World Cup Tournament World Cup of Soap Operas - The Matches

Angela Channing

World Cup of Soaps Moderator
LV
16
 
Messages
13,714
Reaction score
25,430
Awards
42
Member Since
1999
So we reach for the remote control to switch off Crossroads


There is only one person who an say goodbye to Crossroads, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Noele Gordon:

 

James from London

International Treasure
Top Poster Of Month
LV
5
 
Messages
8,201
Reaction score
15,809
Awards
16
Location
Brixton
Member Since
Time immemorial
You helped make soap history?! Oh my.

I'm so impressed you were there.

Credit should go to my long suffering mother who, if memory serves, had to take the day off work to take me there!

If you ever feel like expanding on this I'd love to see what you have to say on this subject.

Well, I guess it goes back to Coronation Street being the first Northern working-class drama on TV, and how its dialogue didn't just reflect that, it revelled in it. You sort of got the sense of the writers really honing every last word. And that's still in its DNA now (or it was the last time I checked). There's a through-line from Ena Sharples' description of her mother's death ("Oh it were lovely - she just sat up, broke wind and died") to Cilla Battersby talking about how unflattering leotards are ("Don't matter how thin you are, always looks like somebody forgot to say 'when'. Even Geri Halliwell looks like half a hundred-weight of nutty slack") to Deirdre nodding off in the bath and getting her Grazia wet to Gail and Sheila Grant's remarkable argument about who's better at bottoming. And that's unique to The Street, I think.

I vaguely remember Meg getting married to Hugh Mortimer, I'm not sure whether my memory was from watching the first broadcast, a rerun or a clip on another show, but I do recall a relatively unknown singer called Stephanie de Sykes performing a song at the wedding and the power of Crossroads lead to it getting in the Top 20.

Yes, that's right! Stephanie de Sykes had played a pop star about a year earlier, who ran away from fame and hid out at the motel behind a wig and pair of dark glasses. Suddenly, everyone in the motel was interested in pop music and was listening to her hit song 'Born With a Smile on My Face' on the radio, which then became a real-life hit. Then she took off her wig and came back to sing at the wedding and that song 'We'll Find Our Day' also became a hit. Both were written by Simon 'EastEnders Theme' May who also wrote a couple of later Crossroads hits 'Summer of my Life' (by himself) and 'More Than in Love' by Kate Robbins -- that was around the time they built a recording studio in the motel cellar!



 

Willie Oleson

Telly Talk Schemer
LV
8
 
Messages
18,832
Reaction score
32,278
Awards
22
Location
Plotville, Shenanigan
Member Since
April 2002
and how its dialogue didn't just reflect that, it revelled in it. You sort of got the sense of the writers really honing every last word
I like it when writers are being playful with language, unfortunately this kind of non-standard English makes it impossible for me to understand what's going on. Not even in written text, like the quotes in your post.
I think I need to find this.
 

Mel O'Drama

Admin
LV
12
 
Messages
13,298
Solutions
1
Reaction score
27,036
Awards
29
Member Since
28th September 2008
Credit should go to my long suffering mother who, if memory serves, had to take the day off work to take me there!

What would we have done without mothers who support our soap habits? Hope your mum enjoyed some of that grand day out.


I guess it goes back to Coronation Street being the first Northern working-class drama on TV, and how its dialogue didn't just reflect that, it revelled in it. You sort of got the sense of the writers really honing every last word. And that's still in its DNA now (or it was the last time I checked).

Yes. I adore the authenticity of the language in the series and it's always felt like there's great attention to detail, infused from the very beginning by Tony Warren. There's the classic "Ee, Elsie... You're just about ready for t'knacker yard", of course. And I thoroughly enjoy colloquialisms such as references to the ginnel or people saying "happen" (well, 'ap'n, really) in place of "perhaps" (mostly older characters, but Gail did this in her earlier days), or "while" replacing "until".

A great deal of the language sounds poetic to me, and I imagine that's why Corrie! (as in the stage play) worked so well... because the language is at the same time both lyrical and intimate.


unfortunately this kind of non-standard English makes it impossible for me to understand what's going on.

One of the (many) things I love about living in the UK is that one has only to travel a very short distance to encounter regional dialects very different from nearby areas. I spent many years living perhaps 40 or 50 miles from the area where I grew up, and even then the expressions and descriptive phrases were worlds apart. Now I live a couple of hundred miles even further away and the dialect is different again. It's a delight and I never grow tired of (to borrow James's expression) revelling in it.

But yes, I can understand exactly why Corrie (and many other series) would have a bit of a battle to be understood in other countries.


I think I need to find this.

I have it on this CD which now seems to be out of print. But SOML and some other of the tracks can be found quite reasonably on an earlier album, or for a little more you can have this more recent, very expansive version. All of them also have music from Howards' Way and other series if that helps your decision.
 

