8. Free The Weatherfield One
Whatever you may think of soap fans (people with an unhealthy interest in the welfare of sheep if they're Emmerdale fans, and horny teenagers if they're watching Hollyoaks), one thing you can always say about them is that, on the whole, they have a fully functional sense of perspective and don't get sucked into it too much like some other fandoms. But then came the "Free The Weatherfield One" campaign and the line between fiction and reality began to blur. In 1998, when the ratings war between Coronation Street and Eastenders was at its peak, ITV pulled out its ace with a storyline where long-running character Deirdre Rachid was falsely imprisoned for fraud after being framed by her lover. What followed was an outcry from fans who clearly had too much time on their hands and more free publicity in the newspapers than anyone would be capable of buying. Granada's (the programme's producers) switchboards were jammed and the tabloids started a "Free The Weatherfield One" campaign, giving out free stickers and t-shirts. It's one thing when a few nutty fans jump on a bandwagon like this. But when a ludicrous campaign advocating the freedom of a fictional character gets the support of the tabloid press and a Birmingham MP as well as catching the attention of the Prime Minister, you know that something has gone seriously wrong. Bizarrely, the Daily Mail were the only ones making sense by accusing the nation of "mass madness". Eventually, Deirdre was released, ITV were able to chalk up a big victory against the BBC in the perpetual war of the soaps, and the nation returned to a state of relative sanity.