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I'm talking about the signs that your favourite (now cancelled) soap was not long for this world. Were there giveaways that the show was on borrowed time (other than the ratings)? Was there a particular storyline or departure that heralded the beginning of the end or a change in production / scheduling? Or was their cancellation an abrupt shock?
For example, it was pretty clear that British soap Brookside was on its way out when its three episodes a week were pulled from their longstanding home in the evening schedules and dumped into an omnibus edition on Saturday afternoons (which had traditionally been the home of the show's omnibus repeat of the week's episodes). If anyone was in any doubt about the future of the show following that move, its fate was sealed when it was then pulled from Saturday afternoons and shoved into a late night slot midweek, where it saw out its final months.
On the other hand, the demise of teatime soap Family Affairs came quickly. The show was "the little train that could" of British soaps, dodging cancellation on a number of occasions through a series of revamps over the years including blowing up the show's original "family" and randomly relocating the setting (houses and all) from the leafy suburbs to a more central, outer London street. In mid-2005, it was announced that another revamp was underway, as a number of long running characters including villain Pete Callan (arguably the show's lead) were written out, and a new producer was drafted in. Plans to turn it into a glamour soap with a new name, were apparently in the pipeline and a raft of new characters were introduced, giving the impression that the show would be around a while longer (as had been the case after all previous revamps). But then the network (Channel 5) had a change of heart and announced in September that they wouldn't be renewing the show, and it would end that Christmas. The exodus of long running characters and introduction of new ones had already started, so the show's final storylines were an odd mish mash of new plots involving characters that viewers barely knew or cared about.
For example, it was pretty clear that British soap Brookside was on its way out when its three episodes a week were pulled from their longstanding home in the evening schedules and dumped into an omnibus edition on Saturday afternoons (which had traditionally been the home of the show's omnibus repeat of the week's episodes). If anyone was in any doubt about the future of the show following that move, its fate was sealed when it was then pulled from Saturday afternoons and shoved into a late night slot midweek, where it saw out its final months.
On the other hand, the demise of teatime soap Family Affairs came quickly. The show was "the little train that could" of British soaps, dodging cancellation on a number of occasions through a series of revamps over the years including blowing up the show's original "family" and randomly relocating the setting (houses and all) from the leafy suburbs to a more central, outer London street. In mid-2005, it was announced that another revamp was underway, as a number of long running characters including villain Pete Callan (arguably the show's lead) were written out, and a new producer was drafted in. Plans to turn it into a glamour soap with a new name, were apparently in the pipeline and a raft of new characters were introduced, giving the impression that the show would be around a while longer (as had been the case after all previous revamps). But then the network (Channel 5) had a change of heart and announced in September that they wouldn't be renewing the show, and it would end that Christmas. The exodus of long running characters and introduction of new ones had already started, so the show's final storylines were an odd mish mash of new plots involving characters that viewers barely knew or cared about.