Soap opera

:Soap Opera redirects here. For the album by The Kinks, see Soap Opera.

Soaps in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, soap operas are one of the most popular genres, most being broadcast during prime time. Unlike the rich, glamorous and good-looking characters typical of US soap operas, most UK soaps focus on working-class communities. The most popular is ITV's Coronation Street, which regularly attracts the highest viewing figures for any programme.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - ITV - Coronation Street

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As in the USA, soap operas began on radio and consequently were associated with the BBC. The BBC continues to broadcast one of the earlier radio "soap opera" programmes in Britain, the ever popular Archers, on Radio 4. It has been running since 1951 nationally. It continues to attract over five million listeners, or roughly 25% of the radio listening population of the UK at that time of the evening. Although British soaps do not have the same commercial origins as their American counterparts, the term "soap opera" was adopted in Britain for this genre in the early 1980s with the influx of popular American soaps such as Dallas and Dynasty.

Related Topics:
Archers - Dallas - Dynasty

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In the 1960s, Coronation Street set the trend and other popular soaps included Emergency Ward 10 (ITV), and on the BBC Compact (about the staff of a women's magazine) and The Newcomers (about the upheaval caused by a large firm setting up a plant in a small town). During the 1960s Corries main rival was Crossroads, which started in 1964 and was broadcast by ITV at teatime. Crossroads was set in a Birmingham (England) motel and while popular, the show's purported low technical standard and bad acting was much mocked. By the 1980s its ratings began to decline and several attempts to revamp the series through cast changes and later, expanding the focus from the motel to the surrounding community, were unsuccessful, and Crossroads was cancelled in 1988. A later rival to Corrie was ITV's Emmerdale Farm (later renamed Emmerdale) which began in 1972 and had a similar northern setting (Yorkshire, this time). When Channel 4 launched in 1982 it came complete with the Liverpool based Brookside that over the next decade re-defined the UK television soap. In 1985, the London based soap opera EastEnders debuted and was a near instant success with viewers and critics alike. Critics talked about the downfall of Coronation Street, but this was put to rest in 1994 when the two serials were scheduled opposite each other, with Corrie winning handily. For the better part of ten years, the show has shared the number one position with Coronation Street, but the ratings for EastEnders reached an all-time low as of late 2004, allowing Corrie to regain the top spot.

Related Topics:
1960s - Emergency Ward 10 - Compact - The Newcomers - 1960 - Crossroads - 1988 - Emmerdale Farm - 1972 - Channel 4 - 1982 - Liverpool - Brookside - 1985 - EastEnders - 1994 - 2004

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Daytime soaps were unknown until the 1970s because there was virtually no daytime television in the UK. ITV introduced General Hospital, which later transferred to a prime time slot, and Scottish Television had Take the High Road, which lasted for over twenty years. However, it was with the influx of Australian programmes such as The Young Doctors and eventually, Neighbours and Home and Away, that the soap boom really began. 1992 saw the BBC launch the disastrous Eldorado to alternate with Eastenders but it only lasted a year, but this failure did not stop the ever increasing prominence that soap operas would have in UK schedules. In 2001 a new version of Crossroads was produced featuring a mostly new cast, but it did not achieve satisfactory ratings and was cancelled in 2003.

Related Topics:
1970s - General Hospital - Scottish Television - Take the High Road - Australia - The Young Doctors - Neighbours - Home and Away - 1992 - BBC - Eldorado - 2001 - 2003

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Unlike US daytime soaps which have almost always been shown five episodes a week, Monday through Friday, the UK soaps usually only aired on two nights of the week (with the exception of Crossroads, which began as a five day a week soap opera, but was later reduced). In 1989, things started to change when Coronation Street began airing three times a week (later expanding further to four in 1996), a trend which was soon followed by rival EastEnders in 1994 and Emmerdale in 1997. In 1997, Family Affairs debuted as a five-days-a-week soap.

Related Topics:
1989 - 1996 - 1994 - 1997 - Family Affairs

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Today, Coronation Street (which began screening two episodes on Monday nights in 2002), Family Affairs and Hollyoaks all produce five episodes a week, while EastEnders screens four. In 2004, Emmerdale began screening six episodes a week leading to the concern that soap operas in the UK were at saturation level.

Related Topics:
Hollyoaks - 2004

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