The Avenue 1.0 (2011-16)

The Avenue 1.0 began on 19th December 2011, and was written, produced and created by Ross. Over the course of exactly five years, it produced 167 episodes in total, including two feel seasons. Shortly after it began, former forum member Lem partnered with Ross to co-write and co-produce the project, and she did so from 2012-2015. Between 2012 and 2013, they were joined for a stint by Jaay, and for two short stints by AppleCobbler, before later continuing as a duo again. In 2014, as part of forum event, Noxy produced a five-part fan fiction version of the project. Lem and Noxy were so impressed by this, they asked Noxy to join them on The Avenue and form a trio, in May 2014. Noxy accepted, and joined full-time with her first credit at Episode 108 (S03E08). Noxy had previously freelanced as a writer on the project, co-writing Episode 68 (S01E58) and solo writing Episode 69 (S01E69) and Episode 70 (S01E70), as a favour. Lem's first material debuted in Episode 55 (S01E55), which she wrote solo. Her last material appeared in Episode 152 (S03E52). Lem officially left both the company and the project at Episode 155 (S03E55). During her three-year tenure, Lem briefly left and rejoined. So from 2015 onwards, both The Avenue 1.0 and Red Lion Pictures count Noxy and founder Ross as staff.

The Avenue 1.0 followed the lives of those who reside in and around Catford Grove, a fictional area of Lewisham, SE London. There were two successful seasons of the project, with the third season only completeing about two-thirds of its run. Season 1 ran from 19th December 2013 (Episode 1/S01E01) - Tueday 25th December/Christmas Day 2014 (Episode 73/S01E73), whilst the shorter but more acclaimed Season 2 ran from 9th February 2015 (Episode 74/S02E01) - 19th July 2015 (Episode 100/S02E27). The Season 2 finalé also marked The Avenue's 100th episode. Season 3 was the most popular season, despite only completing around two-thirds of its run.

On 22nd July 2014, it was confirmed that a spin-off series, The Avenue: Sun, Sea & Sand, would air between 19th and 23rd August 2014, with the 3rd series of the main show beginning on Monday 8th September 2014 (Friday 1st February 2014 in 'real-time').

From Episode 108 (S03E08) - the episode Noxy joined the team - The Avenue time-jumped by around eighteen months. At its conclusion, it was set in April 2016. This was to allow the project to 'officially' be published thrice a week, while in reality it was only published once a week. In 2016, real-time output caught up with AVE time output, meaning the project fell behind in AVE time.

On 23rd September 2014, the project launched this independent wikia. Previously the wikia had been a part of the Writers Express wikia, but that is now just a summary page which links to here. This wiki has of course been overhauled since its inception, to reflect the changes of the project.

Episode 133 marked the show's second anniversary, with a one-hour special that featured many references to past characters and storylines, as well the dramatic and top secret return of original character Carla Baker (formerly Westaway). This was to be the beginning of a new era for the Bakers, as the Baker parents, Phil and Maggie, joined in 134, and Carla's first child, George, was born at the end of Episode 135, a Christmas episode.

The Avenue 1.0 won 15 Writers Express Awards in all, including a breakthrough accolade as 'Best Soap' in March 2015. It won this award again in February 2016.

In February 2016, the project won another three WRIXAS, totalling 15.

The project took an impromptu six month sabbatical following Episode 160 on 31st January 2016, but returned on 31st July 2016, exactly six months to the date since the previous episode. The project was not eligible for WRIXAS 12. From the 27th-31st August 2016, the project ran a five-night special. 19th December 2016 saw the project turn five-years-old in AVE time. To mark the occasion, Episode 167 - written only by the show's creator, Ross - was published.

At 19th December 2016, there had been 167 episodes of the project to date. On 6th January 2017, it was announced that the project would be put on hiatus 'for an extended break'. On 19th December 2017, the project's sixth anniversary and a year to the say since the final episode was published, a statement was released revealing the demise of the project. On the 26th May 2018, it was announced that a new, contemporary version of The Avenue was to begin later in the year.

Title Card
The final title card was the fifth of Season 3, and is somewhat more humble than the red/white/blue/tube train look of the previous title card. Whilst the logo remains unchanged, the black strip behind it has been replaced by a wavy yellow strip. The wavy strip vaguely represents a river (as in the River Thames), whilst the yellow makes a return. Producers Noxy and Ross have said they feel 'yellow' is now the show's trademark colour, and is likely to be used in all future title cards and redesigns. The background image is a blurred picture of Catford in Lewisham, and includes the infamous Catford Cat.

Theme Tune
Since Episode 1, the show had used an instrumental version of 'New York' by Snow Patrol. However, to mark a visual revamp, an instrumental version of 'Charlie Brown' by Coldplay came into use since Episode 161.

Awards
The Avenue 1.0 picked up 15 WRIXAS, since WRIXAS 5. These have been for as follows:
 * Best Soap Male four times, including twice-in-a-row at one point: twice Aleks Glukhov (WRIXAS 9 and WRIXAS 11), once Graham Anderson (WRIXAS 6) and once Dylan Baker (WRIXAS 5)
 * Best (Soap) Family thrice: twice The Brannigans (WRIXAS 6 and WRIXAS 8) and once The Jameses (WRIXAS 11)
 * Best Soap Scene twice-in-a-row: Viv's Private Goodbye To Thomas (WRIXAS 8) and Linda Comforts Michael In Hospital After His Stroke (WRIXAS 9)
 * Best Soap twice (WRIXAS 9 and WRIXAS 11)
 * Best Big Week: Season 2 Finalé Week (WRIXAS 6)
 * Best Soap Episode - Episode 151: Indecent Proposal (WRIXAS 10)
 * Best Soap Female (Carla Westaway) - WRIXAS 5
 * Best Exit (Carla Westaway) - WRIXAS 5