Crossroads, Brookside and High Road join Britbox soap offering

Classic soaps and Classic children’s shows join Britbox line up in July.

July will be jam-packed with a range of new content, including BritBox’s new additions to ‘SoapBox’, which will feature classic episodes of some of Britain’s best-loved soaps, including Brookside, Take The High Road and Crossroads.

Subscribers can also take a leap back in time with additions to the ‘Old School’ collection, just in time for the summer holidays. Hop aboard the Black Pig with Captain Pugwash, get into some mischief with the iconic duo Dennis & Gnasher, or dive into all three seasons of the classic animated superhero series Bananaman.

From 15th July the SoapBox Collection is boosted with ATV’s General Hospital set in a fictional Midlands town, the series follows the romantic and professional lives of its doctors and nurses. The series was seen as a replacement for the 60s hit Emergency Ward 10. The Midland General features Tony Adams, Lynda Bellingham, Brian Capron and Judy Buxton. The show ran from 1972 to 1979.

General Hospital has never been repeated since the 1970s.

A popular programme, even today, with STV viewers, Take The High Road ran from 1980 to 2003 and brought us the adventures of the residents of the rural Scottish village of Glendarroch. Storylines deal with community issues ranging from crop failures and parish pump politics to infidelity, alcoholism, drug abuse, and the everyday gossip of ‘Mrs. Mack.’ The series has proved popular with reruns on STV2 and the STV Player previously.

From 1964 to 1988 teatimes were the home of Crossroads the four or five times a week adventures of a motel owner Meg Richardson, her son Sandy, daughter Jill and the lives of her staff at the motel including Amy Turtle and Tish Hope. Drama was never far away from the ringing of the reception bell with those who travel the Midland road bringing their own stories to the Crossroads Motel as well as the lives and loves of the villagers in Kings Oak. Starring Noele Gordon, Jane Rossington, Roger Tonge, Ronald Allen and Ann George.

Crossroads has been re-screened on UK Gold in the 90s and in 2015 on BCTV in the Midlands.

Brookside also joins the line up, the rebel of the lot. While Crossroads had been a trailblazer for social issues in the 60s and 70s, (rape, racism, wife beating, suicide to name a few) Brookside grabbed the format by its legs and gave soap a good shake-up. The ground-breaking series first aired on Channel 4 in 1982 and ran for 21 years. Starring Dean Sullivan, Claire Sweeney, Anna Friel, Sue Johnson and Ricky Tomlinson.

Brookside hasn’t been repeated since the 1990s on Living TV.

Finally, Casualty is also heading to the streaming service. The longest running medical drama in the world follows the lives of the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital’s emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives. Starring Derek Thompson, Amanda Mealing and Cathy Shipton. Classic Casualty has most recently been re-run on UKTV Drama and was rescreened on UK Gold in the 90s.

From 8th July the Old School Collection is updated with the arrival of  Bananaman, all three seasons of the iconic animated series. Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes; a schoolboy who is transformed into a muscled, caped figure when he eats a banana. The show originally aired from 1983-86.

Captain Pugwash in Colour 1974-75. The adventures of Captain Pugwash and his crew aboard the pirate ship – the Black Pig. Dennis and Gnasher Dennis and his faithful pet companion Gnasher get up to mischief and mayhem, embarking on a fair few adventures along the way.

The Famous Five (1978) Modern adaptation of Enid Blyton’s adventure stories about Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog. Starring Michele Gallagher, Jennifer Thanisch and Marcus Harris.

And dear old Bagpuss from 1974, Bagpuss and his friends are toys in a turn of the century shop for ‘found things’. When young Emily brings them a new object, the toys come to life to work out what the strange new thing could possibly be.