[2] A popular tourist destination, Torbay's sandy beaches, mild climate and recreational and leisure attractions have given rise to its nickname of the English Riviera.

Human bones and tools found in Kents Cavern in Torquay show that people have inhabited the Torbay area since Paleolithic times.

Torquay's economy, like Brixham's, initially depended on fishing and agriculture, but in the early 19th century the area began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort, initially frequented by members of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars while the Royal Navy anchored in Tor Bay and later, as the town's fame spread, by Victorian society.

[10] Torbay as an administrative area was created in 1968, when the municipal borough of Torquay, the urban districts of Brixham and Paignton, and the parish of Churston Ferrers were all abolished.

Torbay was created as a county borough covering the area of the abolished authorities, with some adjustments of the boundaries to neighbouring areas; the more rural southern parts from Brixham and Churston Ferrers were transferred to the parish of Kingswear, and there were more minor adjustments to the boundaries with the neighbouring parishes of Coffinswell, Kerswells and Marldon.

[11] Six years later, in 1974, local government was reformed again, with Torbay becoming a non-metropolitan district and Devon County Council providing county-level services to the area again.

There are three main towns around the marine inlet of Tor Bay: Torquay in the north, Paignton in the centre, and Brixham in the south.

These have become connected over the years, swallowing up villages and towns such as St Marychurch, Cockington, Churston Ferrers and Galmpton, though the latter maintains a rural feel thanks to tight conservation measures.

[9][20] In 2013, a Healthwatch report for the council found that the area had high levels of houses in multiple occupation, "a fairly transient community" and heavy drug use.

[20] The report stated that Melville Hill had "a historic reputation as a dumping ground for transient, out of work single people with chaotic lifestyles", but that most residents felt it was a friendly area.

[21] In 2015, the local health authority noted that residents had a lower life expectancy than in other areas of Torbay, that the proportion of people in the area who had mental ill health or learning disabilities were high, that the suicide rate was higher than elsewhere in the South West, and that many residents were either unemployed or earnt low wages.

[22] The local authority first set up a "Making Melville Marvellous" project to support urban renewal in 2013, but this did not lead to results.

Approval of planning permission expired November 2019, but a new application for funding was made in June 2020 for a new design incorporating lifts instead of ramps.