Top Ten Happy Soap Opera Endings

ATV Today’s Lynn Swift takes a wander down the happier side of the street, close and square as she picks some of her favourite happy endings from British soap opera.
10 – Crossroads Jill Chance

Motel Manger Jill Chance decided to leave life-long home Kings Oak village for a new start in the West Country. After 23 eventful years including a miscarriage, a bigamous marriage, an affair with her step-brother, a failed clothing shop venture, a spell as an alcoholic, a year long addiction to drugs and two legitimate husbands later Jill decided it was time to open a hotel elsewhere in the final episode of classic Crossroads.

Jill, the daughter of motel owner Meg Mortimer, quit the near-Birmingham village in the West Midlands to start afresh with her latest lover – John Maddingham landlord of the local boozer. A quick kiss and the couple drove off in a sports car into the sunset leaving her estranged husband Adam and her job at the motel behind.

9 – Eldorado Marcus and Pilar

It wasn’t just the end of the storyline for bad boy Marcus Tandy and girlfriend Pilar Moreno but also the sunset on BBC One Spanish-based saga Eldorado.

Wheeler dodgy-dealer Marcus wasn’t popular with many residents and with an attempted murder – which saw his car blown to pieces with a bomb  – he decided to cut his losses and move on. Luckily for him his motor had been stolen resulting in the car thief being fried-alive rather than womaniser Tandy.  Unlike other soaps it wasn’t a usual departure from the town of Los Barcos as under the romantic moon Marcus and Pilar set sail on a yacht with Champaign, a long snog and the vocal version of the theme tune – sung by Johnny Griggs – as they sailed away for happier times, possibly in Skegness.

8 – Emmerdale Aaron Livesy

Poor Aaron, the boy who lost his virginity to Victoria Sugden. That alone should merit the lad a happy ending if anyone needed it. The teenage-trouble maker, turned motor mechanic, was always a moody short-tempered sort, but after a while it became clear something was playing on his mind.

Eventually, after a lot of tears, thumping’s, self-harming and alcohol consumption Aaron faced the fact he was gay. A long spell of denial and women-loving followed until in a nightclub Jackson Walsh walked into his world. At first Aaron failed to see Jackson as anything more than a one-night stand.

Jackson’s constant turning up in the village lead to Aaron giving the loved-up admirer a good thumping, landing him in court again. After a short while Araon came round, and Jackson forgave him. A relationship finally bloomed.

But unlike Craig and John Paul in Hollyoaks (see further down) this was to be no happy ending. Following a road accident, involving a van and a train, Jackson was left paralysed from the neck down. After months of caring for his partner Aaron was left with a dilemma. Jackson wanted to commit suicide and to do it he needed help.  Would Arron go to prison for assisting his lover take his life or would the reformed bad boy find a happy ending?

It wasn’t looking good with Aaron facing a charge of arson (which he didn’t commit) however a recent romance had been blooming with Rugby player Ed Roberts. Ed was signed for a French rugby club and asked Aaron to go with him. Hurrah, happiness at last. Let’s just hope he’s kept away from arsonists and railway crossings.

7 – EastEnders Little Mo

She may have looked like Angie Watts’ love child, but Little Mo Slater didn’t share the bubbly-care-free persona of the onetime Queen Vic landlady Angie. Timid Mo had separated from abusive hubby Trevor on numerous occasions however his Scottish charm always lured her back into a world of domestic violence and humiliation.

Mo faced regular beatings until New Year’s Eve 2001 when Trevor finally pushed her too far and she battered him with an iron. She believed he’d been killed however he survived and taunted her further when he made sure she was prosecuted for attempted murder, which she was found guilty of. Upon her release from Prison a new romance bloomed with Billy Mitchell another of life’s losers, they eventually married.

Things went from bad to worse when she was raped which lead to a pregnancy. Mo outraged her family when she decided to keep the baby.  Billy was unable to accept the child and the couple divorced. A short romance came to nothing despite an offer to move to Leeds with the local GP. Instead head held high the single mother set off for a life with son Freddie in Devon.

6  – Coronation Street Elsie Tanner

It was the end of an era for Coronation Street when Elsie Tanner decided to leave for new life. In 1984 it was a black cab in the night that saw iconic Weatherfield resident say her low-key farewell.  She’d had a fair share of heartache since she was first seen back in 1960.

In the early days it was son Dennis who was often bringing trouble to her door, but many romances also failed to last. Things started to look up in 1967 when she married American serviceman Steve Tanner, she departed for the USA with her new husband, but it didn’t last and she was soon back in the glum backstreet terrace of Weatherfield. Elsie was a fiery lady and had several run-ins with other residents including church warden Ena Sharples, landlady Annie Walker and cleaner Hilda Ogden.

Elsie then married Alan Howard in 1970, again she was eventually persuaded to try for a new life elsewhere, this time relocating to forever glamorous Newcastle Upon Tyne, and the couple moved out of Coronation Street in 1973. A longer spell away for Elsie, but alas once more an unhappy time, alone again Elsie walked back into the street three years later.

It wasn’t until 1983 when an old flame from the 1960s in the guise of Bill Gregory returned to Salford and confessed that he had never forgotten the flame haired sex siren that a lasting love was to form.  Proclaiming his never-dying love for Elsie he suggested that they get married and run a bar together abroad.

After a will-she-won’t-she period of pondering Elsie finally accepted the offer to live in Portugal with Gregory. In a touching exit as Elsie walked the street for the final time sounds of memories from the past were played. Son Dennis returned to the street recently and noted Bill and his mother had spent many happy years together.

