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Huntress

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Australian Soap Operas

G'day everyone, im from the UK where soaps are huge. But before i talk about homeland i though id shed some light on Australian Soap Operas, which have a big following in the UK.

There are two main soaps : Neighbours, and Home & Away.

Neighbours

Began in 1985 and is Australias longest running drama/soap. Airs on Network TEN at 6.30pm its main audience is towards 15 - 30 yr olds, hence why it has a lot of young cast members. Set in a fictional street - Ramsey Street, in Erinsborugh, we see the daily lives of the residents as they go about their lives. For the 20th anniversay last year they had a plane crash, which killed off three main characters and started the ball rolling for in my eyes on of the gripping storylines Neighbours has had. Notible characters...

Harold Bishop - one of the longest residents of Ramsey Street, famously came back from the dead, well we all thought he was dead, until he appeard 5yrs later! He and his wife Madge were very populer, but in 2001 Madge was killed off, in one of Neighbours most saddest moments.

Paul Robinson - appeared in scene 1, episode 1. He has literally built up an empire in Erinsborough, he owns the Lassiters Complex, which is a hotel, and the grounds around it which feature the other main stores. It was Paul's private plane which was bombed, but who could hate him that much.. ill give you a clue - think family!

Current storylines playing out at the moment...

- Sky Mangle has just found out she is pregnant after splitting from her boyfriend because Sky cheated on him with her Art Teacher at University. But Sky also had a one night stand with Dylan's brother - Scott - so who is the father?

- Paul Robinson has just been rescued from the mine shaft in which his physco son left him there. Robert in now on the run and is after his ex girlfriend Katya.

- Susan has rekindled her love with Dr Karl, but how will Susans step kids react, after its only been 7 months since their dad died.

Friday 30th June 2006 saw Neighbours reach the 5000 episode, congrats to them and long live Neighbours lol. Neighbours airs on BBC ONE In the UK during the daytime and gets more viewers here then in Australia.

1986 Titles : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p-YhSHy9vE

2006 Titles : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv7MkjmzNvY

Promo, these feature after the last scene and just before the credits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL_n0k33Y7M

Another promo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuVGJWi6pGg

Home and Away

Home and Away launched in 1988, and is more popular in Oz than in Britain. Its centred round the town of Summer Bay, and boy oh boy has it been through a lot... Earthquakes, Cyclones, Heatwave, Crashes ect ect and a stalker/physco. The two longest characters are Alf Stewart and Sally Fletcher - who grew up on the show. Currently airing now is a gripping storylines.. basically the stalker came back to get revenge, she always said Summer Bay will pay for killing Sarah (although she shot herself!). So Zoe arrives at Jack and Martha's wedding - with a bang, see the video here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoXR5G5yXuE

2006 Titles : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ76jPkBHTI

1992 Titles : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSjecDwDFk

Home and Away - 18yrs of Drama http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feeIE025piw

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The UK Soap Operas

The soaps are the highest rated shows in the UK. Soap stars are huge here, normally splashed across the national newspapers. Storylines grip the nation. The difference with UK and to an extent Aussie soaps to US Soaps is that ours is based day to day life in communities, rather than the big bashy plots.

There are four main soaps : EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks.

Others which are classed as soaps, but i dont : Doctors, The Bill.

Coronation Street

ITV 1

Mon 7.30pm, 8.30pm

Wed, Fri and Sun @ 7.30pm

Coronation St is the worlds longest running soap/drama. It began on the 9th December 1960 and was live. Its the most popular show on british television and regulary gets between 9 - 11million depending on whats happening. The only original character who has been in it since the first episode is Ken Barlow. This is his 46th year on the show.

Most of the residents live on Coronation Street, the Rovers Return is the pub where its centered around, each soap has a pub as its main focale point.

