A soap opera, daytime drama, or soap for short, is typically a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers. The term was preceded by "horse opera", a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns.
Number 96 is an Australian primetime soap opera that aired on 0-10 Network from 13 March 1972 to 11 August 1977, originally broadcast in the primetime slot of 8:30 pm for half-hour episodes every weeknight, later 2 1-hour episodes screened per week.
Patricia Ethell McDonald was an Australian radio actor and actor of stage and television and the daughter of one of Australia's most prominent electric radio engineers and public servants, Arthur Stephen McDonald and his wife, milliner Edith Roseina Ethell. Her grandfather, bootmaker John McDonald, was born in Victoria, and married Eliza Mary Stevenson. Although she was not the first female Gold Logie winner in Australia, which was entertainer and TV host Lorrae Desmond, she was the first female character actor to win for serial Number 96.
Reginald James Watson was an Australian television producer and screenwriter and executive.
Tom Oliver is a British-born Australian retired actor who started his career in theatre in his native country, before emigrating to Australia.
Norman Coburn is an Australian former actor and playwright best known for his television serial and soap opera roles. He started his early career in theatre, film and television in the United Kingdom in the mid-1950s.
Roy Senior Barraclough was an English comic actor. He was best known for his role as Alec Gilroy, the devious, mournful landlord of the Rovers Return in the long-running British TV soap Coronation Street, and for the double-act Cissie and Ada with comedian Les Dawson.
Joseph Christopher Hasham (OAM) is a Lebanese Australian actor and artistic theatre director who became famous in Australia in the 1970s through his long running role of dependable and decent gay lawyer Don Finlayson in soap opera Number 96.
John Sidney Lockwood was a British variety entertainer, comedian and actor, who also became notable in Australia after emigrating to that country.
Mike Dorsey was an English-born Australian theatre and television actor and publicity officer and tour manager.
John McTernan is an Australian actor, known for several theatre and television roles.
Angus Wilson Lennie was a Scottish film and theatre character actor with a 50-year career span. His numerous credits include the character of Flying Officer Archibald Ives in The Great Escape, and Shughie McFee in the television soap opera Crossroads.
Ross Newton is an Australian actor born in Melbourne, Victoria, he graduated from NIDA in 1989, and is best known for playing Greg Marshall in the television soap opera Home and Away.
Chad Harris-Crane is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. Developed by the soap's creator and head writer James E. Reilly, Chad was portrayed by two actors over the course of the show: Donn Swaby and Charles Divins. Swaby left the show to pursue roles outside daytime television and was replaced by Divins. The role was the first time that either actor had worked on a television series.
Paul Collins is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, played by Jim Wiggins. One of the show's original characters, Paul debuted during the episode broadcast on 2 November 1982. Wiggins was cast by Brookside creator Phil Redmond and Janet Goddard. Paul is introduced as the husband of Annabelle Collins and father to Gordon Collins and Lucy Collins. Paul is characterised as an unlucky character who has been made redundant from a lucrative management role. He is forced to move to a small house on Brookside Close and change his lifestyle. Writers made him appear as a product of a different generation and an ex-army officer who had a sense of discipline instilled in him. Wiggins has described Paul as "aloof" and "conservative", which made viewers unsympathetic to his plight.
Adam Willis is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Ian Williams. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 9 August 1990. Williams was cast in the role in early 1990, but did not start filming until June because he had work commitments to another television project. News outlets claimed producers cast Williams to replace former fan-favourite cast members, a claim the actor found insulting.
Billy Douglas is a fictional character on the American soap opera One Life to Live. Newcomer actor Ryan Phillippe played the role from April 1992 until May 1993, with a brief appearance in June 1994. The character is the first openly gay teenager featured in a television series, and Phillippe's breakthrough role is considered groundbreaking in daytime television.
Alister Smart also credited as Alastair Smart, is an Australian retired television presenter, actor, television director and screenwriter from. A staple of the small screen, he appeared in productions in England, before returning to Australia, and had roles in television plays, telefilms and soap opera/serials with numerous credits from the late 1950s until the mid-1990s.
Number 96: The Movie is an Australian drama film, released in 1974 and based on the television soap opera of the same title that was then running on the 0-10 network. The film features nearly all the show's regular cast, and was created by the show's creative team, Cash Harmon Productions with the screenplay by David Sale and Johnny Whyte and directed by Peter Benardos and Brian Phillis.