Eldorado (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Eldorado was a British
soap opera
that ran for only one year, from 6 July 1992 to 9 July 1993. Set in Coín
on the Costa Del Sol and based around the lives of British and European expats
, the BBC
hoped it would be as successful as EastEnders
and replicate some of the sunshine and glamour of imported Australian soaps such as Home and Away
and Neighbours
. It was made as a co-production between the BBC and independent production company Cinema Verity
, and aired three times a week in a high-profile evening slot on the mainstream channel BBC1
, filling the BBC1 slot vacated by Terry Wogan
's chat show Wogan, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.00pm.
In spite of a high-profile advertising campaign on television, radio and in the press preceding the launch ('Are you ready for Eldorado?', read by actor Campbell Morrison
), the programme was not initially a popular hit with viewers and critics. Ratings improved with a radical overhaul, but it was eventually cancelled by the new controller of BBC1, Alan Yentob
.
. Lyrics were written for the closing credits
of the final episode; the song, called "When You Go Away", was performed by Johnny Griggs. The full version was released as a single and included on the album New Vintage: The Best of Simon May
. The full instrumental version of the theme was included on May's 2010 compilation album The Simon May Collection
.
and Jesse Birdsall
), many of the cast were inexperienced actors whose limitations were clearly exposed on such a new and ambitious project (German-born Kai Maurer had apparently never acted on stage or screen previously before being cast in the show): prior to filming, some of the cast did not even know what a read-through
was; the acting was derided as amateurish, while the attempt to appear more 'Europe
an' by having people speaking other languages without subtitle
s or bizarre/unconvincing accents was met by viewers with incomprehension and ridicule.
As a result of filming in bare-walled villas rather than a studio, there were many sound and acoustic
problems such as echoing
. Possibly in a bid to court media attention, the show opened with the controversial story of a middle-aged man, Bunny (played by Roger Walker), returning from the UK with a 17-year-old bride, Fizz (Kathy Pitkin); many viewers felt this storyline was implausible and seedy. On top of this, ITV
decided to air a special one-hour edition of Coronation Street
against Eldorado on the show's debut evening, to "strangle it at birth" as network executives put it.
Eldorado was conceived by EastEnders creators Julia Smith
and Tony Holland
, and was executive produced by Verity Lambert
, who had made her reputation as an in-house producer for the BBC, and had previously launched the BBC's successful science fiction television series Doctor Who
. As a result, the costly production - although not exorbitant by contemporary television standards - was used by critics of the television licence
to argue that the corporation was feathering the nest of former employees. Due to the stresses of internal feuding, producer Julia Smith had a nervous breakdown and left the soap opera, to be replaced by Corinne Hollingworth
, who had previously worked on EastEnders and brought about many changes to Eldorado by hiring new scriptwriters, creating extra rehearsal time, and removing many of the inexperienced and poor actors who had attracted criticism.
cancelled the programme, which had been commissioned by his predecessor Jonathan Powell. Some involved in the programme's production consider that the motives for cancellation were mainly political; they believe that Eldorado was not representative of the more serious image of the BBC
that incoming management wished to present, particularly in light of the forthcoming renewal of the BBC Charter
.
In the UK, Eldorado is remembered as an embarrassing failure for the BBC, and is sometimes used as a byword for any unsuccessful, poorly received or over-hyped television programme. It is widely thought that the failure of Eldorado is the reason why the BBC has not attempted to launch a brand new prime-time soap from scratch (apart from Out of the Blue
) since; the corporation opting instead to move established series Casualty
and Holby City
to year-round production.
The series ended with one of its star characters, Marcus Tandy (played by Jesse Birdsall
), escaping an attempt on his life with his car being blown up, and sailing off into the distance on a boat, with his girlfriend Pilar Moreno (played by Sandra Sandri). Some viewers noticed that the car that was blown up was not, in fact, the Renault Alpine
driven by Marcus, but a thinly disguised, much older model, the Triumph TR7
. The final line of dialogue, delivered by Tandy, was: 'You can't trust anyone these days, can you?'
Shortly after the final episode was transmitted, Adios Eldorado, a compilation video featuring highlights from the series, was released by the BBC
. On its first week of release it was the top-selling video in the chart at branches of the shop Woolworths
. At the end of its run, the show was typically receiving 9-10 million viewers.
Eldorado was briefly aired on UK Gold between 1995 and 1996. It was repeated again in 2002, and has occasionally been repeated, in a late night slot, since then.