Mel O'Drama

Admin
LV
12
 
Messages
13,298
Solutions
1
Reaction score
27,036
Awards
29
Member Since
28th September 2008
Speaking of dialects, I have an app on my phone that guesses which part of the UK you're from based on answers you give; like how you pronounce the "O" in "house" (there are eight options), or what term you use for the season following summer. It reinforces how much variety there is in UK language.

I should add that the app hasn't been successful at pinning me down. I usually get somewhere in Greater London, but this morning it's guessed I'm from one of three places: Crockerton, Poulton or Liss.
 

Willie Oleson

Telly Talk Schemer
LV
8
 
Messages
18,832
Reaction score
32,278
Awards
22
Location
Plotville, Shenanigan
Member Since
April 2002
and some other of the tracks can be found quite reasonably on an earlier album
That "Vintage" album looks good.
But yes, I can understand exactly why Corrie (and many other series) would have a bit of a battle to be understood in other countries
It's possible to watch it with subtitles, but that extra bit of characteristic language will get lost in translation. But I guess that applies to all languages.

Pity, I had almost decided to watch complete Coronation Street and do an ep-by-ep review[/tongue in cheek]
 

Mel O'Drama

Admin
LV
12
 
Messages
13,298
Solutions
1
Reaction score
27,036
Awards
29
Member Since
28th September 2008
That "Vintage" album looks good.

I thought it looked very "you", Willie.


It's possible to watch it with subtitles, but that extra bit of characteristic language will get lost in translation.

Yes. But I'm sure you'd come to understand the dialect and accent once you'd spent a bit of time with it. Just as with the Australian series. Or even the American ones, come to that.


I had almost decided to watch complete Coronation Street and do an ep-by-ep review[/tongue in cheek]

Well... there are only around ten times more episodes than S&D, so I'm sure it would be doable. ;)

Seriously, I would recommend the decade compilation boxsets, which have eight episodes from each year. They give a very nice taste of the series over the years. And I think you'd enjoy the atmosphere of the grainy, black and white early episodes.



The bad news is there are no subtitles on the sets.






As an aside, your sepia Patricia avvy is gaslighting me. At a glance I think I'm reading a new post of mine that I can't remember making. Then I immediately wonder if I've experienced some kind of soapy blackout.
 

Angela Channing

World Cup of Soaps Moderator
LV
16
 
Messages
13,714
Reaction score
25,430
Awards
42
Member Since
1999


The next 2 matches in the contest were drawn as follows:



The poll is now open for you to choose which soaps you would like to win each of the two matches to go through to the next round. You may vote for a winner of either match or for both matches.

Stating the reasons for your choices is encouraged as this makes the contest more interesting and may help others in their decisions. However, this is entirely optional and you can just state your chosen winner of each match if you prefer.

The poll will close at midday on Tuesday 8th October 2019.
 

James from London

International Treasure
Top Poster Of Month
LV
5
 
Messages
8,201
Reaction score
15,809
Awards
16
Location
Brixton
Member Since
Time immemorial
The Battle of the Beachams!
 

Victoriafan3

Telly Talk Addict
LV
0
 
Messages
929
Reaction score
2,598
Awards
5
Location
New zealand
Member Since
About 2005
Phew. I was envisioning Dallas vs Knots after your teaser comment yesterday Angela. That could’ve been trouble in the camp ;-)

1. Dynasty, still in my top 10 fav shows of all time. Fabulous clothes, hilarious cat fights, beautiful Alexis, Sable, Catherine Oxenberg and Leanne Hunley. And that 84-85 season cliffhanger! Unforgettable!! Unfortunately it was followed up by the worst season opener I can think of but still we all have our off moments don’t we? ;-)

2. Neighbours, Australia’s longest running show. And the launch of Kylie Minogue’s career. Daphne was my Neighbours favourite followed by Mrs Mangel. Lovely to see Ally Fowler with Alan Dale’s character in 1986 too

Stephanie can’t lose here can she, all her bases are covered :) And she was in Corrie as a girlfriend of Ken Barlow on the houseboat.
 
Last edited:

Englishboy

Telly Talk Addict
LV
3
 
Messages
1,018
Reaction score
1,960
Awards
10
Location
Wet and windy Manchester, England
Member Since
July 2005
Match 13) Dynasty - simply because I regard this as the second best American prime time soap opera after Dallas.

Match 14) Neighbours for its early formative years (1985 - 1989) after which everybody (Daphne & Des, Scott & Charlene, Jane Harris and Mike Young, Mrs Mangell etc) all left the show in succession and it was total crap thereafter.

But for its 1980s heyday when it topped the ratings in the U.K. it gets my vote.
 

