Homeandawayfan. Posted October 30, 2021 Report Share Posted October 30, 2021 Not sure if it has been topped but the episode broadcast 11th January 1993 in the UK was watched by 15.1 million people. That month did see very high figures for H&A as other eps got 14.9 million, so for the show to break through the 15 million barrier. Must have been a very cold and chilly January night, where all we had was the sun kissed 2 main Australian soaps to brighten the evenings up. That was not Meg's death episode but an episode that was probably shown in Australia in June 1992 as the Meg episode (shown in Australia in April 1992) was shown in the UK in November 1992. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old H&A Fan Posted October 30, 2021 Report Share Posted October 30, 2021 Was that when Sophie was taken to hospital where she pushed this huge, massive thing out of her body? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan F Posted October 30, 2021 Report Share Posted October 30, 2021 It was Episode 1010, the Summer Bay fun run, so not really anything that you'd expect to be a major draw for viewers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyFridge Posted October 31, 2021 Report Share Posted October 31, 2021 7 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said: Not sure if it has been topped but the episode broadcast 11th January 1993 in the UK was watched by 15.1 million people. That month did see very high figures for H&A as other eps got 14.9 million, so for the show to break through the 15 million barrier. Must have been a very cold and chilly January night, where all we had was the sun kissed 2 main Australian soaps to brighten the evenings up. That was not Meg's death episode but an episode that was probably shown in Australia in June 1992 as the Meg episode (shown in Australia in April 1992) was shown in the UK in November 1992. Neighbours fans always like to bring up the old ''Neighbours was more popular in the UK'' thing but figures like that show that H&A was not that far behind when it achieved its highest ratings. H&A has also achieved higher ratings than Neighbours in a number of countries including its own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeandawayfan. Posted October 31, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2021 Neighbours was slightly more popular at most. As H&A progressed, the gap got narrower as it took H&A time to grip the nation, like it did for Neighbours. And at times it was virtually neck and neck by 1995-1997. The day and night of 11th January 1993 in the UK was snowy across much of the UK and gales. So that may explain the higher figures for a relatively mundane episode of H&A. A fun run from an exotic Australian soap opera must have been to the liking of the nation as they were having their central heating on full blast, as the weather did it's worst outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyFridge Posted October 31, 2021 Report Share Posted October 31, 2021 I have always preferred the locations used on H&A over Neighbours. I just love the beach and the fact that the characters are spread out in different locations around Summer bay. Neighbours just kind of felt like the Australian version of Brookside or something with that dull cul-de-sac. Not knocking Neighbours or Brookie as i enjoyed both during their best era's but H&A just has the best setting and the beach always seemed lit up in golden sunshine. It always appealed to me more than Neighbours as a bit of escapism and an attractive location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeandawayfan. Posted November 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2021 That was H&A at its peak in the UK, 1992-1994. I got the 15.1 million figure for 11th January 1993 from old editions of newspapers online from January 1993, Telly Top 20. Imagine all the drowsy patients in hospitals having H&A playing on the ward TV that night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nenehcherry2 Posted November 2, 2021 Report Share Posted November 2, 2021 I have access to British Newspaper Archive myself and remember looking this up a few years ago; I recall reading a newspaper source on that channel which had the figures for the Meg death eps (airing in the UK around Nov 92) going over the 17M mark. Pretty sure some of the Bobby's coma / death eps went over 15M too. I'll look it up again and share a snip it on here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeandawayfan. Posted November 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2021 Thanks, look forward to it. 17 million is very impressive, and it was virtually neck and neck with Neighbours for that episode. Shows how H&A was more popular than thought if it got 15-17 or more million in 1992-1993. Shame how Neighbours and H&A could never be permanent rivals to Corrie and EE. By 1996/1997 Neighbours and H&A were losing viewers fast while CS and EE remained at 20 million for many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Martin Posted November 5, 2021 Report Share Posted November 5, 2021 I know the death of Meg was a big deal in the UK, but I wasn't aware it was that big. Bear in mind also the show got virtually zero promotion by ITV. I don't remember seeing a single trail for it. I'd heard 15m was the record, but I didn't know it went higher than that. However I do remember the Fun Run episode going out. Quite a few regions had moved it to 5:10pm at that point too in order to accommodate an hour of regional news at 6pm. Things change, things stay the same! I always got the impression ITV were slightly embarrassed that an import did so well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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