For the last nine years, Hilary Kingsley has been the TV critic for the London Daily Mirror. As a long-time admirer of soap (before it was fashionable), for two years she has compiled a Soap Opera column, revealing intimate soapie secrets. She has also been a guest columnist for the UK TV Times, Cosmopolitan, and the New Statesman.
EVERY C
In her personal life, Hilary Kingsley has failed as a soap heroine. She has just the one husband (Peter Miller, a journalist), the same three children - none of them ever lost, kidnapped, or turning out to be someone else's long-lost baby - and she's never been abducted by terrorists in the supermarket or attended a massacre at a wedding or been scooped up by aliens. But she watches 50 hours of TV a week and has seven television sets in her house in South London!
Who is the Queen's favourite soap star?
Why was 'Neighbours' axed in 1985?
Why did Linda Evans lose her 'Dallas' role to Victoria Principal?
Who has the biggest ongoing non-speaking role in 'A Country Practice'?
Which was the first Australian soap to sell overseas?
Who from 'Coronation Street owned 200 pairs of shoes but died penniless?
These and many other fascinating questions are answered in Soap Box: The
Australian Guide to Television Soap Operas, the first book to truly tell the inside stories of all the major drama serials that are shown on Australian television. From 'Bellbird' to 'Cop Shop', 'Dallas' to 'The Sullivans', it reveals how the shows got started, chronicles their crises and scandals, profiles the characters, actors and actresses, shares the backstage gossip and illuminates such crucial soap themes and traditions as Bitches, Divorce and Real Romance. It is the biggest, most authoritative, comprehensive and entertaining guide to soap opera ever published.
