Classic Emmerdale

I can understand why you might think this, My point was News wasn't a factor, even then local programme were not the full picture, I wasn't trying to make a point conspiracy to undermine Blockbusters, but how teatime on ITV it fell into disarray. It should be noted well over half the ITV companies just couldn't fill up the slots. FYI Meridian did push out blockbusters at 18.30 in 1993

By 1994, apart from Carlton, Westcountry, and STV, everyone else were using the slots with "Stuff" Central had Shortland street, Anglia followed suit, Borders had lots of fillers including soaps, comedy and even Sky blockbusters. HTV ended up with A country Practices at 17.10, with even Granada/Border doing this aswell, Good old YTV ended up showing sky blockbusters to fill up the slots.

And we all know what happened once H&W left ITV that 5pm slot was like a waste land by 2002.


Yet ITV wanted a piece of the pie, and wanted some of that 10million + viewers neighbours were getting, so what were there expecting?

To bring this topic back on form:
Emmerdale 2000th episode was in fact it seem two shotgun together,

http://emmerdale.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_2000/2001_(17th_August_1995) I will try and took a peck to see if STV did take the network offering or if there moved it around.

Fyi to the others stv moved emmerdale back 7pm in 1998. Around the same time h&a was moved back to 17.10.

The current listings on Digiguide and on the Virgin EPG only have a generic description so far, so doesn't tell us which episode they'll be starting with. Probably will be 1989 as has been said though, I'd still prefer 1972 personally

What's H&W?

I think he meant H&A (Home & Away).

Closer each day... Homer & Way...

Just remembering other regional serials - Together (Southern) - recently on Talking Pictures TV; Taff Acre (HTV); General Hospital and The Cedar Tree (ATV); Families (Granada); Castle Haven (YTV) - incredibly no episodes in existence, bar a minute or so yet it had a very well-known set of actors. ITV3 could go mad and screen a good chunk of classic serials instead of endless Murder, She Wrote and Heartbeat - I'm surprised the tapes haven't worn out!

Another late regional soap was Quayside which ran on YTV and C3NE/TTT in 1997, and was repeated in 1998.

To correct/add to some of the information about regional scheduling - Granada actually showed Blockbusters at 3.20pm twice a week from April 1993, not at 5.10pm. I’m not sure what was going out at 5.10 after H&A moved to 6pm in Jan 1993 - possibly Families twice a week (previously shown at 6pm when the rest of the network saw it in the early afternoon).

I’ve been told that prior to 1993, Border used to feed H&A to TTT at 5.10. I assume they moved it from 6.30 at some point (or for whatever reason played their recording out at 5.10 for the benefit of TTT whilst not transmitting it themselves - though this seems odd). Between 1993 and about 1998 the lunchtime episode was no longer networked - some regions placed it at 12.55, some at 1.25, and others even later - I think TSW showed it at 1.25, hence their repeat at 3.20 was a very odd scheduling decision, but that was TSW for you.

Having the national and local news separated by a soap at 6pm was nothing new when H&A came along, as TTT and at least one other region - possibly Central themselves - played Crossroads just after 6pm for most of the early 80s, followed by their regional news magazine at 6.25/6.30.

I’ve ne’er seen a thread go so far off topic in all my born days, eh Mr Wilks? 😜

TVS attempted a soap in Jan 1982. 'Radio Phoenix', set in an ILR station in Brighton (about 18 months before Brighton really did get an ILR station !)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373593/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_29

It wouldn't have been Families because the Granada scheduling of that series was very odd, despite them producing it. When it began it was networked with Granada alone showing an omnibus on Thursdays at 10.40 - but at some point, Granada stopped showing the network screenings and only showed the omnibus (presumably it was doing way better in that slot). During the brief period in 1992 when they had Home and Away at 5.10 and Granada Tonight at 6.30, they did show Families at six - as well as the omnibus - but that only lasted a few months and by 1993 it was back to being just the omnibus (which my gran never missed, and as she came to our house on a Thursday we had to get her home for 10.40 to see it).

This meant that Granada were always the last to show each episode, with all other regions screening it on Mondays and Tuesdays and Granada on Thursdays, and also the last episode was an extended one that meant moving the 3.20 news in all regions - so Granada had to inelegantly fling on a cartoon to fill the gap. Later in the nineties Granada would also opt out of the networked Corrie repeats at lunchtime so they could continue with the omnibus on Sunday afternoons instead.

As for what they put at 5.10 when Home and Away moved, it was a right brantub of regional fare. I remember for a while they got in the habit of showing Chain Letters and Cross Wits, which everyone else was showing in the early afternoon, at 5.10.



Yes, and that was fifteen minutes long at 5.15 so they could do an hour-long Coast to Coast at 5.30 incorporating the News at 5.45.

Granada showed London Bridge for a few months which I think they did in return for Carlton showing Russell T Davies' CofE-set soap, Revelations.

I believe they are starting from Episode 1403, originally shown 14th November 1989 - the first episode after the change of name to Emmerdale, and I think the first to feature the character Chris Tate.

Yes, the Virgin EPG has been updated to say that now (still has the generic description, but they've added the date since yesterday- showing the original broadcast date of programmes being one of the things I really like about the Virgin TIVO EPG).

Would Border have fed someone else the evening Home and Away? Wouldn't TTT have just taped it from the lunchtime feed?