Compact S2E144

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Show

Compact

Episodes

1. Happy Birthday

2. Merely Players

3. Picture Page

4. Research Pays Off

5. Waiting For News

6. Staff Changes

7. The New Editor

8. To See Ourselves

9. Changing Step

10. Military Honours

11. Vital Talks

12. The Man For The Job

13. Black Ice

14. The Magpie's Hoard

15. The Thief

16. United We Stand

17. Shrove Tuesday

18. Unofficial Strike

19. Emergency

20. Normal Working

21. On The Edge

22. Shock Tactics

23. The Winner

24. Chicken And Champagne

25. The Highway Man

26. A List Of Names

27. The Wrong Idea

28. Fire And Water

29. A Question Of Age

30. Tangled Web

31. Little Boy Lost

32. Sent To Coventry

33. Money Trouble

34. Mr Bruce Remembers

35. Echo From The Past

36. The Puffing Doctor

37. A Novel Situation

38. Bitter Wine

39. Moments Of Truth

40. The New Understanding

41. I'll Be In Scotland Before Ye

42. Auld Acquaintance

43. Family Crisis

44. The McDee In London

45. A Day At The Seaside

46. Run Away

47. Truth Will Out

48. Living In The Past

49. Big Brother

50. Out In Limbo

51. A Case Of Desperation

52. Welcome Home

53. Missing Facts

54. Artist Unknown

55. Back To Work

56. Where Is The Skeleton?

57. A Mystery Solved

58. Highland Fling

59. The Ultimatum

60. Power Play

61. The Reluctant Heroine

62. Principles Won't Stop James

63. Who Pays For Leadership?

64. Because Of Alan

65. Stolen - One Cigarette Case, Gold

66. Man Proposes

67. Investigations Proceed

68. A Shower Of Confetti

69. On The Run

70. The Gamblers

71. Lost, Stolen, Or Strayed

72. A Ring For Iris

73. Faith And Begorra

74. A Touch Of The Blarney

75. Surprise Packet

76. The Sound Of Fury

77. Aftermath

78. The Party Member

79. The Mighty Fallen

80. The Reception

81. Alarms And Excursions

82. Two Faced

83. Stranded

84. Two Lovely Black Eyes

85. Chain Of Events

86. Night Call

87. Dinner At Eight

88. Marmot James Again

89. Fireworks All Round

90. Fire And Water

91. You Have Talent - We Want It

92. They Fell Among Thieves

93. The News Breaks

94. Happy Birthday

95. The Tax Man Cometh

96. Bottled On The Premises

97. Celebration

98. Afterthoughts

99. No Promises - I'll Take Cash

100. Wait For The Bang

101. The New Editor

102. A Job For The Boy

103. Dress Rehearsal

105. Happy New Year

204. On Stage

Sources

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Compact

Drama

Soap

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.

Date: 01/02/1962

Rating: 3.0

Cast: Vincent Ball, Robert Desmond, Rachel Gurney, Clinton Greyn, Carmen Silvera, Mandy Miller, Patrick Troughton, Lionel Murton, Eric Barker, Robert Flemyng, David Langton, Sandra Payne, Shane Rimmer, Moray Watson, Julia Lockwood, Donald Hewlett, Bill Kerr, Tony Wright, Bernard Kay, Beryl Cooke, Dilys Watling, Elizabeth Wallace

Vincent Ball