Reg Watson is a man who since 1964 has created soap operas that have - in the majority - all been huge hits. It is rare in television for one person to have so many runs of success, but Reg Watson has achieved such a feat.

This page will list Reg's other soaps, with links to websites about those shows (where possible) and we've also been taking a closer look at them; to see if there is any Crossroads elements in those productions.

After producing over 2000 episodes of his first soap opera, Crossroads, Reg Watson returned to his homeland of Australia. This is where the combination of two greats united. Grundy Television had already produced one popular soap, and with the arrival of Reg Watson as Head Of Drama - during the 1970s and 80s - they launched some of the biggest in soap opera history.

When Reg Watson started working for ATV Midlands in 1956, it was as Head Of Light Entertainment. His first soap production was Crossroads and it was the only soap he would produce in the UK. Upon joining Grundy Television he quickly set to work devising new soap opera settings. They all, however, would be produced in the exact same format as Crossroads. (Which itself was based on the American soap opera format; not the British drama serial format.)

First in production; Class of '74, based in a school the soap ran for two series - although the second 1975 season had been radically changed from the previous year. The revamp of the show was brought about by falling ratings towards the end of 1974. Sadly, the more sexy Class of '75 failed to appeal to viewers.

In 1976 The Young Doctors was broadcast for the first time. This was Reg's biggest hit since Crossroads. The Young Doctors was to set new television records in Australia, but the show also suffered the same problems as Crossroads. Recorded in exactly the same way as the ATV soap (as live) the occasional mistake stayed in. (Famously, in the last ever episode a studio camera comes flying into shot at one point.) The press and television critics knocked and mocked The Young Doctors, just as they had with Crossroads. But also just like Crossroads, The Young Doctors proved a huge hit with viewers.

The show ran until 1983. It is widely said this soap only failed because the TV station broadcasting the series started moving it around the schedules to broadcast live sport, ultimately killing off the audience. (The same situation happened with Brookside too.)

A year after the Young Doctors launched Reg produced The Restless Years. Where The Young Doctors had appealed to the 'home makers' The Restless Years was aimed far more at teenagers. The storylines were also more graphic, plot driven action. Reg's other soaps had always been character driven. The Restless Years lasted until 1981, after a slow decline in ratings.

Recorded in the exact same 'as live' format.

Actor John Scholes appeared in both series.

Crossroads featured a pop group called Georgie Saint and the Dragons, The Young Doctors featured a band called Georgie Saint and the Sinners.

Actor Vincent Ball appeared in both series.

Vincent Ball's characters both had similar names, Kevin McArthur (Crossroads) and Kevin McAllister (Young Doctors)

Both soap operas had a character called Philip Winter.

Both soaps had an Albert Memorial Hospital. (Both named after Queen Victoria's husband.)

Phillip Bowman directed The Young Doctors, he became producer of Crossroads.

Director on Crossroads and The Young Doctors, Alan Coleman defended TYD with the comment: "We are making the show for the viewers, not the critics" those exact same words had been spoken by Noele Gordon about Crossroads in the 1960s!

Both soaps sent main characters' wives to Switzerland: The spouces of David Hunter and Paul Barratt.

Both programmes have used the same incidental music, most famously when David Hunter was shot in episode 3259 and in episode 529 of TYD in which Nurse Kim Barrington is shot there is some incidental music played over the scenes of Dr Shaw operating on her.

Other Facts:

The Young Doctors Appreciation Society was at its peak the biggest fan club for any soap opera. Over 8000 members joined the UK-based fan club. It was created by Darren Gray, who went on to become a manager for many Australian actors.

The soap was actually filmed in a former 'warehouse' and the 'make shift' studios would often become very hot. This caused the actors to sweat (meaning make-up had to be re-applied) and it also caused the cameras to regularly overheat.

This enduring series has become what many describe as a 'cult classic' of a soap opera. Wobbly walls, cameras reflected in mirrors and hammy acting were all part of the fun, and the low budget goings-on at Wentworth Detention Centre have made Prisoner one of the most popular imported programmes on ITV during the late 1980s and early 90s.

Clearly the show has many elements that are associated with Crossroads, in fact Prisoner: Cell Block H has been described as "The Crossroads Motel with inmates." It is unlikely that Reg Watson set out with that in mind, but the show did in its characters and style reflect his former ATV soap opera work.

Prisoner: Cell Block H came to life in 1979 as a serious, gritty drama series set in a female detention centre that was intended to air for only sixteen editions. Such was its popularity with the Australian public the show had more episodes commissioned, which lead to the writers having to totally re-script what had been planned as the 'final' episode. After 20 episodes the network decided to keep the series running in a soap opera format, airing until 1986. Just under 700 episodes were made, over eight years in production.

Despite the occasional wobbly walls, and the fact the 'prison' exterior was actually the Network Ten studios (meaning a Television mast was seen in many shots), the crew managed to make the 50-minute episodes on the whole above the average standard of many other soaps of that time. (The sets were far more realistic than the ones on The Young Doctors for example.)

