A soap opera that was cancelled 32 years ago is set to make a return to television. Eldorado, which aired on the BBC in 1992 and was cancelled after just one year due to low viewership, will soon be available for new fans to discover.
The series, which was intended to focus on wealthy British expatriates living in the fictional Spanish town of Los Barcos, ended with a character escaping into the sunset after an attempted car bombing. Despite being considered a significant failure for the BBC, UKTV is planning to air reruns of all 156 episodes on its UandDrama channel from Monday 27 January.
The original cast included Jesse Birdsall, Polly Perkins, Derek Martin, and Julie Fernandez, who went on to have successful careers in shows such as Hollyoaks, EastEnders, and The Office.
Reruns of classic soaps might offer solace to TV enthusiasts as current series face alarming ratings declines alongside actor departures. Coronation Street, particularly, has witnessed a spate of exits as ITV grapples with the challenges of keeping the programme afloat amidst financial constraints.
BBC soap Eldorado is retuning to TV
(Image: Nick Skinner/ANL/REX/Shutterstock)
Shelley King, who portrayed Yasmeen Nazir for over a decade, is the latest to announce her departure. A source disclosed, “This will be another blow for fans of the show, as Yasmeen is a much-loved character who’s part of the fabric of Corrie. She’s had some huge storylines since she joined the soap in 2014, and she’ll be sorely missed by cast and crew. It’s understood she is leaving so she can explore other projects.”, reports the Mirror.
These developments follow reports from earlier this month suggesting the beloved ITV soap is “on it’s knees” and scrambling for funding.
The production is apparently dispensing with fan-favourites to make way for emerging talents, simultaneously leaning on younger, less expensive actors. According to last week’s Daily Mail, dissent brews among the cast due to these off-screen transformations, reminiscing times when stars were accorded a fixed fee per episode, enabling main characters to amass significant earnings.
With budget cuts affecting TV productions, Coronation Street characters are expected to make fewer appearances in the Rovers Return. A previous inside source revealed to The Sun: “The cast loved the days when lots of scenes were filmed in the Rovers because it didn’t matter if you had 10 scenes in an episode or just sat in the pub – you’d get paid the same.”
They added, “Playing a barmaid or the landlord was a dream gig and would guarantee you got paid a fortune because it didn’t matter if you just served someone in the background – you got paid for the episode.”
Recent episodes have shown a decrease in screen time for major characters.
Helen Worth, famous for her role as Gail Platt for an impressive half-century until her exit on Christmas Day 2024, was featured in just 26 out of 304 episodes pre-departure. Meanwhile, Mike Le Vell, who has portrayed Kevin Webster, was seen in only 46 episodes despite his character facing a significant cancer scare storyline.
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