The history of soaps
'Soap opera' is a phrase first used in the 1930s in America. It was used to describe radio series that were sponsored by soap powder companies. The 'opera' part came from the fact that they were about dramatic situations. Their official title is sometimes shortened to 'soaps'.
Soaps are works of ongoing episodic dramatic fiction. Usually the audience is led to believe that a day will pass in each episode and that time continues normally when they are not on screen. Only some very dramatic story lines continue over more than one episode before drawing to a conclusion. The normal time line is used to give a sense that it is real life and it doesn't just stop, it continues even when we don't see it.
In 1946, the first TV soap opera appeared; Faraway Hill. The first British soap was Coronation Street, which was aired for the first time in 1960. Coronation Street is also the longest running TV soap in the world.
After the success of American Soaps in the 1980’s soap operas became popular again. This caused British soap operas such as Brookside and EastEnders to be created. The success of Australian soaps like Neighbours also caused British soaps to reconsider their target audience, adding characters that appealed to a younger, teenage, audience. This lead to the soap Hollyoaks, which is aimed mainly at teens and young adults.
British Soaps are very different to their American counter parts. While American Soaps often contain the richer class and portray a very glamorous and dramatic life, British soaps try to portray the working class family and try and follow realistic story lines. Although the sense of realism is arguable because they need dramatic story lines to bring in the audiences, they are very family orientated and at the end of the day they often come back to family values, showing that family is the most important thing.
Soap opera storylines usually run side by side. With more than one story line on the go at one time, the storylines often interlink with each other to make them relevant to that particular episode. Each episode will feature some of the current storylines, but not all of them. This means that actors can get a break or more than one episode can be filmed at once, as they don’t have a lot of time to make them before they need to be broadcast.
The Grandparent Figure: An older character with a lot of worldly experience that can be either male or female.
Young/ Forbidden Couples: The classic forbidden love storyline.
Troubled teen: Typical a troubled teenage girl.
Soap Conventions
British soap operas follow many of the same conventions when they are being made. This allows them to be recognised easily as soap operas.
British soap operas follow many of the same conventions when they are being made. This allows them to be recognised easily as soap operas.
•A soap opera is a piece of episodic drama fiction shown in chronological order which usually runs for 52 weeks a year, and normally around 5 times a week. The scheduling only changes when major events, such as Wimbledon, interfere. When this occurs soaps may change time or not be shown at all for that day, or even week.
•Soaps feature continuous storylines that can run for any amount of time from a few days to months at a time before they conclude.
•The theme tune is normally a well recognised piece of music, meaning when it is played people will know what soap is on without looking at the screen. The theme tune and opening title sequence do not often change because audiences get very attached. However it does sometimes happen, Neighbours has gone through a few changes over the years. It is less rare to see changes in none British soaps compared to British ones.
•Soap casts are normally quite large but there is maximum of around 4 separate storylines per episode. This is just enough to keep the audience interested and allow hem to get to know the characters but it is not so much that they lose track of what's happening.
•Soaps normally tend to have set locations. For example, EastEnders is set in Walford and is always set in Walford unless otherwise stated. On top of specific areas each soap has specific buildings used for filming, like characters houses and public meeting place. These public places such as The Queen Vic, in EastEnders, or Rovers Return Inn, in Coronation Street, become very familiar to the audience and act as an indexical reference to the soap. Some of the most important storylines take place in these locations. The one area and small amount of sets means soaps are cheap to produce. Occasionally soaps have trips where a few characters leave their town for a few episodes and some sort of incident occurs, but it is not very often.
•Normal episodes of a soap opera tend to cover a day and it is assumed that time has passed between each episode. This means that soaps have the same holidays at the same time as the viewers and can arrange special episodes for things like Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Soaps have even been known to have special episodes on the anniversary of the soap. These special episodes are often extended episodes and feature even more shocking and enticing plots.
•The characters in soaps are normally middle class people. Typically all the characters start off as stereotypes before developing countertype attributes. This means that the characters are easy to identify with and understand straight away and as they develop the audience gets to see them grown and connects with them more.
•Most episodes do not have neat conclusions like weekly drama’s. This entices the viewers to keep watching if they want to find out the conclusion, and not every storyline ends at once, keeping the viewer continuously hooked.
•A soap operas target audience has and will almost always be a greatly female based one. This shows with females making up a greater part of the viewing figures. Because of this soaps are tailored more towards womens preferred style. It has been suggested that women prefer long running, complicated storylines as opposed to men who prefer definitive conclusions. This makes women better suited to soaps.
•Soaps are greatly family orientated. They tend to focus on several groups of families whose storylines intertwine. Usually they all live near each other, on the same street or at least within walking distance.
Stereotypical Characters used in Soaps
The Strong Independent Woman: This character type is a powerful woman, sometimes even aggressive when called for, and can usually be found at the centre of the soap's conflicts.
This stereotype is what soaps are most famous known for, as women were originally their target audience. This stereotype however has a softer side, almost like a counter type quality. This usually comes through when she meets a love interest or when it comes to her family. A character that fits into this stereotype is Tracy Barlow from Coronation Street.
The Grandparent Figure: An older character with a lot of worldly experience that can be either male or female.
This is usually an integral character in most soap’s. They usually provide advice and support to the soap's younger generation, providing a shoulder to cry on, even to the most unlikely people. An example of this stereotype is Harold Bishop in Neighbours.
Jack-the-Lad: A male character, usually considered to be young however once this stereotype is established a lot of characters carry traits of it into adulthood.
This character type is shown to uses other people as means to his own ends, sometimes leading towards him being labelled as the 'baddie' of the soap, although he never really means to be. Over time jack the lad character storylines can be softened and used to include comedic humour within the soap. A comedic Jack the Lad character is Alfie Moon in Eastenders.
The Villain: Typically a character that big storylines revolve around.
Often in the past they have been powerful middle-aged men, however females are being included in this stereotype more and more. This character is a character that is created in a way so that the audience can all dislike them. Often these characters abuse, bully, manipulate and sometimes even kill popular or innocent characters while they are at large. They usually meet sticky ends or run away before they can be caught. Richard Hillman’s storyline in Coronation Street is probably one of the most well known examples of this.
Troublesome Oldie: An older, grumpy who is cynical and criticizes others.
The character is often sticking their noses into other people's business and causing trouble through their actions. However even with their faults they are deep down good people who are generally trying to help but are just a bit too much of a gossip for their own good. Dot Cotton/Branning from EastEnders fits this character type.
Young/ Forbidden Couples: The classic forbidden love storyline.
These storylines/ character types usually revolve around younger couples. The younger couples often face adversity because of being kept apart for some reason. This sometimes is by their parent’s objections, which echo’s the classic Romeo and Juliet storyline, or by situation. Peter Beale & Lauren Branning from EastEnders had a storyline like this not long ago.
Troubled teen: Typical a troubled teenage girl.
This character is usually spoilt and argumentative, often getting into trouble with their family, the police, school and sometimes running away or becoming pregnant. Usually this character evolves into the role of the Strong Independent Woman as she grows up. Coronation Street’s Sarah Platt Played this role well before evolving into a strong young woman.