Prisoner was far from a failure, its ratings suffered towards the end of its run due to the fact the original characters were such strong characters they would ultimately be impossible to replace, and unfortunately the show did lose many of its original stars all in a short space of time. The new characters were good, but they just weren't the same.

The show has lived on long after its final episode, thanks to exports around the world. In the UK Prisoner: Cell Block H became a huge hit when aired on ITV. A fan club for the soap in Britain saw the series revived as a stage show, and later a theatre musical. In the UK the cast of the show were treated like Hollywood stars, and the soap has since been repeated again on the Channel Five network.

Anne Charleston appeared in Prisoner more than once, with varing roles, and also appeared in the Crossroads spin-off.

Annette Andre, famous for her role as Jeannie in 'Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), played David Hunter's mistress, Sarah Alexander in 'Crossroads', and Camilla Wells in 'Prisoner-Cell Block H'. Both 1984.

One-take scenes in both programmes lead to the series' having a reputation for gaffs and technical mistakes.

Original governor 'Erica Davidson' in style and scripting at first harbored a strong resemblance to 'Meg Richardson' in Crossroads.

In the first-ever episode of Prisoner the character of Lizzie Birdsworth suggested Wentworth was just like a hotel!

Both programmes used incidental music often.

Barnhurst Farmhouse was a real location Reg used for filming in Crossroads. Prisioner had Barnhurst Detention Centre.

The same incidental music was used on both shows, over many episodes of CBH one particular tune is used quite often, this features in Crossroads during the 1985 religious cult story.

Other Facts:

The theme tune, as sung by Lynne Hamilton (who originates from Chester-le-Street in County Durham, UK) reached number three in the UK pop charts in 1989. She appeared on music show Top Of The Pops to perform the theme.

Prisoner: Cell Block H has created numerous spin-offs. These include a male version called Punishment and an American series, Dangerous Women.

Episodes of Prisoner have been screened (in full) on ITV, Channel Four and Channel Five. Central Television repeated the series twice.

The 1980s were Reg Watson's and Grundy Television's "golden era" for soap operas. The Young Doctors was still in production and Prisoner: Cell Block H had recently launched. In 1981 a family-based series was devised by Reg. It was to be called, Sons and Daughters. It would revolve around two families. The Hamilton's and the Palmer's. (As Crossroads did in its early years with the Jarvis and Richardson families.) The other elements from Crossroads appear to be a red haired landlady running a boarding house, a scatty cleaning lady and the big business power struggles.

'SAD' as it was nicknamed ran until 1987. The show had lost its way towards the end, and plots were becoming far too over the top. But for its first five years Sons and Daughters had been an absolute soap smash, however even it wouldn't reach the hights of Grundy's next venture. Phillip Bowman was a director on Sons and Daughters, he of course later took charge of Crossroads, bringing with him actor Harry Nurmi who appeared in both shows too.

The year is 1985, and Watson unleashed what would become his biggest Australian soap hit. Originally Neighbours was a total disaster. Axed by its original network, it was later taken up by a rival channel who could see the potental in Neighbours, although the show would need a few tweaks.

Reg's idea for Neighbours wasn't exactly original. He admitted himself that the programme was based on Coronation Street. But rather than the working class terraced houses, Neigbours - like Crossroads - would be middle class familes on the whole. It would be set in a cul-de-sac in the fictional suburb of Erinsborough and also included a hotel complex, with lakeside. (Sound familiar?)

The 1986 revamped Neighbours became an instant hit with the family and teenage audience. When the show was picked up in the UK by BBC One it soon became a cult with the youth market. This lead BBC One to air the show twice a day, first in the afternoon for the 'home makers' who had enjoyed afternoon soaps since the 1950s and again at teatime for the teenage market.

Neighbours currently is Reg's second longest running soap, and although its ratings in the UK have slowly been on a decline the soap is still hugely popular with a large loyal fanbase. The show has changed since those early days - produced more for the teenagers now rather than the wider family viewing it once was created for. This on the whole has made the older viewers switch off.

In 2007 a battle between the BBC, ITV and Channel 5 erupted when the rights to screen Neighbours came up for renewal. The BBC refused to pay the amount Freemantle were asking for - leading ITV to make a major bid for the serial. In the end however the show moved to 'Five'.

Both soaps had car hire firms. Home James in Neighbours and Night And Day in Crossroads.

Both featured hotels with lakesides. (Neigbours had many scenes in the hotel office for many years.)

Reg's original Crossroads chef, Carlos Rapheal, appeared to be re-written in the 1990s for the Lassiters Hotel chef, Mark Gottlieb, who shared the same temper.

The early episodes of Neighbours opened in the exact same format as Crossroads. (Sometimes with a scene before the titles, and then the theme tune with the 'Neigbours' title over the first scene of the programme.)

Anne Charleston has appeared in both series.

Other Facts:

Tony Hatch, creator of the Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm theme tunes, also composed the theme music for Neighbours.

The show helped launch the pop careers of Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue. The latter still going strong in the pop world of course.

© Crossroads Appreciation Society 1988-present
Written by Mike Garrett