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Compact

  • TV series
  • 1962
  • 4 seasons
  • 374 episodes

Created by Peter Ling

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Overview

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.

Roughly 187h to watch every episode. This is an estimate: 374 episodes at the typical episode runtime of 30 minutes.

Where to watch

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Series cast and crew

  • Vincent Ball

    Vincent Ball
    374 episodes

  • Robert Desmond

    Robert DesmondAdrian Coombs
    374 episodes

  • Rachel Gurney

    Rachel Gurney
    374 episodes

  • Clinton Greyn

    Clinton Greyn
    374 episodes

  • Carmen Silvera

    Carmen Silvera
    374 episodes

  • Mandy Miller

    Mandy Miller
    374 episodes

  • Patrick Troughton

    Patrick Troughton
    374 episodes

  • Lionel Murton

    Lionel Murton
    374 episodes

  • Eric Barker

    Eric Barker
    374 episodes

  • Robert Flemyng

    Robert Flemyng
    374 episodes

  • David Langton

    David Langton
    374 episodes

  • Sandra Payne

    Sandra Payne
    374 episodes

  • Shane Rimmer

    Shane Rimmer
    374 episodes

  • Moray Watson

    Moray Watson
    374 episodes

  • Julia Lockwood
    374 episodes

  • Donald Hewlett

    Donald Hewlett
    374 episodes

  • Bill Kerr

    Bill Kerr
    374 episodes

  • Tony Wright

    Tony Wright
    374 episodes

Created by
Peter Ling
Network
BBC One

Seasons and episodes