Soap opera funeral in 1997 (32.1 million viewers) which were transmitted on both BBC One and ITV. An early television serial was "The Grove Family" on the BBC, which produced 148 episodes from 1954 to 1957. The programme was broadcast live and only a handful of recordings were retained in the archives. The UK's first twice-weekly serial was ITV's "Emergency - Ward 10", running from 1957 until 1967. In the 1960s "Coronation Street" revolutionised UK television and quickly became a British institution. On 17 September 2010, it became the world's longest-running television soap opera and was listed in "Guinness World Records". The
Soap opera early 1970s and in 1972, debuted "Emmerdale Farm" (now "Emmerdale"), based on the successful format of the Irish soap opera. In the late 1970s, "The Riordans" was controversially dropped. The creator of that series would then go on to produce the second of his "Agri-soap" trilogy "Bracken", starring Gabriel Byrne, whose character had appeared in the last few seasons of "The Riordans". Bracken was soon replaced by the third "Agri-soap" "Glenroe", which ran until 2001. As RTÉ wanted a drama series for its Sunday night lineup rather than a soap opera, "On Home Ground" (2001–2002), "The Clinic" (2002–2009) and "RAW"