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.
The Young Doctors is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday 8 November 1976 until Wednesday 30 March 1983. The series is primarily set in the fictional Albert Memorial Hospital, as well as the restaurant/nightclub Bunny's Place, and is fundamentally concerned with the romances and relations between younger members of the hospital staff, rather than typical medical issues and procedures.
Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera, which broadcast on Network Ten from February 27 (Melbourne) February 26 (Sydney) 1979 to December 1986 (Melbourne), though the series finale would not screen until September 1987 in Sydney, where it aired as a three-hour film that was split into three one-hour episodes at the much-later time-slot of 10:30 p.m., running eight seasons and 692 episodes.
Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera that aired on NBC from July 30, 1984, to January 15, 1993. The show revolves around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California. Other prominent families featured on the soap were the rival Lockridge family, and the more modest Andrade and Perkins families.
Reginald James Watson was an Australian television producer and screenwriter and executive.
Cop Shop is a long-running Australian police drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that ran for seven seasons between 28 November 1977 and 23 July 1984. It comprised 582 one-hour episodes.
Emergency Ward 10 is a British medical soap opera series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. Like The Grove Family, a series shown by the BBC between 1954 and 1957, Emergency Ward 10 is considered to be one of British television's first major soap operas.
Richmond Hill is an Australian television soap opera made in 1988 by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Ten Network. It was devised by Reg Watson who also created Neighbours. It debuted on 27 January 1988 in a two-hour episode on Network 10 at 7.30pm. The series was only moderately successful and was cancelled on 22 June 1988. A total of 91 episodes were produced. As of March 2021, there has been no DVD Release of Richmond Hill.
Starting Out is an Australian television soap opera made for the Nine Network by the Reg Grundy Organisation in 1983.
Prime Time is an Australian soap opera drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that aired on the Nine Network in from January 1986 to January 1987. Prime Time was the last Australian soap produced with exterior location scenes shot on film and interior scenes shot on videotape. The series was not a popular success and was cancelled after sixty episodes.
Taurus Rising is an Australian soap opera produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Nine Network in 1982. Originally intended by the network to be a replacement for The Sullivans, the series was one of a number of attempts to provide an Australian alternative to the glossy American supersoaps Dallas and Dynasty and featured two wealthy Sydney-based feuding families, the Brents and the Drysdales. To this end, it represented something of a stylistic departure for Grundy's. Unlike most other Australian soap operas which were recorded on videotape, Taurus Rising was shot entirely on film. Series began at 8.30pm time-slot in a 2 hr movie pilot and continued for a couple of weeks on Tuesday nights due to decline in ratings was delegated to Friday nights at 10pm by the time of the TV series finale during 1982. TV series was never screened on Nine network since the original screening.
Until Tomorrow is an Australian television soap opera created by Reg Watson. The series was produced in colour by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Seven Network in 1975. It was the second soap opera made by the Reg Grundy Organisation, the first having been Class of '74. It is notable for having been made in Brisbane as opposed to Sydney or Melbourne, and was one of the few Australian soap operas produced for a daytime slot, screning at 2.30 pm in the afternoon in Sydney and 1.30pm in Melbourne.
Pacific Drive is an Australian television series made by Village Roadshow in association with New World International for the Nine Network which screened for 390 episodes from 29 January 1996 to December 1997, when it concluded it was show in reruns being in a late night timeslot for years. It was also repeated for a daytime slot on Nine while they lobbied (unsuccessfully) to the Australian Broadcasting Authority for a daytime drama to count towards their local drama quota points.
Chances is an Australian prime time soap opera which aired from 29 January 1991 to 30 December 1992 on Nine Network. The show was initially pitched by production company Beyond International, as a straightforward drama revolving around a middle-class family whose lives are transformed when they win $3 million in the lottery. However, the network requested raunchier, more erotic storylines in the vein of Number 96 and The Box, with contractually-obligated nudity and sex scenes. Later episodes diverged considerably from the show's original premise, with increasingly bizarre plots involving man-eating plants, devil worshippers and neo-Nazi cults.
Briony Behets is an English-born Australian former actress who found fame acting in Australian television soap operas of the 1970s and 1980s.
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap Sons and Daughters. Although successful in Melbourne, Neighbours underperformed in the Sydney market and was cancelled by Seven four months after it began airing. It was immediately commissioned by rival Network Ten for a second production season, which began screening on 20 January 1986. Neighbours became the longest-running drama series in Australian television history. In 2005, it was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.
Danny Ramsay is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by David Clencie. He made his first appearance during the serial's debut episode broadcast on 18 March 1985. Danny was the first character to speak in the show. Danny's storylines focused on his troubled relationship with his father Max and his subsequent discovery that Tim Duncan is his real father, his friendship with Scott Robinson and his job as a bank teller. Danny moved away from Ramsay Street on 31 July 1986. In 2005, Clencie reprised his role as Danny for a cameo in Annalise Hartman's documentary on Ramsay Street.
Donald Gordon Battye was an Australian composer, writer and television producer, best known for his work with Crawford Productions and Reg Grundy Organisation.
Beacon Hill is a prime time period drama series which aired on CBS in 1975. Set after World War I in Boston's Beacon Hill area, the show was conceived as an Americanized version of the popular British series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975) and focused on the wealthy Irish-American Lassiter family and their Irish immigrant servants, who reside together on Louisburg Square.