The Street has seen a vast majority of storylines. Its more based on affairs and chit chat rather than gritty killings, although it had its fair share of trauma - but that all changed when in 2001 we said Hello to Richard Hillman. He was a con man with a dark side. He married Gail Platt and moved in to live with her on Coronation Street. Firstly he left his mate Dougie to die after falling over the stairs railings, hit and killed his ex wife Patrica with a shovel and buried her, attempted to kill Gail's mum Audrey. The climax was reaching, and 17

million tuned into see Richards final killing. He was after dear old Emily Bishop so he could get his hands on her money as she was old. She was babysitting Maxine and Ashleys son one night, and Richard seen his opertunity, he clocked Emily over the head, but Maxine came back to check on her baby - wrong move Maxine!, Richards famous line from that episode "You should have stayed at the party, Maxine", Richard then chased her and killed her.

So this was the beginning of the end, Gail was oblivois to it all, then one night he confessed everything. "Your Norman Bates with a briefcase" Gail said in disbelief. In total shock, would Gail go to the police? Like she had a chane, Richard got Gail, her daughter Sarah, son David, and Bethany (Sarahs Daughter) tied up and tried to gas them in car garage, but residents realised what was going on and he sped away with them, a frantic chase entailed, and 19million tuned in to see them all plunge into the canal. All of them got out alive, apart from Richard who died...but his legacy lives on to this day.

Coronation Street has dealt with some contraversial storylines including rape, suicide and domestic violence. Some of Corries biggest storyline...

- The train wreck

- Lorry crashes into the Rovers

- Ken, Diedre and Mike love triangle

- Toyah Battersby raped

- Jez murderes Des Barnes

- Hilda mourns Stans death

- Sarah Platt pregnant at 13

- Katy Harris becomes first women killer in 2005 after killing her dad

- Diedre is wrongly jailed

1960 Opening Titles : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUcjy3WG-Rg

1960 - The Legendary Ena Sharples http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gxBo2nSbWg

1990s Opening - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc4ZHTlfS2k

EastEnders

BBC One

Mon and Friday 8pm

Tue and Thurs 7.30pm

EastEnders is set in a fictional area of EastEnd called Walford. This soap only began life in 1985, but soon become a ratings winner and beating Corrie on a number of times. It has dealt with some gritty storylines that some soaps wouldnt touch. The main pub is the Queen Vic, and many of the action in the Square features around this. EastEnders holds the record for the most watched single episode of soap/dram when 30million tuned in on Christmas Day 1986 to see Den Watts hand divorce papers to his wife Angie after he found out she was lying about her terminal illness.

Major storylines have come and gone including...Nasty Nick Cotton, Den is shot, Phil-Grant-Sharon affair, Gay affair, Frank runs over Tiffany on New yeas eve, Ian tells Mel his daughter has cancer so Mel marries him, Sonia gives birth at 15, Trevor keeps on beating up his wife Mo - until New years eve 2001 she tries to kill him with an iron.

One of the biggest storylines, is Who Shot Phil Mitchell in 2001 - which i guess was inspired by Who Shot JR. Resident bad man Phil Mitchell is not a man to cross. In the build up to him being shot he made enimies of 5 main characters..Ian, Mark, Lisa, Dan and Steve. All had different motaives of wanting Phil dead. Up to 20million tuned in to see Phil Mitchell shot, he didnt die and recovered in hospital. He caught a glimpse of the person running away and says that he will deal with it in his own way. A month or so later, the nation was gripped to see who shot Phil. The episode previous to finiding out ended with a knock at each of the five suspects doors, with one door opening and Phil saying something. The next episode carried on from where it finished, and Lisa was unmasked as the attemped killer. A peak of 23million tunedi n.

Sharon attacks Johnny in the Queen Vic after Dennis's funeral

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blPEO_ToyYo

Phil beats up Steve in the pub

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXEwB4wl1lI

The best of EastEnders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeDj57hZubI

Den and Angie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJH3eAai2ic

Den is killed - again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlQ0hWLVIRY

1990 Opening Titles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuOGF6gCi_c

1993 Opening Titles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUN9AsMw8gM

2001 Opening Titles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V-Ko5EtkbE

Its on in Primetime on Seven Network in Australia, it airs at 7pm, in the UK it airs on Channel 5 at 6.00pm, the UK is 5months behind Australia

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Hollyoaks

Channel 4

Weeknights at 6.30pm

Hollyoaks only began in 1995, and over the years has gained popularity but not as much as the the main 3. Its based around the students and their families in Chester. Ive only started watching Hollyoaks everyday since May and its brillant. The big storylines at the moment...

