Crossroads at 50: A short history of yesterday's TV soaps

Crossroads launched on 2nd November 1964 Credit: PA

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the TV soap Crossroads.

Launched on 2nd November 1964, it received 18 million viewers at its peak.

The programme was one of Britain’s longest-running soaps and is famous for dealing with subjects not touched before on television, such as interracial relationships and domestic violence.

Here is a reminder of the some of the soaps which have come and gone over the years.

Brookside

Devised by Grange Hill creator, Phil Redmond, the Liverpool-based show was originally going to be called 'Meadowcroft'.

The soap launched the careers of stars such as Claire Sweeney and Ricky Tomlinson - and is famous for being the first British programme to broadcast a pre-watershed lesbian kiss in 1994.

The Bill

The Bill holds the title of the longest-running police-based programme on British television.

The Bill ran for 27 years on ITV Credit: PA

During it’s 27-year run, it picked up several awards, including BAFTAs and "best drama" at the Inside Soap Awards for four successive years.

Family Affairs

The five-day-a-week soap first appeared on British screens on 30 March 1997.

Although not as successful as its competitors, the soap managed to maintain a moderate one million viewers per episode, before it was finally taken off air in 2005.

Family Affairs first appeared on our screens on 30 March 1997 Credit: PA

Angels

Broadcast on the BBC between 1975 and 1978, Angels centred on the subject of student nurses.

After initially being based in Battersea, filming for the programme moved to Heath Green Hospital in Birmingham in the early 1980s.

The soap gave exposure to a variety of young actresses such as Pauline Quirke and Mamta Kaash, who went on to act in Casualty.