1. Patricia Hamilton - SONS AND DAUGHTERS
To vote for Patricia feels like voting for the entire series. There is, of course, the actress playing this fascinating, outrageous, wild and sometimes vulnerable soap character, but all the other characters (and the actors playing them) have contributed something to "Pat The Rat".
There's a popular saying on tellytalk "she's everything!" - well, Patricia was exactly that. In fact, so "everything" that the actress was literally defeated by her own TV role.
2. Ann Hammond - THE BROTHERS
To be honest, it feels a bit strange to vote for such a relatively obscure character as my #2, but I think of her as the quintessential Female Soap Trouble of the 1970s.
More likeable than Patricia, more sophisticated than Alexis, and dirtier than Sue Ellen.
3. David Collins - DARK SHADOWS
The most entertaining soap kid I've ever seen. He hates everyone!
4. Steven Cord - PEYTON PLACE
After the wives and the kid I'm going to vote for Steven as my favourite TV man. He wants everything so very much and still he finds the time to do some of the best scripted dialogue in soap history.
5. Beryl Palmer - SONS AND DAUGHTERS
She embodies all the hardship of Australian life and yet she just keeps on baking. I respect her.
6. James Hurley - TWIN PEAKS
A lovely parody on the brooding and misunderstood outcast. I really can't say what's so great about him, script or perfomance-wise. This vote is purely emotional and I think that makes perfect sense in the Twin Peaks universe.
7. Miles Colby - THE COLBYS
This is more like a combined vote for Miles and mother Sable. two of my favourite breakout prime time soap characters.
8. Sable Colby - THE COLBYS
9. Chris Keller - OZ
I think this was the first time that a gay TV character was so shamelessly sexualized, and it was quite a spectacle to behold. Ironically, he's also the most intriguing and complex gay character I've ever seen in a TV series.
10. Alexis Colby - DYNASTY
Because she's the best, but not today.
11. John Ross Ewing - DALLAS
John Ross and the gang proved that there was still a lot of life in that soap relic called DALLAS. Scraping, struggling, fracking, scheming, blackmailing, double-crossing, loving and whoring, he was always willing to get his hands dirty. A true member of the Precious Family (as Sue Ellen '79 would say it).
12. Carolyn Russell - PEYTON PLACE
She was also in one of my previous lists and I couldn't think of any reason to exclude her this time. This "Diana Fairgate" of the late 1960s is not an epic or iconic character but she was very beautifully written. She's also one of the last Peyton Place characters I've watched so maybe that helps it to linger on.
13. Lee Webber - PEYTON PLACE
There's nothing about him that looks planned or intentional, it's more like writing his own story within the story. He starts to believe in himself and even though he's not a great guy (at all) there is something endearing about the whole wretched situation.
14. Harriet Oleson - LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE
A vote based on caution. Better not to upset the big boss.
15. Wayne Hamilton - SONS AND DAUGHTERS
Awfully great, wonderfully bad - there's a lot to say about the Wayne but I really really like him and that's the only thing that matters.
16. Lucious Lyon - EMPIRE
Black Soap Matters. If you think that's a cheeky thing to say then obviously you haven't watched the real DYNASTY remake that is Empire.
17. Shane Walsh - THE WALKING DEAD
My favourite short-lived/cancelled TV character. There was so much promise and potential in this character but I guess I shouldn't watch it from a soapy point of view.
18. Ruth Sumner - KNOTS LANDING
Because the best stunt casting didn't happen in DYNASTY of FALCON CREST, it happened in the DALLAS spin off.
Like all the other Lana Turners she was larger than life, but much more mysterious and restrained. After she was gone there was a sense of "what happened here?" and I think that's a great byproduct of stunt casting.
19. Tanya Turner - FOOTBALLERS WIVES
Fake and raw, a real bitch but also the greatest loser. Nothing was too good or too bad for the footballers queen bee.
20. Bobby Briggs - TWIN PEAKS
My favourite "oh my god, they're back!" character. It felt so good and so real.
I'm sure I'll feel tempted to tweak my list at some point, but most of my choices would stay exactly where they are.
I would have liked to include all the characters from DYNASTY's first season but then I'd have to repeat my reasoning over and over again and I didn't feel like doing so.
