''Goede tijden, slechte tijden'' (, ), also known as ''GTST'' or simply ''Goede tijden'', is the longest-running

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

soap opera, which began on 1 October 1990 on

RTL4 RTL 4 (Radio Télévision Luxembourg 4) is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel; it is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. RTL 4 is a general entertainment channel with in ...

. The programme was the first daily (every workday) soap in the Netherlands and Europe. The soap is produced by

Joop van den Ende Johannes "Joop" Adrianus van den Ende (born 23 February 1942) is a Dutch theatrical producer, co-founder of international television production company Endemol and founder/owner of Stage Entertainment, Europe's largest live entertainment compan ...

and to date over 6,300 episodes have been broadcast. It was inspired by the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

soap ''

The Restless Years ''The Restless Years'' is an Australian soap opera which followed the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and the drama and relationships faced by young adults. It was created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for N ...

'', although it started following its own course during the third season. GTST is broadcast Monday to Friday at 20:00. At its peak, around 1.5 million viewers watched each episode. Nowadays, the show is watched linearly by a total of 800.000 viewers, with an additional 300.000 viewers on streaming platform Videoland. It is the highest-rated soap opera in the Netherlands. The soap mainly revolves around the lives of the families Alberts, Sanders, De Jong, Van Houten and Bouwhuis. It all takes place in the fictional town of Meerdijk. Like any other soap, marriage, divorce, kidnapping and business are a few of the ingredients of ''GTST'', although in recent years, ''GTST'' has become known for writing and producing more controversial storylines. ''GTST'' is also known for having a summer break each year, ending a season sometime in June with a cliffhanger, only to resume three months later in September. Although the early cliffhangers often revolved around family drama, later cliffhangers have often revolved around disasters and unexpected twists. Many former actors who once were part of the cast are now well known in the Netherlands and Europe, such as

Katja Schuurman Katja Schuurman (born 19 February 1975) is a Dutch actress, singer and television personality. Early life She grew up as the eldest daughter of a Dutch father and a Surinamese mother, born in Curaçao. Her sister Birgit is also a singer and a ...

Reinout Oerlemans Reinout Oerlemans (; born 10 June 1971) is a Dutch soap opera actor, film director, television presenter and television producer. He is the founder of the TV production company Eyeworks. In 1989, while studying law at the University of Amsterda ...

and

Antonie Kamerling Anthonie Willem Constantijn Gneomar "Antonie" Kamerling (25 August 1966 – 6 October 2010) was a Dutch actor and singer. He was member of the original cast of the Dutch soap opera ''Goede tijden, slechte tijden''. He played in the films ''The Li ...

. In 2014, a gay marriage took place in the soap opera, this was the first time this happened on the Dutch television. In 2016, the show got a spin-off called ''Nieuwe Tijden'' (English: New Times), which follows some of the younger characters from ''GTST'' and some new characters as they go off to college. ''Nieuwe Tijden'' was cancelled in 2018.

Cast

Present characters

Recurring cast

Original cast members

References

External links