Mel O'Drama

Admin
LV
12
 
Messages
13,298
Solutions
1
Reaction score
27,036
Awards
29
Member Since
28th September 2008
Match Thirteen
Oh - this could easily go either way depending on my mood and logic. The Colbys was never as powerful and shocking as Dynasty's first season. Little to no soap was. But it also never achieved the nadirs I associate with Dynasty's Karen Cellini era. The Colbys was certainly head and shoulders above the concurrent seasons of Dynasty. And its arrival injected a little sparkle and event into the parent series. The Colbys contains one of the most compelling conversations between spouses in that divorce papers scene between Jason and Sable. But then Season One of Dynasty has scene after scene of such scenes. I came into this feeling fairly sure I'd vote for the underdog, but along the way I've convinced myself that no matter how low the lows, they can't negate the highs of those initial seasons. Throw in that its final season was pure quality, and to my own mild surprise...

My vote goes to...
Dynasty




Match Fourteen
Another where I could talk myself into either. And for very different reasons. Just today in another thread we were discussing the poetry of Northern English dialect. And Connie has that in abundance. And a wonderful cast. And a perfectly short run. Neighbours is pretty much the opposite. Over eight thousand episodes to Connie's thirteen. A cast of thousands over the years. Where Connie is a bespoke piece of hand crafted art, Neighbours is a kind of soapy sausage factory, producing chains of tasty goodness made from recycled goodness knows what, which people buy in the millions because it's a safe option for teatime. A known quantity.

But sometimes I can't say "no" to a bit of sausage. There's no explaining it, other than to say that there's often a good reason why something is so popular. I can still remember where I was when Neighbours' first episode aired on BBC1 (on half term break from school, and watching - appropriately enough - in a neighbour's house: a friend from three doors down who'd somehow caught the hype I'd missed about the series and insisted on watching). I loved the comforting brown-beiges of the Seven Network sets that first year. And the sedate pace. The likeable older characters. And the kids who were some years older than me and whose concerns about romance and contraception seemed exotically worldly. In its golden era, those first years in its new home on Channel 10, it seemed everyone at school was talking about it. And the ratings indicated that too. Part of my young self was already pining for the loss of the gloomy brownness of that first year, but there's no denying the Mrs Mangel era had an iconic something that was very special.

Just the other day, I turned on the TV in the early evening, which is quite a rare occurrence. As I flicked, I realised I'd stumbled onto a new episode of Neighbours - the first new episode I'd seen in goodness knows how long. It's certainly moved on. Goodness knows what Harold Bishop would say about its high definition and gay couple (the first scene I watched saw two men peck on the mouth. Twice). As I watched, there were vaguely familiar faces. A couple of long termers who are after my time but are still known to me for their service to the series. And then a handsome middle aged man appeared, mid relationship drama and I spent half the scene trying to work out how I knew his face. Turns out it was Clive Gibbons who has apparently returned to the series. And I felt great comfort in knowing he's still there and probably still no wiser.

My heart says...
Neighbours






 

Barbara Fan

Admin
LV
12
 
Messages
10,202
Reaction score
23,156
Awards
28
Location
Scotland
Member Since
2000
Favourite Movie
Witness, Vertigo, Spellbound
my vote

R13 - i will write what i wrote on a UK election ballot paper
I drew in a box at the bottom and wrote none of the above are worth my vote lol

Didnt like or watch either show as it was competition for Dallas

R14- Couldnt watch Neighbours so since I liked Stephanie Beacham in tenko she can get my vote for Connie
 

Willie Oleson

Telly Talk Schemer
LV
8
 
Messages
18,832
Reaction score
32,278
Awards
22
Location
Plotville, Shenanigan
Member Since
April 2002
Match 13
Mel has already mentioned the most important reasons why I should vote for Dynasty. Maybe I could add Dynasty's stronger ensemble cast to that list.
However, I've always been tremendously fascinated by the concept of expanding/altering a work of fiction into a new existence. It's almost as if it shouldn't be possible, and yet they keep doing it.
But The Colbys was also Dynasty Extra, which made the connection with the parent show even stronger. I'm sure many people would consider that a disadvantage, but to me it perfectly taps into the bizarreness of the-same-but-not-the-same thing.
Furthermore, Sable and Miles are amongst my favourite SoapLand characters, and I'd love to do a match between the two Connies.
I'm going to stick to my guns and vote for
upload_2019-10-2_22-41-27.png


Match 14
Connie's excessively literary script proved to be a real challenge, in fact, after only 4 episodes I decided to call it quits because I found it too much hassle to decipher what exactly was being said.
But I liked the characters, and the bitchy, greedy 1980s atmosphere.

I'm definitely going back to watch the other episodes.
Was Connie a short-lived soap, or simply a series in 13 parts? I'm not sure.

Neighbours is the longest running series on Belgian TV, and yet I've never been tempted to check out one single episode.
A forum member recently informed me that Neighbours is a very nice soap, and that confirms that I can still trust my instinct.
My vote goes to CONNIE.
 
Top