If I tell you that it began life as Emmerdale Farm, it will give you a good clue as to the setting. 12Įmmerdale is the last of the “big three” British soap operas. It’s a show so revered that even Prince Charles has made an appearance and many, many actors and entertainers have been seen on the show. Its strength has lain in creating memorable characters throughout its lifetime, with some of them remembered long after they have departed – even non-soap fans in the UK know of Ena Sharples, Bet Lynch and Hilda Ogden. The storylines are based around the everyday domestic dramas of the simple folk who live and work in the Coronation Street. The street and its immediate environs has a pub (The Rover’s Return), a corner shop, a newsagent, a café, a hair salon, a car repair shop and a factory. Coronation Street is a typical cobblestone street lined with terraced houses in the fictional northern town of Weatherfield. It is one of the longest running television shows anywhere and it has anchored the early evening schedule of ITV1 for decades. Many people who watch soaps have one or two favourites which they try never to miss.Coronation Street is the longest running of all the British soap operas, now in its 55th year. Though soaps have a limited audience, the names of many of the ones that have been broadcast for a long time, such as Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless, are well known. A few have been successful in the evenings, but most soaps are broadcast during the afternoon. In the US, soap operas are also called daytime dramas. Neighbours and Home and Away, both from Australia, are also popular in Britain. Other popular soaps include Emmerdale on ITV.
The most popular of the television soaps are Coronation Street on ITV (first broadcast in 1960) and its main rival, EastEnders on the BBC. The longest-running soap opera in the world is The Archers, ‘an everyday story of country folk’, which began on BBC radio in the 1950s. In Britain soap operas are usually broadcast in the early evening. Some storylines (= themes in the story) deal with sensitive social issues, such as alcoholism and racism. The most successful soaps reflect the worries and hopes of real people, though the central characters frequently have extreme personal problems in order to make the programmes more exciting. Most soap operas describe the daily lives of a small group of people who live in the same street or town or who work in the same place such as a hospital. Most soap operas have their own website and some people buy books about their favourite soap and visit the places where the stories are supposed to happen. They are called soap operas because in the US they were first paid for by companies who made soap. Episodes broadcast during the week are often repeated in a single omnibus programme at the weekend. They are stories about the lives of ordinary people that are broadcast, usually in half-hour episodes, three times or more each week. write/produce a drama/sitcom/spin-off/comedy seriesĬulture soap operas soap operas Soap operas, also called soaps, are among the most popular television programmes.
#What is a soap opera tv#
#What is a soap opera series#
broadcast/ (especially North American English) air/repeat a show/a programme/a documentary/an episode/a series.show a programme/a documentary/an ad/a commercial.have/install satellite (TV)/cable (TV)/a satellite dish.sit in front of/switch on/switch off/turn on/turn off the television/the TV/the TV set.surf (through)/ (especially North American English) flip through/ (especially British English) flick through the channels.pick up/reach for/grab the remote (control).catch/miss a show/a programme/a program/an episode/the news.see (especially British English) an ad/ (especially North American English) a commercial/the news/the weather.watch television/TV/a show/ (British English) a programme/ (North American English) a program/a documentary/a pilot/a rerun/a repeat.Collocations Television Television Watching