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.
Class of '74 was a secondary school-based, daily soap opera screened on the Seven Network in Australia and produced by Reg Grundy Organisation in black-and-white starting March 1974. Marist Singers of Eastwood provided back-up singing for the school choir.
Bellbird is an Australian soap opera serial broadcast by the ABC set in the small fictional Victorian rural township of the show's title. The series was produced at the networks Ripponlea TV studios in Elsternwick, Melbourne. The opening title sequence was filmed at Daylesford, Victoria.
The Box is an Australian soap opera that ran on ATV-0 from 11 February 1974 until 11 October 1977 and on 0–10 Network affiliates around Australia.
The Restless Years is an Australian soap opera which followed the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and the drama and relationships faced by young adults. It was created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for Network Ten.
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.
Kimberley Joseph is a Canadian Australian actress who is based in the United States. Joseph was born in Canada, brought up on the Gold Coast in Australia and educated in Switzerland. After returning to Australia, she began a degree at Bond University but dropped out at the age of 19 when she was cast in the soap opera Paradise Beach. She had no formal acting training but appeared in the soap for the 18 months it was produced. After Paradise Beach ended, she had casual work on Hey Hey It's Saturday before co-hosting the popular Seven Network series Gladiators.
Punishment is an Australian television soap opera made by the Reg Grundy Organisation for Network Ten in 1981.
Autumn Affair is an Australian television series made by and aired by Network Seven station ATN-7, and also shown in Melbourne on Nine Network station GTV-9. Television in Australia had only been broadcasting since 1956 and Seven was the first commercial station to make drama a priority. It premiered 24 October 1958 and continued until 1959. The series was the first ever Australian television soap opera. It was also the second regular Australian-produced dramatic television series of any kind, with previous locally produced drama consisting of religious series The House on the Corner, and one-off plays largely aired on ABC.
Family and Friends is a short-lived Australian television soap opera which debuted on 7 February 1990.
Motel is an Australian television soap opera produced by the Seven Network's ATN-7 studios from 1968 to 1969.
E Street is an Australian television soap opera created by Forrest Redlich and produced by his production company, Westside Television Productions, for Network Ten. It was broadcast twice weekly, from Wednesday, 24 January 1989 to Thursday, 20 May 1993. The series won several Logie awards.
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.
Peter John Adams was a New Zealand-born Australian actor, best remembered for his performances on Australian television in soap operas and serials,
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.
Josephine Knur is a former Australian actress recognised for her eight-month stint as Lorelei Wilkinson in television soap opera Number 96 in 1974.
Patrick Ward was an Australian actor noted for several performances on Australian television. He died from cancer on October 14, 2019.
Cash Harmon Television was an Australian television production company based in Crows Nest, New South Wales, operating from the early 1970s until 1980. Their most famous product was top-rated evening sex and sin soap opera Number 96 for the 0-10 Network, which ran from 1972 until 1977.
Out of the Blue is an Australian serial drama commissioned by the BBC, and produced by Australia's Southern Star Entertainment. It began screening on BBC One on weekday afternoons on 28 April 2008. The programme attracted lower than desired ratings figures, prompting the broadcaster to shift it to its second channel BBC Two from 19 May 2008. The BBC eventually decided not to commission a second series, and the final episode aired on 29 January 2009. The rights to show the first series in Australia were purchased by Network Ten, while in the UK, Channel 5 has picked up the repeat rights to Out of the Blue, and began airing all 130 episodes on digital sister channel Fiver in February 2009.
"Episode 523" is the 523rd episode of the Australian soap opera Neighbours. It premiered on Network Ten on 1 July 1987. The episode was written by Ray Harding, directed by Rod Hardy, and executively produced by the serial's creator Reg Watson. Episode 523 focuses on the wedding of popular couple Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell. The storyline was devised by the producers after some viewers became outraged by the idea of an unwed couple moving in together. They also believed that the wedding would be "the perfect climax" to the character's long-running relationship and an instant ratings hit.
