. It's nice to get a glimpse of Leone, albeit brief. I was also curious about the timeline so I'm glad they said the murder was two years prior, in 2003.

Thanks @vote4llama I'd never seen that either. Duncan was before my time, although he was often mentioned.

They have several other (poorer quality) clips too.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks @vote4llama I'd never seen that either. Duncan was before my time, although he was often mentioned.

They have several other (poorer quality) clips too.

You're welcome. Thanks for watching. I don't know why I didn't check the channel for more clips but I'll take a look.

This episode was posted earlier this year, but I didn't watch it until today. It has a major spoiler. I think it's from 2001. The spoiler feature isn't hiding the text for some reason but it's below. I'm not sure why it's bold either!

Spoiler

It's about Stu dying in an accident. In the 1998-1999 episodes he's a really cool, but kind of badass, young guy, probably soon to be involved with Dusty. He's Skip's son and Elyse's brother. He constantly clashes with his father. What's fascinating in the episode is Parsons asking Cherel if she believes in God and she straight up says she wishes she believes in God. It's a very genuine moment, as it's after the funeral and Cherel was involved with Stu ( I had no idea!) Sometimes characters question their beliefs on soaps, but to hear her wistfully wish she believes threw me off in a good way. Even though it's because she doesn't want to blame herself for whatever happened in the accident. It is also sad to see Skip's grief/avoidance.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by vote4llama
Spoiler tag trouble

Thanks for the info on that one. I never knew.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks for the info on that one. I never knew.

Thank you for reading! In my sleuthing I also found a brief writeup on a "sensual moment" with Steve, so I thought you might like it:

The love triangle in Isidingo (SABC3, 6.30pm) is getting more complicated, if that's possible. Len arrives at the Bullers to chat to Steve, but his jealousy get the better of of him and he ends up having a go at Dusty.

Steve rushes to Dusty's defence and the guys become involved in a physical confrontation which leads to a moment of sensuality between them... one that Dusty is very aware of.

There's nothing more in the source but here's the link.

And here's a promo with Dusty regarding Steve.

I also realized Isidingo only aired four days a week it's first five years. It premiered July, 7 1998, which is a Tuesday. And the Christmas episode is number 100. I sleuthed and found a couple articles which mention it moving to 5 days in 2003. Here and here if you're interested. They discuss some changes like expanding the location to include a TV station.

Edit: I watched the promo again and it says Monday-Thursday!

Sorry for the info dump! Happy New Years!

Edited 16 minutes ago16 min by vote4llama