Phil Redmond 1978–2008), "Brookside" (Channel 4, 1982–2003) and "Hollyoaks" (Channel 4, 1995—). For over twenty years he also ran his own independent production company, Mersey Television, before selling off the company in 2005. Redmond also created the daytime legal drama, "The Courtroom" which was cancelled after 38 episodes. In 2013 Phil Redmond published his autobiography Mid-Term Report. In 2016 Phil Redmond published his first novel Highbridge which was follow up from a short Ebook called "Hightbridge the Beginning" which was published in 2015. In 1989, Redmond was awarded the post of Honorary Professor of Media Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, where
Soap opera period was a decline in advertising during the Great Recession, which led shows to reduce their budgets and cast sizes. In addition to these external factors, a litany of production decisions has been cited by soap opera fans as contributing to the genre's decline, such as cliched plots, a lack of diversity that narrowed audience appeal, and the elimination of core families. Serials produced for primetime slots have also found success. The first primetime soap opera was "Faraway Hill" (1946), which aired on October 2, 1946, on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network. "Faraway Hill" ran for 12 episodes and was