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In the early 1980s, ITV decided that it needed a show to spearhead its
ratings charge on Friday and Sunday nights in the same way that Coronation Street
(ITV, 1960-) did in the earlier part of the week. To this end, Granada
created Albion Market (ITV, 1985-86), a deliberately gritty look at life in a
covered market in Manchester. Unfortunately, by the time Albion Market made it
to air in late August, the advent of EastEnders (BBC, 1985-) had changed the
broadcasting environment. Instead of being seen as the more realistic
counterpart to an increasingly dated Coronation Street, Albion Market would
struggle from the start to ward off unfavourable comparisons to the BBC's new
serial.
As befitted its title, the action in Albion Market rarely strayed from the
confines of the market itself. The long-suffering market superintendent Derek
Owen was the primary focus; his day usually began with the difficult task of
assigning the few unowned stalls to the large number of casual traders.
Prominent among these were Lynn Harrison and her ex-jailbird husband Roy; while
the regular traders included the gossiping ceramics dealer Morris Ransome and
handsome ladykiller and cake seller Tony Fraser.
Despite opening with an arson attack on the market, the series struggled to
capture an audience. Although it had some hard-hitting storylines involving its
notably multiracial cast, the market setting rapidly became a problem.
Characters were bogged down by the business of running their stalls, and the
sheer drabness of the set compounded the monotony.
After this faltering start, compounded by Michael Grade's success with his
newly rearranged schedules for the BBC, Granada attempted to change direction
and bring in both glamour and familiar faces. New characters played by Helen Shapiro
and Tony Booth were, however, brought in too late, as by then some ITV
regions had dropped the series from their peak-time schedules. By the time
Albion Market had reached its 100th and final episode, EastEnders had already
become the number one soap in the country.
Nevertheless, ITV didn't abandon the idea of a ratings spearhead on Friday
and Sunday nights, and eventually filled those slots with extra episodes of
Coronation Street. This change, and its subsequent impact on soap production in
the UK, was probably Albion Market's biggest legacy.
John Williams
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Complete episode (24:25)
