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Poster for Compact

TV series

Compact

1962 · 4 seasons · 374 episodes

Created by Peter Ling

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Synopsis

Compact was a British television soap opera shown by the BBC between 1962 and 1965. The series was created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling, who together went on to devise Crossroads. In contrast to the kitchen sink realism of Coronation Street, Compact was a distinctly middle-class serial, set in the more "sophisticated" arena of magazine publishing. An early "avarice" soap, it took the viewer into the business workplace, and aligned the professional lives of the characters with more personal storylines. The show was scheduled for broadcast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thus avoiding a clash with ITV's Coronation Street on Mondays and Wednesdays. When Compact began, the editor was a woman, Joanne Minster, yet it was not long before she was replaced by Ian Harmon, the son of the magazine's owner. Despite being largely criticised by reviewers, Compact was popular with the general public, and in 1964 a regular omnibus edition was introduced, broadcast on Sundays. Morris Barry, a some-time actor and BBC director – he directed several Doctor Who stories in the 1960s – took over as producer and was given a brief to spice the series up in view of the criticism it had received from the national press. But the BBC, never comfortable with the concept of soap opera, quietly dropped the series in 1965.

About 187h to watch every episode. An estimate: 374 episodes at the typical episode runtime of 30 minutes.

Where to watch

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Main cast

  • Vincent Ball
    374 episodes

  • Robert Desmond
    Adrian Coombs
    374 episodes

  • Rachel Gurney
    374 episodes

  • Clinton Greyn
    374 episodes

  • Carmen Silvera
    374 episodes

  • Mandy Miller
    374 episodes

  • Patrick Troughton
    374 episodes

  • Lionel Murton
    374 episodes

  • Eric Barker
    374 episodes

  • Robert Flemyng
    374 episodes

  • David Langton
    374 episodes

  • Sandra Payne
    374 episodes

  • Shane Rimmer
    374 episodes

  • Moray Watson
    374 episodes

  • Julia Lockwood
    374 episodes

  • Donald Hewlett
    374 episodes

  • Bill Kerr
    374 episodes

  • Tony Wright
    374 episodes

Seasons