5–Brookside Sheila and Billy

Sheila Grant and Billy Corkhill were the middle-aged ‘Kylie and Jason’ of the late 1980s. Their romance had Brookside viewers on the edge of their seats after an affair which had seen the two residents of Brookside Close face up to family disgust and the fact they could never be happy remaining in the Liverpool cul-de-sac

Sheila had suffered the most of the two, so when happiness finally came her way in the form of Billy it was a union viewers were rooting for. In 1982 the Grant’s had moved into the newly built close, Sheila with her short-tempered Union leader hubby Bobby and their children Barry, Karen and Damon while in 1985 Billy with loud-mouth wife Doreen and children Rod and Tracy moved in opposite. Problems for the Corkhills mainly concentrated on money worries, especially when Billy lost his job after being found guilty of assault. When the gas and electric was cut off he took to desperate measures bringing in his brother Jimmy to stage a robbery at their home, ironically while the family were at son Rod’s police officer graduation ceremony. The insurance payment failed to make it a happy home and Doreen took to sleeping with her boss to earn extra cash. Sheila found herself in a loveless relationship with Bobby after having a late-in-life baby, Claire, who was born in 1984. The relationship turned terminal two years later after Sheila was raped while walking home at night.

By 1988 both Billy and Sheila were leading single lives with respective partners both no longer living in Brookside Close, fate brought the two closer. The remaining Grant family moved in with the Corkhills to pool financial resources and love between Sheila and Billy bloomed. Again in true soap tradition it was an on-and-off situation as she felt due to her strong Catholic beliefs it was sinful, eventually both as fresh divorcees decided to marry. In 1990 with too many bitter memories in Liverpool the pair set off for a happier existence in exotic Basingstoke.

4 – EastEnders Nigel Bates

If anyone deserved to depart Albert Square with a ‘happy ending’ it was loveable loser Nigel Bates.

First seen in EastEnders in 1992 initially as a friend of the tough-talking Mitchell brothers Grant and Phil. Following the death of his mum Nigel moved in with widower Dot Cotton as her lodger. It wasn’t long before he became involved with a ‘battered wife’ when he began an affair with Debbie, bringing her daughter Clare along to get away from her abusive partner.

The couple married in 1994, but it was a short-lived moment of happiness as Debbie was killed off leaving Nigel a grieving widower, fighting for custody of his step daughter, Clare. Nigel managed Walford’s video store, which gave him plenty of opportunities to meet people – and few business failures along the way – but romance rarely happened until 1998 when Clare’s teacher became attracted to his bright coloured ties and shirts. They decided to leave Albert Square behind for a more peaceful setting in Scotland where Julie and Nigel apparently live happily ever after.

3 – Hollyoaks Craig and John Paul

It was the happy ending the viewers expected, with the will-they-won’t-they get together storyline that kept Channel 4 viewers gripped.

Both teens had dated girls and it was John Paul who first found he had feelings for the same sex. A few short relationships followed, but it was the slow burning realisation that friend Craig was more than just a mate that captured the imagination of Hollyoaks’ audience.

There was denial, then disgust followed by accepting the situation and their sexuality and finally the on-off love affair which looked like it would come to an end when Craig made the decision to move to Dublin. At the last minute John Paul rushed to the train station to join Craig and the fairytale ending was competed in front of a lovely poster of a sunset on the platform advertising board.

2 – Crossroads Meg Mortimer

At the time it was public power which saw the character of Meg Mortimer saved from a flame-grilled death. Producers had wanted to kill-off motel owner Meg – played by multi-soap-award winner Noele Gordon – when the famous nightstop burned to the ground. However thousands demanded Meg live and producers rewrote her departure which saw the character sail off into the sunset on the QE2 for a new life in America. The character axing saw more press inches given to the story than the Pope being shot in the same year!

Meg had suffered down the years. She was sent to prison in 1968 for dangerous driving, was almost killed by her second husband when he began to poison her, was caught in a bomb blast at the motel, saw her son Sandy paralysed from the waist down after a car crash, was jilted by businessman Hugh in 1967 however forgave him by 1973 when they finally married two years later. He died while being held for ransom by terrorists in Australia. She’d also been held at gunpoint by an American GI on the run and suffered sabotaging in her kitchen – by one of her own chefs!

A poll by a newspaper saw over 1000 viewers wanting the happy ending for Meg in 1981 – compared to just over 100 who wanted the original death by fire. A ‘Save our Meg’ campaign by The Sun as well as a record protest by broadcaster Bill Buckley – which was played on numerous local commercial and BBC stations as well as national BBC Radio Two – failed to save the character. Meg made a short return in 1983 for her daughter Jill’s wedding, which saw lavish scenes recorded in Venice where Meg was seen for the final time.

1 – Coronation Street Hilda Ogden

It had been a tough old life for cleaner Hilda Ogden, she wasn’t overly popular with many neighbours due to her penchant for gossip and a wayward opinionated vicious tongue – but ITV viewers loved ‘The Ogden’s’. For many years a double-act on-screen with lazy hubby Stan saw regular rows and classic comedy. Her grief when he died became one of Corrie’s defining episodes of the 1980s.

After 23-years onscreen the time came in 1987 for Hilda to move out of Weatherfield for greener surroundings. She’d always had ambitions to ‘better’ her lot and when she was offered a new life as a housekeeper for a Doctor in Derbyshire she couldn’t believe her luck. Fans however were gutted to lose a much-loved Corrie face and promptly launched a ‘Save Hilda’ campaign to no avail. The actress behind the pinny and curler wearing character, Jean Alexander, had decided to move on and so on Christmas Day ’87 the Rovers Return Inn, which had heard many a Hilda tune over the years while she was dusting, welcomed one final rendition of the old Gracie Fields hit Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye joined by the residents of the street who waved her a final farewell.

Do you have another favourite happy ending? You can let us know by online form or post a comment below.

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