18 July 1985: When Dallas goes to hell - Television

It was the vicious backbiting and power struggles of the oil-rich Ewing clan that gave Dallas such over-dramatic but watchable story lines. In the UK, Dallas had a slow start before soap fans took to it. In 1980, when the dastardly oil baron JR Ewing was shot (the first time) more than 25 million UK viewers crowded round their family TV sets to watch the cliffhanger episode