You ain’t my mother?

How could I talk about Britain without talking about soap operas? Soap operas form part of the furniture that make a British home, but they are under threat now and people are questioning whether they are still necessary or not. ‘Holby City’ got cancelled in 2022 and ‘Doctors’  has recently been cancelled; that now makes only 4 mainstream soap operas in Britain – ‘Coronation Street’, ‘Eastenders’, ‘Hollyoaks’ and ‘Emmerdale’. The British Soap Awards, only has 4 soaps that are nominated! Even now, ‘Hollyoaks’ is moving to streaming and E4 instead of its normal 18:30 time on Channel 4 and ‘Neighbours’ was cancelled on Channel 5 and has moved to Amazon Freevee. Is this what Britain has been reduced to?! Slowly, we are no longer appreciating the art of tuning in for our daily soap opera.

Do I watch soaps anymore? No, my era of soap operas was the prime: Eastenders 2007 – 2014 and I considered participating in any other soap, as betrayal. Even though I don’t really watch them anymore, I appreciate how they shape British culture. A soap can be passed down from generation to generation and it is a staple for viewers and for the cast. William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow on ‘Coronation Street’ has been there since 1960. 1960. Soaps can set actors up for life, families are created there, and we see actors grow up with us. In a world of constant change, soaps are a nice daily look into a family that won’t leave their neighbourhood no matter how many deaths and infidelities have happened there.

The name ‘soap opera’ originates from when these shows were created, they were sponsored by soap companies. The shows were mainly made for housewives in the early 20th century so there would be adverts for detergent and soap in the middle of the shows. The opera part came from the nature of the shows – the slow pace of the stories, the stock characters e.g. the villain, family ties, unexpected deaths – just pure drama. But usually, the story centred a nuclear family and the drama wouldn’t be on camera; the audience didn’t see much of it. But in the late 20th century, the drama became more visible, and expanded to more risqué topics. Now we have the cliffhangers, murder, drug addiction, adultery, and even baby swapping on our screens.

I am aware that there are many other countries that have their soap operas, but nothing compares to British soaps. Unlike many telenovelas or US soap operas, the UK soaps use kitchen sink realism, meaning that they are about the working class and their settings, not as comic relief, but in a genuine fashion. Telenovelas and US soaps are usually in the daytime and are melodramatic, with swelling music and model-type actors on screen. In Britain, we don’t have soaps focusing on the super-rich or high society and I guess we don’t want it, we want the everyday nitty-gritty only!! Many soaps been created in the UK with different styles to this, but didn’t last long (‘Emergency Ward-10‘, ‘Crossroads‘, ‘Family Affairs‘). It’s clear that the UK wants working class people in a small borough with characters that last decades doing everyday work with serious drama. So now that we have that, why aren’t we watching it anymore?

I have tried to figure out why I stopped watching. I don’t necessarily think it’s the stories because they are still very engaging and scandalous.  Maybe they can even be too far fetched – but that is what a soap is supposed to be. I think a big factor are streaming services – that’s why a lot of soaps are moving online. If I missed that ‘Eastenders’ episode at 19:30, to me, it was gone – watching it on demand didn’t feel the same. Unlike streaming shows, soaps aren’t something to typically binge – though I know some people who go through the archives and binge previous episodes, you know who you are!! Because we live in a world with so many choices, it is difficult to get the attention of a nation. Also, soap operas can move quite slowly, maybe our attention spans can’t handle 30 minutes of stretched out storyline a day anymore. Also, people seem to be more interested in British dramas. You know those 6/8 episode seasons with one hour of pure action? I hold my hands up and say that I am a culprit – I love them. People are investing  more money and time in those dramas than they are in soap operas, and this puts them in danger. It’s made worse when not many parents are passing down their tradition of watching soap operas to their kids, therefore the viewership is not growing either. Apart from Christmas obviously.

I don’t think soaps can ever fully go away (I hope not) but something is definitely changing. Although I don’t really watch them, I love them for what they are and how they are woven into British culture. So how can the dilemma be resolved? I am genuinely unsure, but taking the soaps away is taking a limb out of British entertainment, and I am sure that the history of British soaps shaping the culture can attest to that.