UK Soap Promo Thread

[Carrie Fairchild]

This popped up as a suggestion on YouTube and inspired me to start this thread.

Given its length, I’m presuming it was used to fill full ad breaks during less lucrative timeslots on Channel 5 but it is quite different for that era. Since then, soaps have started producing more theatrical promos (EE & ED in particular). Anyway, here’s a few more that stand out for me - Bet’s return to Corrie (unfortunately the promo is about as dramatic as her brief return got) and an unusual fourth wall breaking one from the dying days of Brookside. Please post your favourites as it’s always interesting (to me) to see when a show gets creative with its promotion.

 

[AndyB2008]

Brookside by this point was flung here, there and everywhere.

At one point the Saturday teatime omnibus was demoted to a Tuesday lunchtime slot and the Saturday slot given to the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Brookside by this point was flung here, there and everywhere.

At one point the Saturday teatime omnibus was demoted to a Tuesday lunchtime slot and the Saturday slot given to the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!.

I remember when it started airing late night, there’d be times when it’d be close to midnight before it would start. Here’s another promo for it, this time from the storyline that many say was the turning point when the show started really going downhill.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

“These are the people who’ll become household names”. A rather optimistic promo for the start of Albion Market.

 

[Ollie james]

The promo for Bets return lasted longer then her comeback.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

The promo for Bets return lasted longer then her comeback.

There’s a good video here that examines the fiasco that was her return. I have to agree with what they say here, her final episodes set in Blackpool were much more “Bet” than the initial return. Despite me not rating them previously, it at least gives the character some closure compared to the 2002 episodes which saw her disappear upstairs in Audrey’s house before fleeing Weatherfield offscreen.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

Brookside by this point was flung here, there and everywhere.

At one point the Saturday teatime omnibus was demoted to a Tuesday lunchtime slot and the Saturday slot given to the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!.

Yeah they really couldn’t care less about Brookside in its final years.

Hollyoaks looks set to go the same way

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

love how this promo looks like the opening credits of the American teen soap; Beverly Hills 90210, the show Hollyoaks was modelled on at the time.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Two late 90’s/early 00’s trailers including taglines that ran with them.

The “EastEnders. Everyone’s Talking About It” tagline is probably the more memorable of the two, mainly because everyone was talking about the show at the time with its various headline grabbing storylines like the Saskia murder trial, Who Shot Phil? and “You ain’t my muvva”.

I remember “Keep Your Eye on the Close” but I don’t recall how long they used it for. This trailer in particular is from the show’s final years judging by the storyline references.