Microsoap (CBBC, 1998-2000)
This is yet another CBBC sitcom from the late-90s that features a rather unusual family that I must admit I don’t remember watching too much at the time, but looking back at this now, this one falls somewhere between The Wild House and Welcome To Orty-Fou, that had a similar idea, and were shown around the same time. Microsoap centres around the adventures of the Parker family, and what a family they are.
Firstly, there are Joe and Emily, who are brother and sister, and they are both still at school. Emily explains most of the situations, and speaks directly to the camera. Joe is someone who has a rather overactive imagination, and he is always playing pranks or acting out fantasies. Colin and Jane are their parents. Colin is a computer programmer who isn’t an incredibly exciting person, while Jane is a hard-working nurse.
They feel that their marriage isn’t working out, and they decide to go their separate ways, and we see how this changes the children’s lives, as they now have the opportunity to date other people. It is rather difficult for everyone, but they hope to make the process as pain-free as possible, and they remain fond of each other. Colin ends up going out with Jennifer, the marriage therapist who he saw alongside Jane.
But Jane starts to date Roger, who she met at the hospital. He has three children from his marriage, who are David, Robbie, and Felicity, and are badly behaved by comparison. Joe and Emily become alarmed at the fact that they could end up being related to them if Jane remarries, and they try to bond with their potential stepbrothers and stepsister, but it isn’t easy, and this just seems to set off Joe’s crazed imagination even more.
This means that there are some strange situations, with lots of creative camerawork, odd characters, and so on. These include Pogo, a huge blue mouse who only Robbie can see, Package the clever dog, and Joe’s pet snake (not a obvious rubber puppet, honest). Their attempts at all becoming one big happy family often fail. Also appearing are a few of Joe and Emily’s friends, who unintentionally get involved in these adventures.
There were 26 episodes of Microsoap in two series, that did indeed manage to put an unusual mix of sitcom and soap together. There were also a few awards won, and following the success of the TV version, there were also two books released that were based on some episodes in the first series. This hasn’t been shown on CBBC since 2001 though, and I don’t think that there was ever a VHS or DVD release.
ADAM'S NOSTALGIC MEMORIES 