The set is still in existence and after lying empty for several years, it is now a hotel complex called Hotel Ciudad Del Cine and is situated near the village of Coín
which is in the hills above the Costa Del Sol
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
that ran for only one year, from 6 July 1992 to 9 July 1993. Set in Coín
Coín
Coín is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, Spain, c. 33 km west of the provincial capital, Málaga, and c. 30 km north of Marbella...
on the Costa Del Sol and based around the lives of British and European expats
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
hoped it would be as successful as EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
and replicate some of the sunshine and glamour of imported Australian soaps such as Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
and Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
. It was made as a co-production between the BBC and independent production company Cinema Verity
Cinema Verity
Cinema Verity was a British independent television and film production company, founded in 1985 by Verity Lambert, the television producer, who named the company after herself and as a pun on the expression 'cinéma vérité'....
, and aired three times a week in a high-profile evening slot on the mainstream channel BBC1
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, filling the BBC1 slot vacated by Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
's chat show Wogan, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.00pm.
In spite of a high-profile advertising campaign on television, radio and in the press preceding the launch ('Are you ready for Eldorado?', read by actor Campbell Morrison
Campbell Morrison
Campbell Morrison was a Scottish actor.He appeared in the soap operas Eldorado and EastEnders , and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in the early eighties.He also played Gordon Gallagher in the Sky One series Dream Team.He had two sons, Tom and Luke, from a...
), the programme was not initially a popular hit with viewers and critics. Ratings improved with a radical overhaul, but it was eventually cancelled by the new controller of BBC1, Alan Yentob
Alan Yentob
Alan Yentob is a British television executive and presenter who has worked throughout his career at the BBC.-Early life:...
.
Music
The theme tune was composed by Simon MaySimon May
Simon May is a British musician and composer, best known for composing some of British television's best known theme tunes, including EastEnders and Howards' Way, and for composing the music for the 1988 film The Dawning....
. Lyrics were written for the closing credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
of the final episode; the song, called "When You Go Away", was performed by Johnny Griggs. The full version was released as a single and included on the album New Vintage: The Best of Simon May
New Vintage: The Best of Simon May
New Vintage: The Best of Simon May is a 1994 compilation album featuring some of the key works from British film and television music composer Simon May.The album was accompanied by a UK tour, named "A Night Away From the TV"...
. The full instrumental version of the theme was included on May's 2010 compilation album The Simon May Collection
The Simon May Collection
The Simon May Collection is a 2010 compilation album of television and film music written by Simon May.The album was released to coincide with the departure of the character Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor, from the BBC soap opera EastEnders...
.
Problems and criticism
Although the show contained many professional actors (such as Patricia BrakePatricia Brake
Patricia Ann Brake is an English actress.Her first prominent television role was as Julie Pinfield in The Ugliest Girl in Town , a short-lived sitcom made for the American ABC network...
and Jesse Birdsall
Jesse Birdsall
Jesse Birdsall is a British actor, known in the UK for his starring roles in several high-profile, popular television programmes, particularly in Bugs as Nick Beckett and later in The Bill as a character named Ron Gregory, a convicted paedophile.As a child, he attended the Anna Scher children's...
), many of the cast were inexperienced actors whose limitations were clearly exposed on such a new and ambitious project (German-born Kai Maurer had apparently never acted on stage or screen previously before being cast in the show): prior to filming, some of the cast did not even know what a read-through
Read-through
The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted....
was; the acting was derided as amateurish, while the attempt to appear more 'Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an' by having people speaking other languages without subtitle
Subtitle (captioning)
Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
s or bizarre/unconvincing accents was met by viewers with incomprehension and ridicule.
As a result of filming in bare-walled villas rather than a studio, there were many sound and acoustic
Acoustics
Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...
problems such as echoing
Echo (phenomenon)
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the walls of an enclosed room and an empty room. A true echo is a single...
. Possibly in a bid to court media attention, the show opened with the controversial story of a middle-aged man, Bunny (played by Roger Walker), returning from the UK with a 17-year-old bride, Fizz (Kathy Pitkin); many viewers felt this storyline was implausible and seedy. On top of this, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
decided to air a special one-hour edition of Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
against Eldorado on the show's debut evening, to "strangle it at birth" as network executives put it.
Eldorado was conceived by EastEnders creators Julia Smith
Julia Smith
Julia Smith was an English television director and producer.- Early career :London-born Smith became involved in television production when she directed the series Suspense in 1962...
and Tony Holland
Tony Holland
Anthony John "Tony" Holland was an English television screenwriter best known as a writer and co-creator of the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early career:...
, and was executive produced by Verity Lambert
Verity Lambert
Verity Ann Lambert, OBE was an English television and film producer. She is best known as the founding producer of the science-fiction series Doctor Who, a programme which has become a part of British popular culture, and for her association with Thames Television...
, who had made her reputation as an in-house producer for the BBC, and had previously launched the BBC's successful science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. As a result, the costly production - although not exorbitant by contemporary television standards - was used by critics of the television licence
Television licence
A television licence is an official licence required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts...
to argue that the corporation was feathering the nest of former employees. Due to the stresses of internal feuding, producer Julia Smith had a nervous breakdown and left the soap opera, to be replaced by Corinne Hollingworth
Corinne Hollingworth
Corinne Hollingworth is a British television producer and executive, best known for her contributions to British soap operas, including BBC's EastEnders and five's Family Affairs...
