Arcade (TV series)

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Arcade is an Australian television soap opera shown in 1980 that became one of the biggest flops in the history of Australian television. It aired on the Ten Network with the first episode shown on January 20, 1980.

The series was produced solely by the Ten Network with a budget of $1 million. Arcade was set in a fictitious shopping centre (the "Arcade" of the title) in the northern suburbs of Sydney and dealt with the lives of those who worked at the various shops. The title sequence was shot in the Military Road area of the North-Shore suburb of Cremorne.

The shops included Kitty's Record Bar (a record and tape store); Aristocrat (a dry cleaning store); FlashBack Leisure Centre, (a pinball parlour); Toby's, (a sit down restaurant); Pendleton's Health Studio (a health and workout studio); The Bookworm (a book store and news agency); Magda's Gifts, (a gift shop); and Surf 'n' Ski (a sports shop specializing in water sports).

The plan was to have the show on the air before the ratings season started to build an audience, however the serial quickly proved itself a ratings disaster which actually caused the shows on rival networks it was programmed against to improve in the ratings. Arcade was cancelled after only six weeks and 30 episodes. The disco themed, metaphoric theme song "Walking Through an Arcade" was sung by Australian singer Doug Parkinson.

The pilot episode had been produced by Bill Harmon who had earlier produced the highly successful soap opera Number 96. Arcade also employed Number 96's creator David Sale and its veteran scriptwriter Johnny Whyte as scriptwriters. Long running Number 96 actor Mike Dorsey was cast in a regular role in this new series (he played Vic Marshall the owner of the pinball parlour). Other recognisable actors in the cast included Aileen Britton (she played Joyce Blair, who helped run the dry cleaning store), Patrick Ward (he played Craig Carmichael, who worked at the sports shop), Olga Tamara (she played Di Smith, who ran the sports store), Christine Harris (who played Tina, Vic's paraplegic daughter who worked with her father), Tracy Mann (she played Susie Blair, the daughter of Joyce and Walter, who helped her folks at the dry cleaning store), Joy Miller (she played Kitty Adams, the owner of Kitty's Record Bar), Peggy Toppano (who played Miriam Sparks, who worked at the book store and news agency), Garth Meade (he played Norman Pendleton, the owner of the Health Studio), Annie Semler (as outrageous gift shop owner Magda Yokochek) and Danny Adcock (as Duncan Adams, Kitty's estranged husband).

After the series ended two of its more experienced regular cast members, Lorrae Desmond (who played Molly Sparks, the manager of the book store and news agency) and Syd Heylen (who played Walter Blair, the manager of the dry cleaning store), took leading regular roles in the more successful drama series A Country Practice.