The First Issue

Advice To Readers

Efficiency Expert

Cover Photograph

Tea Break

Personal Problem

The New Broom

Sally Speaks Up

Question Of Identity

Wedding Grove

Suspicion Of Theft

Happy Birthday

Valentine's Day

Testing Time

Something To Celebrate

Press Reception

A True Story

Circulation Figures

News From New York

A Breath Of Air

The Party

After The Ball

Shocks And Bruises

Weekend

Action Stations

The Ideal Husband

Future Plans

Facing The Facts

A Night Out

Point Of Departure

Surprises By Post

A Piece Of Cake

Pets Corner

The Man For The Job

Down The Hatch

Stormy Weather

Musical Evening

Talent Contest

Visting Hours

Mixed Receptions

Home And Away

Day Of Frenzy

Moment Of Truth

In A Spin

The Big Chance

Garden Party

Happy Returns

Man And Wife

Blackmail

Take-Over Time

The Proposal

Faraway Places

Barbecue

A Day Of Problems

Comings And Goings

Looking Ahead

Weekend Plans

Settlement Day

Gone Astray

Evening Date

Pay Off

Moving Up

Surprise Party

Riding For A Fall

Unguarded Moment

Skin Deep

The Contest

Ebb And Flow

Budget Leak

Andiamo

Out For The Count

Finger Of Suspicion

Detective Work

The Elopement

Heartbeat

The First Clue

Trapped

The Morning After

Heart To Heart

Day Of Revolutions

True To Type

Where There's Smoke

Burns And Shock

Who's Who?

Horoscope

The Truth Of The Matter

A Case Of Identity

Questions And Answers

French Leave

Lost And Found

Art And Craft

The Best Laid Plans

Profit And Loss

Setting A Trap

Sparks Flying

The Bad Penny

All That Jazz

Season 1

Journey's End

Drama

Soap

Compact

BBC One

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

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.