Happy Birthday

Merely Players

Picture Page

Research Pays Off

Waiting For News

Staff Changes

The New Editor

To See Ourselves

Changing Step

Military Honours

Vital Talks

The Man For The Job

Black Ice

The Magpie's Hoard

The Thief

United We Stand

Shrove Tuesday

Unofficial Strike

Emergency

Normal Working

On The Edge

Shock Tactics

The Winner

Chicken And Champagne

The Highway Man

A List Of Names

The Wrong Idea

Fire And Water

A Question Of Age

Tangled Web

Little Boy Lost

Sent To Coventry

Money Trouble

Mr Bruce Remembers

Echo From The Past

The Puffing Doctor

A Novel Situation

Bitter Wine

Moments Of Truth

The New Understanding

I'll Be In Scotland Before Ye

Auld Acquaintance

Family Crisis

The McDee In London

A Day At The Seaside

Run Away

Truth Will Out

Living In The Past

Big Brother

Out In Limbo

A Case Of Desperation

Welcome Home

Missing Facts

Artist Unknown

Back To Work

Where Is The Skeleton?

A Mystery Solved

Highland Fling

The Ultimatum

Power Play

The Reluctant Heroine

Principles Won't Stop James

Who Pays For Leadership?

Because Of Alan

Stolen - One Cigarette Case, Gold

Man Proposes

Investigations Proceed

A Shower Of Confetti

On The Run

The Gamblers

Lost, Stolen, Or Strayed

A Ring For Iris

Faith And Begorra

A Touch Of The Blarney

Surprise Packet

The Sound Of Fury

Aftermath

The Party Member

The Mighty Fallen

The Reception

Alarms And Excursions

Two Faced

Stranded

Two Lovely Black Eyes

Chain Of Events

Night Call

Dinner At Eight

Marmot James Again

Fireworks All Round

You Have Talent - We Want It

They Fell Among Thieves

The News Breaks

The Tax Man Cometh

Bottled On The Premises

Celebration

Afterthoughts

No Promises - I'll Take Cash

Wait For The Bang

Season 2

Journey's End

Drama

Soap

Compact

BBC One

Season 1

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.