Compact

Compact (1962)


  • Genre: Drama, Soap
  • Creator: Peter Ling
  • First Air Date: 1962-01-02
  • Last Air Date: 1965-07-30
  • Total Seasons: 4
  • Total Episodes: 371
  • Status: Ended
  • Episode Runtime: 30 min.
  • Network: BBC one
star 3/10
From 2 Ratings

Summary

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.

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Compact Trailer

Compact Seasons

Season 1

First Air Date: 1962-01-02
104 Episodes

Season 2

First Air Date: 1963-01-01
105 Episodes

Season 3

First Air Date: 1964-01-02
102 Episodes

Season 4

First Air Date: 1965-01-01
60 Episodes

Compact Episodes

No episodes found.
  • Vincent Ball

    as
  • Robert Desmond

    as
  • Rachel Gurney

    as
  • Clinton Greyn

    as
  • Carmen Silvera

    as
  • Mandy Miller

    as
  • Patrick Troughton

    as
  • Lionel Murton

    as
  • Eric Barker

    as
  • Robert Flemyng

    as
  • David Langton

    as
  • Sandra Payne

    as
  • Shane Rimmer

    as
  • Moray Watson

    as
  • Julia Lockwood

    as
  • Donald Hewlett

    as
  • Bill Kerr

    as
  • Tony Wright

    as
  • Bernard Kay

    as
  • Beryl Cooke

    as
  • Dilys Watling

    as
  • Elizabeth Wallace

    as

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