Roque Santeiro is a Brazilian primetime telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo. It premiered on 24 June 1985 and ended on 21 February 1986, replacing Corpo a Corpo and was replaced by Selva de Pedra.[1][2]
Roque Santeiro became a great success, with high viewership levels, and is recognized today as one of the best telenovelas of all time. It was distributed to several different countries around the world, and had an audience of 60 million viewers (out of approxmimentally 135-138 million Brazilians at the time), and is currently the most-watched show in the history of Brazilian television.[3]
Plot
In the tiny poor town of Asa Branca, in the middle of Brazilian Northeast, Roque Santeiro is worshiped as a saint. He was supposedly killed by a bandit, 18 years ago, trying to save the local church. After his disappearance, local leaderships such as landowner Sinhozinho Malta and mayor Florindo, took profit on that to control the humble population. They even make up a widow, Porcina, who should have married Roque secretly before his death. What they don't expect is that Roque is alive, and he's back to, allegedly, "save his people". Now Malta, Florindo, Porcina, and others must hold him down and explain the "truth" to their commoners, in a desperate attempt to save their own bottoms. Meanwhile, mysterious facts surround Asa Branca, such as a Werewolf, a film crew who are trying to shoot a movie about Roque's story, and violent murderers.
In its premiere, Roque Santeiro acquired 68.0 Ibope Rating, considering the measurement for Greater São Paulo, eighteen points above the target set by Rede Globo that year. In the same week, on a Saturday, it was registered the lowest audience of the telenovela: 58 points. The average of the first week was 65 points.
On 20 August 1985, in Episode 50, Roque Santeiro posted a record audience: 81 points. It was the first time the telenovela recorded an index above 80 points. In that week, the average was 71 points.
On 17 February 1986, in Episode 205, Roque registered a record audience: 91 points. It was the first time the telenovela recorded an index above 90 points, a fact that would be repeated only in the last chapter: 96 points.
In the last episode, it was registered a historical index on Brazilian television: 100 points. In the scene where Sinhozinho Malta and Viúva Porcina say goodbye to Roque Santeiro, and leave Asa Branca, 100% of the Brazilian television sets were tuned on Rede Globo.[7][8]
