Barcroft (TV series)

Barcroft is a Euro Republican soap opera set in Belton, Euro Republics. The series began on the launch night of TV3 on 15 April 1989 and ran for 30 years until 23 October 2020. It is based on Brookside & EastEnders.

Barcroft became very successful and was often TV3's highest rated programme for a number of years in the mid-1990s, with audiences regularly in excess of eleven million viewers. It is notable for its realistic and socially challenging storylines as well as raising more controversial subjects than it’s ETV rival River Road. It is especially well known for broadcasting the first daytime show to include lesbian kiss on ER television in 1994, as well as a powerful domestic abuse storyline resulting in murder.

Scheduling
At its launch in 1989, Barcroft was broadcast at 7:30pm, although some episodes would occasionally be shown at 8 pm or after for scheduling reasons. This included the first episode, a one hour special, which aired at 9pm.

During weekdays, Barcroft was always broadcast from 7:30 pm, originally on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, with a few special five-nighters, with these episodes always airing Monday to Friday.

On 1 July 1990, as ratings increased, Barcroft gained a fourth weekly episode, which saw a regular broadcast pattern of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 7:30 pm. The serial's timeslot was far more consistent in the early 1990s, however, from the mid-1990s, the schedules did keep changing. In 1994, when ETV’s Highway To Haven Road started broadcasting four nights a week, the third weekly episodes was broadcast every Monday at 7:30 pm, which clashed with Barcroft. This forced TV3 to move Barcroft to Wednesdays at 7:30 pm (initially up against Prime's Family Lives until it’s cancellation in 1995). It stayed this way for many years.

In 2005, as part of a schedule reshuffle that saw extended youth programmes until 8 pm, Barcroft was moved to a 1:30 pm time slot, 2 days a week, Tuesday & Thursday, alternating with Coronation Street.

In 2019, when it was announced the show was being cancelled, it’s producers chose to move the show to a late-night time slot to allow swearing, sex and violent scenes on the show.