, who had previously worked on EastEnders and brought about many changes to Eldorado by hiring new scriptwriters, creating extra rehearsal time, and removing many of the inexperienced and poor actors who had attracted criticism.
Cancellation
In spite of changes made by Hollingworth to rectify the soap opera's early problems (ratings improved over the course of the show's run, as did the quality of the storylines), it was claimed that this was not enough to justify its continued production, and incoming Controller of BBC1 Alan YentobAlan Yentob
Alan Yentob is a British television executive and presenter who has worked throughout his career at the BBC.-Early life:...
cancelled the programme, which had been commissioned by his predecessor Jonathan Powell. Some involved in the programme's production consider that the motives for cancellation were mainly political; they believe that Eldorado was not representative of the more serious image of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
that incoming management wished to present, particularly in light of the forthcoming renewal of the BBC Charter
BBC Charter
The BBC Charter established the BBC . An accompanying Agreement recognises its editorial independence and sets out its public obligations in detail....
.
In the UK, Eldorado is remembered as an embarrassing failure for the BBC, and is sometimes used as a byword for any unsuccessful, poorly received or over-hyped television programme. It is widely thought that the failure of Eldorado is the reason why the BBC has not attempted to launch a brand new prime-time soap from scratch (apart from Out of the Blue
Out of the Blue (2008 TV series)
Out of the Blue is an Australian serial drama commissioned by the BBC, produced by Australia's Southern Star Entertainment. It began screening on BBC One on weekday afternoons on 28 April 2008. The programme attracted lower than desired ratings figures, prompting the broadcaster to shift it to its...
) since; the corporation opting instead to move established series Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
and Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
to year-round production.
The series ended with one of its star characters, Marcus Tandy (played by Jesse Birdsall
Jesse Birdsall
Jesse Birdsall is a British actor, known in the UK for his starring roles in several high-profile, popular television programmes, particularly in Bugs as Nick Beckett and later in The Bill as a character named Ron Gregory, a convicted paedophile.As a child, he attended the Anna Scher children's...
), escaping an attempt on his life with his car being blown up, and sailing off into the distance on a boat, with his girlfriend Pilar Moreno (played by Sandra Sandri). Some viewers noticed that the car that was blown up was not, in fact, the Renault Alpine
Alpine (car)
Alpine was a French manufacturer of racing and sports cars that used rear-mounted Renault engines.Jean Rédélé , the founder of Alpine, was originally a Dieppe garage proprietor, who began to achieve considerable competition success in one of the few French cars produced just after World War...
driven by Marcus, but a thinly disguised, much older model, the Triumph TR7
Triumph TR7
The Triumph TR7 is a sports car manufactured from September 1974 to October 1981 by the Triumph Motor Company in the United Kingdom. It was initially produced at the Speke, Liverpool factory, moving to Canley, Coventry in 1978 and then finally to the Rover plant in Solihull in 1980...
. The final line of dialogue, delivered by Tandy, was: 'You can't trust anyone these days, can you?'
Shortly after the final episode was transmitted, Adios Eldorado, a compilation video featuring highlights from the series, was released by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. On its first week of release it was the top-selling video in the chart at branches of the shop Woolworths
Woolworths Group
Woolworths Group plc was a listed British company that owned the high-street retail chain, Woolworths, as well as other brands such as the entertainment distributor Entertainment UK and book and resource distributor Bertram Books...
. At the end of its run, the show was typically receiving 9-10 million viewers.
Eldorado was briefly aired on UK Gold between 1995 and 1996. It was repeated again in 2002, and has occasionally been repeated, in a late night slot, since then.
The set is still in existence and after lying empty for several years, it is now a hotel complex called Hotel Ciudad Del Cine and is situated near the village of Coín
Coín
Coín is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, Spain, c. 33 km west of the provincial capital, Málaga, and c. 30 km north of Marbella...
which is in the hills above the Costa Del Sol
Costa del Sol
The Costa del Sol is a region in the south of Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the Mediterranean coastline of the Málaga province. The Costa del Sol is situated between two lesser known costas: Costa de la Luz and Costa Tropical...
.
See also
- TriangleTriangle (TV series)Triangle was a BBC television soap opera in the early 1980s, set aboard a North Sea ferry which sailed between Felixstowe & Gothenburg and Gothenburg & Amsterdam. A third imaginary leg existed between Amsterdam & Felixstowe to make up the program title, but this was not operated by the ferry company...
, a short-lived BBC soap opera from the early 1980s that had a similarly troubled history.