The daily dramas of a diverse community of stallholders are the focus of this short-lived soap opera set in a Manchester market.
Set in a converted Salford warehouse, Albion Market is home to a variety of small businesses and their proprietors. Key figures include the Ransomes, a Jewish couple, Morris (Bernard Spear) and Miriam (Carol Kaye), who run the pottery stall. Vietnamese refugees Lam Quoc Hoa (Philip Tan) and his cousin Ly Nhu Chan (Pik Sen Lim) have a stall, as do denim merchants Raju (Dev Sagoo) and Jaz Sharma (Paul Bhattacharjee). At the heart of the younger generation’s storylines are cake-seller Tony Fraser (John Michie) and his girlfriend Lisa O’Shea (Sally Baxter). Lisa’s mother, Lynne Harrison (Noreen Kershaw), runs a domestic goods stall while dealing with her husband Roy (Jonathan Barlow). The market’s daily operations are overseen by the harassed supervisor, Derek Owen (David Hargreaves).
Granada’s high-profile attempt to create a weekend companion to Coronation Street was distinguished by its deliberate focus on a multicultural community. The serial was a conscious effort to build a soap opera that reflected a more diverse Britain, with Jewish, Vietnamese, and Asian families central to the narrative from its inception. This progressive social mission, however, could not save the programme from commercial realities. Positioned against the BBC’s formidable Friday night pairing of Wogan and Open All Hours, the serial struggled to find a foothold with viewers. A subsequent move to a less favourable slot sealed its fate, and a late attempt to boost ratings by introducing well-known faces, including singer Helen Shapiro and actor Tony Booth, failed to reverse the decline. It was cancelled after precisely one hundred episodes, a noteworthy but unsuccessful television experiment.
Broadcast: ITV – Granada, 100 Episodes, 30 August 1985 – 23 August 1986
Writers: Peter Whalley, Andrew Lynch, Stephen Lowe, Chris Curry
Directors: Jonathan Wright Miller, Brian Lighthill, Ric Mellis, Jeremy Summers
Producers: Gareth Jones, David Liddiment
Executive Producer: Bill Podmore
Main Cast: John Michie (Tony Fraser), Sally Baxter (Lisa O’Shea), Noreen Kershaw (Lynne Harrison), Jonathan Barlow (Roy Harrison), David Hargreaves (Derek Owen), Bernard Spear (Morris Ransome), Carol Kaye (Miriam Ransome), Peter Benson (Larry Rigg), Valerie Lilley (Brenda Rigg), Alistair Walker (Duane Rigg), Philip Tan (Lam Quoc Hoa), Pik Sen Lim (Ly Nhu Chan), Dev Sagoo (Raju Sharma), Paul Bhattacharjee (Jaz Sharma), Tony Booth (Ted Pilkington), Helen Shapiro (Viv Harker)
