Compact

Compact

📺 Series 1 seasons GB
โ˜… 6.8 /10 1962

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.

Cast

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Frances Bennett
Mary Augusta 'Gussie' Beatty
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Frances Bennett
Mary Augusta 'Gussie' Brown
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Robert Desmond
Adrian Coombs
Ronald Allen
Ronald Allen
Ian Harmon
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Louise Dunn
Iris Alcott
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Louise Dunn
Iris Millet
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Lawrence James
Doug Beatty
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Lawrence James
Jack Houghton
Carmen Silvera
Carmen Silvera
Camilla Hope
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Basil Moss
Alan Drew
Vincent Ball
Vincent Ball
David Rome
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Gareth Davies
Mark Viccars
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Betty Cooper
Alison Morley
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Betty Cooper
Alison
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Betty Cooper
Alison Gray