- Clare marries Max, she is after his money after he sold the shop - but Max buys Clare something which means she cant get the money - yet!

- Warren has come from Spain looking for Sean. Sean got Warren locked up and now he wants revenge, his revenge can be seen in the following picture...but is it Warren or Sean who causes that!

- Teacher Becca had an affair with a student with Justin, this storyline reached its climax about a month ago but the repercussions live on

hollyoaks3za.png

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Just wondering would anyone like me to record and upload some episodes of UK soap operas?

Just wondering also if anyone knows where i could watch US Soaps? The only ones ive heard of before are Sunset Beach, Days, Passions

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A little trip down memory lane for all German soaps, past and present:

December 1985: "Lindenstrasse" debuts as the first German weekly drama. Since then, 1075 episodes have aired (#1075 is broadcasted this evening). This half hour show airs Sundays at 6.40 pm on our national television ARD, even on holidays or election days. Twelve cast members have been with the show since episode one. Well known for its controversial storylines, it was the first show to feature a homosexual marriage. They also show nudity on a regular basis, and characters from other countries are allowed to speak in their native languages. "Lindenstrasse" features characters from Italy, Turkey, Africa, Greece and other countries. Profanity is also no taboo.

During its heydays, "Lindenstrasse" was watched by 14 million people.

May 1992: "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" broadcasts its first episode at 7.40 pm on RTL. It is a remake of the Australian soap-opera "The Restless Years". The first 230 episodes were taken from the Australian scripts. Ratings were extremely low during the first months, with 1,9 million viewers in average.

October 1992: "Marienhof" is launched on the ARD. During its first two years, it only aired Tuesdays and Thursdays; each episode was 45 minutes long.

May 1993: "GZSZ" is renewed for another year, but there are a lot of changes behind the scenes. Several cast members are let go and many new characters appear.

October 1993: A serial killer storyline on "GZSZ" begins. One minor and three major characters are killed off, causing ratings to skyrocket up to 5 million viewers.

November 1994: "Unter uns" is launched on RTL. It airs weekdays at 5:30 pm.

January 1995: Following the success of both RTL soaps, the ARD changes its program: "Verbotene Liebe" debuts weekdays at 6 pm, being an adaption of the Australian soap "Sons & Daughters". To accompany "VL", "Marienhof" is transformed into a daily soap, now airing five episodes a week at 6:30 pm. Because many cast members don't want to be part of a daily soap, their characters either get written off the show or are recasted. Basically, "MH" became a totally different show at this point. To appear young and fresh, the show's slogan was changed to "Marienhof - Es wird viel passieren".

March 1995: "Jede Menge Leben" debuts on ZDF.

October 1995: "So ist das Leben! Die Wagenfelds" is launched on Sat1 weekdays at 6 pm.

February 1996: "So ist das Leben! Die Wagenfelds" is cancelled after only 127 episodes due to low ratings.

Spring 1996: "GZSZ" receives its second major overhaul as half of the cast departs the show. The biggest loss is Sandra Keller (Tina Ullrich Zimmermann).

April 1996: "GZSZ" features the first lesbian storyline when high school friends Saskia Rother and Harumi Shimizu fall in love with each other.

September 1996: "Jede Menge Leben" is cancelled after 376 episodes due to low ratings.

November 1996: "Alle zusammen - jeder für sich" debuts on RTLII. It airs at 7 pm. "AZ" was the only German soap that never featured any outdoor footage and was completely filmed inside a studio. This soap was also the first daily soap that featured a transsexual character.

June 1997: During the summer of 1997, "Geliebte Schwestern" debuts on Sat1 at 7 pm. This soap was set in a fictional hospital and five young nurses - played by Mareike Fell, Florentine Lahme, Jacqueline Kiskerie, Annette Schreiber and Xenia Seeberg - were the protagonists. The show's ratings struggled from the beginning so a major overhaul followed after six months when several cast members - including Nadine, one of the nurses - were killed off during a virus storyline.

September 1997: "Hinter Gittern - Der Frauenknast" debuts on RTL as a weekly soap opera. It airs mondays at 9:15 pm. Until 2004, the show ran every monday without a single break throughout the year. When ratings declined, the show went on hiatus during the summer months. Season 16 will start this fall on RTL.

