1962 A year after its launch, Coronation Street, Granada Television’s ‘serial of North Country life,’ is a hit.
1979 ‘Shoddy sets, the fluffed lines, the dopy plots’ - Peter Conrad reviews Crossroads.
1982 The Guardian’s Nancy Banks-Smith gives her first impression of Channel 4’s Brookside.
1985 Bobby Ewing, from US soap Dallas, is killed off.
1999 The traditional battle for Christmas TV ratings sees BBC’s Eastenders take on ITV’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
2000 Australian soap opera Neighbours knocks on America’s door.
2001 In a bid to expand its appeal, Emmerdale introduces its first ethnic minority family.
2013 Pass the soap: from Coronation Street to EastEnders, soap operas once dominated British TV. Now, beset by disgraced stars and plummeting ratings, they are struggling to remain relevant.
2015 For the first time in 65 years the Archers airs an episode containing a swear word.
