for sir salman rushdie, authors have been gathering in new york to demonstrate their support, a week after he was seriously injured in a knife attack. hundreds of writers gathered at the city s public library to read his works and pay tribute. and now on bbc news, it s the media show. hello. in march this year, the bbc gave one of its biggest soaps, holby city, a do not resuscitate order after 23 years. injuly, channel 5 decided we no longer needed good neighbours and the sun went down on ramsay street after 37 years. but cast your mind back to christmas day, 1986. anyone remember this? this, my sweet, is a letter from my solicitor telling you that your husband has filed a petition for divorce. happy christmas, ange. that was dirty den handing angie watt s divorce papers after she d lied to him about having six months left to live. 30 million people tuned in to watch that episode of eastenders, more than half the population. today, the show averages between 4 and 6 million pe
today, the show averages between 4 and 6 million per episode, much of it through iplayer. so do soaps matter any more? what s their place in the cultural landscape? are we going through a messy den and angie divorce with them? or is it still enduring love, like scott and charlene? i m joined by sir phil redmond, creator of three of the biggest british soaps of all time grange hill, brookside and hollyoa ks. daniel kilkenny is soaps editor for entertainment news website digital spy. tv critic and soap fan emma bullimore is here, and charles collingwood, who s been farming, flirting and digging into his wife s venison pie for a whopping 47 years as brian in the archers. welcome to you all and thanks for coming on the show. phil, if we start with you, all the big soaps eastenders, coronation street, emmerdale have seen huge drops in audience numbers in recent years. you ve criticised soaps for not tackling big social issues like they used to. do you think it s the end of t
No one knows – nearly 80 years after a World War II soldier and the mononymous ‘Jessie’ exchanged letters, she remains just that. A Christian name in a war.
big news from eastenders. 0h, big news from eastenders. oh, yes. do you want to tell them or should i? i don t want as well the fun. want to spoil the fun. eastenders has announced that patsy palmer will be returning to the bbc soap this spring, reprising her role as the feisty bianca jackson. ricky! you could put that on loop and have it playing! that is brilliant. it s been 30 years since we first heard that unforgettable shriek directed at bianca s on again, off again partner ricky. patsy firstjoined the show in 1993 and last appeared in walford in 2019. the actor says it s always a pleasure to be back . that is brilliant, isn t it? we are just going to hear that. ricky! ricky! everybody will be shouting it again. we ll be talking more about patsy s return, as well as some other