October 1997: "Alle zusammen - jeder für sich" is cancelled after 230 episodes due to low ratings. The show's most popular actor, Oliver Petszokat, joined "GZSZ" shortly after and also launched a successful music career in the following year. In the final episode of "AZ", all characters left town, everyone with a different destination.

June 1998: "Geliebte Schwestern" is cancelled after 250 episodes due to low ratings. In the final episode, the hospital burns down.

September 1998: Fabian Moreno and Philip Krüger become the first gay couple on "GZSZ".

April 1999: "Mallorca - Suche nach dem Paradies" is launched on Pro7. Being a novelty in the daily soap genre, this soap was completely filmed on location on the island Mallorca, which is located in the Mediterranean sea.

Spring 1999: Because half of the cast members are infected by an influenza, the production of "GZSZ" has to rewrite several storylines.

November 1999: The "Millenium Week" on RTL affects both soaps: While several characters on "GZSZ" travel back to the 70s in a dream sequence episode and behave like hippies, the characters on "Unter uns" transform into bubble gum-chewing Aliens for the whole week. At first their leader is Irene Weigel (Petra Blossey), then Sarah Foster (Eve Scheer). Most fans loathe this storyline with passion.

February 2000: Pro7 cancels "Mallorca - Suche nach dem Paradies" after 200 episodes, even though ratings went up a bit towards the end, but the production costs were too high. Many of "Mallorca's" cast members found a new home on other soap operas, including Yvonne Burbach ("VL"), Ulrike Frank ("GZSZ") and Alfonso Losa ("MH").

May 2000: "Großstadtträume" debuts as a primetime spin-off to "GZSZ". It features some old characters of "GZSZ", like Tina Zimmermann, Milla Engel and Philip Krüger. Even though it aired back-to-back with "GZSZ" Mondays at 8:15 pm, "GST" failed to catch an audience and was cancelled after seven episodes.

September 2001: Clarissa von Anstetten (played by Isa Jank), the biggest !@#$%^&*] on "VL", dies in a plane crash, together with her archrival Tanja von Anstetten (Miriam Lahnstein).

May 2002: "Marienhof" unveils its new outdoor set which consists of two streets, the shopping mall and several other stores. In addition, a new opening sequence debuts which was filmed on this set.

June 2002: "GZSZ" celebrates its 2500th episode with a large inferno when the pub "Daniels" is destroyed by an explosion. Resident !@#$%^&*] Sonja Wiebe dies in the wreckage. With this episode, "GZSZ" reached its highest ratings ever with over 7 million viewers.

April 2004: Tanja - who was presumed dead for 2 1/2 years - returns to "VL".

January 2005: "VL" celebrates its 2500th episode with a location shoot in Portugal. Many ex cast members return for the tenth anniversary episodes.

April 2006: Christine Maybach dies at the age of 74. She had played Margot Weigel - the key character - on "Unter uns" since episode 1. A tribute episode will air in August 2006.

September 2006: The new outdoor set of "GZSZ" will be revealed.

January 2007: "UU" will celebrate its 3000th episode.

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The only foreign soaps I watch are telenovelas on Univision. The ones on Telemundo are way too over-the-top for me. I usually like Mexican soaps the best, though I heard really good things about Venezuelan soaps. My favorite actress is Adela Noriega. She was the lead actress on my favorite soap, El manantiel. Another one that I loved was Clase 406. It was a teenage-based soap that ran from 2002-2003.

The only current soap that I watch now is Rebelde. Again, it's a teenage-based soap. Usually the soaps that come on at 3 are for younger kids, and hey, it's a lot better than watching GH.

My grandmother used to watch a soap opera from Brazil I think. It came on RTP (the Portuguese channel). I can't even remember it. I have a hard time understanding the Brazilian accent. All I remember was seeing a bunch of naked people. They show everything...

BBC America used to show EastEnders, but they stopped. :( They also stopped showing Monty Python's Flying Circus, but fortunately my PBS affiliate shows it now.

I wish I could watch other soaps. I want to be a soap writer, probably for Spanish or Portguese telenovelas though since I definitely don't want to work for an American soap.

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