In a plot twist worthy of its script from the early 1990s, long forgotten BBC soap Eldorado has made a shock TV return, almost 30 years after the axe fell on the Spanish set series.
Billed as 'EastEnders in the sun,' the BBC thought they had a sure fire ratings hit on their hands when Eldorado launched to great expense and fanfare in 1992. Confident viewers would love it, the broadcaster was rumoured to have ploughed somewhere in the region of £10m into Eldorado, even building a built a 'mini town' set near Marbella.
However, the high viewing figures the BBC hoped for and expected did not materialise and it was on screen for just 156 episodes, a fraction of the output of long-lasting soap juggernaut EastEnders. The show was slammed by TV critics and ratings fell off a cliff, going down to just 2.8m, despite its prime time slot.
READ MORE: What happened to the cast of Eldorado as 'flop' soap returns to TV
The Eldorado cast featured a number of big names including Marcus Tandy actor Jesse Birdsall, who went onto star in Footballers' Wives and Hollyoaks and Derek Martin last famous to plenty of EastEnders fans as Charlie Slater. While it is regarded in many TV circles as a monumental flop, there are plenty of people who have great affection for Eldorado and remember it well.
So they'll be thrilled to learn that it is now available to watch on Britbox . It was first released onto the streaming site last summer but then pulled just months later. However, at the time of writing on Thursday, May 12, 10 episodes were able to view, including the first ever one, the Christmas episode from 1992, one called Valentine's Day disaster and the final few instalments before credits rolled for the final time.
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