Was 'Eldorado' ever intended to be taken seriously, or was it just an elaborate stunt by the B.B.C. to get rid of Terry Wogan's thrice-weekly ego trip cum chat show? At one point the hype was so great it threatened to overshadow that of 'Star Wars'! Trailers interfaced every B.B.C. programme for what felt like months before its debut. The cast hogged Breakfast Time to brag about how great it was going to be. Even children's presenter Andi Peters plugged the new soap from the safety of his 'broom cupboard'. As a result viewers tired of the thing before they actually saw it. Created and produced by the 'Eastenders' ( itself not very good ) team of Julia Smith and Tony Holland, the Spanish soap cost licence-payers' a king's ransom with the building on location of a replica Spanish town.The characters were stereotypes with absurd names like 'Bunny' and 'Fizz' ( speaking of which, whatever happened to Kathy Pitkin? She was heavily hyped as the new Catherine Zeta Jones but nothing became of her. Possibly stacking shelves in Asda somewhere ). The plots were the usual soap drivel about lust and adultery. The dialogue was risible. Roland Curram played a moustached gay character ( surprise, surprise! ), while Jesse Birdsall was a sub-'Dirty Den' figure. Comedy actress Patricia Brake was wasted. Polly Perkins was 'Trish' the Barbara Windsor-like barmaid.After a respectable rating of seven million for the first episode, interest tapered off alarmingly ( 'Panorama' actually overtook it one Monday night! ), critics were hostile, and the tabloid press tore it to shreds the way it recently did with poor Gordon Brown's Government. 'El-Bore-Ado' and 'Helldorado' were nick-names the show could have done without. Yet B.B.C.-1 Controller Jonathan Powell refused to scrap it, arguing that the longer it was on air, the more chance it had of attracting an audience. 'Spitting Image' mocked his decision in a sketch in which a photograph of a turd was put on air, and Powell told the Board of B.B.C. Governors it would remain there until it eventually became a hit.When it became apparent 'Eldorado' was attracting no-one, Powell resigned and incoming B.B.C.-1 controller Alan Yentob read it the last rites - rightly so. Amazingly a few misguided souls protested as the plug was pulled ( is the Eldorado Appreciation Society Espana - T.E.A.S.E. - still in existence? ). On the night the last episode went out, a bus-load of angry fans stormed the B.B.C. Television Centre, shouting abuse at Yentob, while over in Spain, a cast member with a poor command of English blubbed on camera: "Mr.Yentob...you are a bad man and you have done a very terrible thing!". Actually, his decision to kill off 'Eldorado' was eminently sensible. Refusing to admit they'd failed, the B.B.C. issued episodes on a video-tape called 'Adios Eldorado' which became a surprise best seller! The sad thing about the debacle was it was one of the last series from the great Verity Lambert, and cast a pall over her otherwise glittering career.

In 1992 when Eldorado first aired on the BBC I watched it avidly. Yes, some of the characters seemed a little "outrageous" and maybe some of the acting could have been better. However, I was hooked, especially as we were off to Spain on holiday in the August. Sadly the BBC axed the show, which was a pity.Three and half years ago, we retired to Spain and now live in a very mixed community of Europeans, ex-pats included. Oh brother! Believe me I have met virtually every character featured in Eldorado, as outrageous as some of them appeared. Whoever researched the program originally did a pretty good job, how sad that it wasn't appreciated at the time. So real is it that our community has now been re-titled Eldorado by our visiting family. Wish the episodes were available on DVD!

The axing of this show was purely a political decision. The show was doomed from the offset. The BBC pumped loads of money into the show and expected to make immediate profits which was not going to happen no matter how good the show was. As for the show itself. I loved it. It was a little slow to start with but it was a soap opera and for anyone to be able to get to know the characters right away was asking a bit too much. It was to take time and the BBC were not prepared to give it this required time. The most memorable character was of course Marcus (Jesse Birdsall) who fitted the "bad boy" image perfectly. The man with a hard exterior but a soft centre. Most of the actors played their parts magnificently but there were a few exceptions at the start but those actors were soon axed. I'd love to see the whole series again as I can now find myself in a similar position as most of the characters in the show - I'm an expat myself now and socialise with an expat community. It's a pity it was axed just as the show was becoming popular and the plots were becoming more interesting. Thank you BBC :(

This series should have done better, it could have done better, but was never given the chance. It was a soap based around British ex-pats that had found a haven and mixed with the locals. The storylines were ok, but some of the early acting was poor, but as time went on the production changed beyond recognition. However, after all the effort the cast and crew put into the series, the BBC bosses pulled the plug and watched £10million pounds waste away instead of trying to help it out. Viewing figures were up and the series was selling well around Europe, but all there is left now is an empty studio village and repeats. Nothing more...