River City

[FrenchFan]

January 2018 Episode Rankings
A total of 5 episodes aired this month.

 

1. Scott Fletcher (Angus Lindsay) : 5

*. Andy Gray (Pete Galloway) : 5

*. Kathryn Howden (Maggie McLean) : 5

*. Leah MacRae (Ellie McLean) : 5

*. Dawn Steele (Annie Murdoch) : 5

*. Jordan Young (Alex Murdoch) : 5

7. Juliet Cadzow (Suzie Fraser) : 4

*. Frank Gallagher (Lenny Murdoch) : 4

*. Frank Gilhooley (John McLean) : 4

*. Sally Howitt (Scarlett Mullen) : 4

*. Sanjeev Kohli (AJ Jandhu) : 4

*. Jacqueline Leonard (Lydia Murdoch) : 4

*. Una McLean (Molly O’Hara) : 4

*. Louise McNemeny (Frankie Roth) : 4

*. Neil Pendleton (Danny Turner) : 4

*. Stewart Porter (Dougie Patterson) : 4

*. Steven Purdon (Bob Adams) : 4

*. Iain Robertson (Stevie O’Hara) : 4

*. Gayle Telfer-Stevens (Caitlin McLean) : 4

*. Aisha Toussaint (Jules Belmont) : 4

21. Alex Ferns (Rick Harper) : 3

*. Shobna Gulati (Farah Khurana) : 3

*. Jenny Hulse (Amber Murdoch) : 3

*. Eileen McCallum (Liz Hamilton) : 3

*. Adiza Shardow (Shelley Belmont) : 3

26. Sienna Glackin (Madonna Mullen) : 2

*. Garry Sweeny (Gabriel Brodie) : 2

*. Frances Thorburn (Kim Monroe) : 2

29. Libby Dye (Katie Roth) : 1

*. Daisy Veldhoven (Charlotte Crozier) : 1

 

CONTRACT ARRIVALS

1/02– Frank Gilhooley (John McLean)

 

CONTRACT DEPARTURES

1/16 – Alex Ferns (Rick Harper)

[AMCOLTLLover]

The Anniversary episode they did for the 20th anniversary of River City was hella amazing.. They even got Stella back for it.

They kinda did a Spider-Man - No way home thingy and it was hilarious.. 

I loved that they focused on the OH character BOB. He deserves it

[LondonScribe]

I watched River City for the first couple of years. And I’ll admit, I’m impressed it’s lasted 20 years. It was not well received in the beginning. 
 

When the 2 episodes a week were condensed to a single, 1 hour weekly episode, I thought they were moving it out of the way and letting it evaporate over time.

I’ll watch the anniversary episode and might see if I can pick the show back up.

[Joseph]

https://youtube.com/channel/UCiWRXqi9g1ZJ8FN85oAf02A

Here's A Link To A Channel on This Soap, LOL They actually Have a Character Called Scarlett O'Hara!

[Joseph]

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[Bright Eyes]

River City has been cancelled. Premiering in 2002, the show will end in Sept. 2026.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/river-city-to-end-2026-bbc-plans-next-generation-of-drama-production-three-new-titles

[AMCOLTLLover]

WTF? It has been so Great the last couple of Years (2023-2025).. And That Christmas/New Years eve was One of the best cinematic and climatic Cliffhangers! I was really back with it.

I mean we still got a few more episodes coming Til 2026 but damn. What is the BBC doing? 

[LondonScribe]

I know. With the axings of Holby City, Doctors, and now River City, the BBC’s soap/continuing serial drama output remains Eastenders and Casualty (though the latter’s budget is being stripped away, and they appear to be distancing themselves from the ‘soap’ tag with the boxset format introduced under Jon Sen a couple of years ago)

[AMCOLTLLover]

It’s a shame.. I know bbc has another Soap that just airs regional Like River City. It’s called Pobol y cwm. Wonder if that’s in danger too.

Casualty was such a Great soap and I watched Series 1 til Like .. Can’t Even remember. I gave up After they returned from COVID and it’s so Bad 

[Ben]

I think that will be safe as it’s one of the very few Welsh language shows on air, so it has that in its favour. 

With River City, the budget will be used to produce other dramas and film in more locations across Scotland. Unlike trees, when one soap is cut down, no new one is planted in its place. 

In many ways, they’re going back to their roots as Casualty was never a soap to begin with, but in other ways it’s a sign that their budget has been cut. If they remember that they are a medical drama, then they should be able to thrive with the boxset format.

[LondonScribe]

By the way, I’ve broadly enjoyed Casualty more since the change to the boxset format. I had sort of dipped in and out of the show up until then.

I actually believe that Casualty started to overtly flirt with soap opera themes and storylines back in 1995 when Corinne Hollingsworth became producer. It trickled in more and more until 2001 when Mervyn Watson took over and effectively relaunched it as a soap. 

I believe the success of that approach directly influenced ITV’s decision to poach Paul Marquess from Brookside and do the same thing with The Bill.