Jen Ainsworth Soap Operas

sites.google.com/site/jenainsworthx/what-is-a-soap-opera-

What Is a Soap Opera?

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of
dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The term soap opera
has at times been generally applied to any romantic serial, but it is also used to describe
the more naturalistic, unglamorous UK primetime drama serials such as Coronation
Street. A crucial element that defines soap opera is the open-ended nature of the
narrative, with stories spanning several episodes. The defining feature that makes a
program a soap opera, according to Albert Moran, is "that form of television that works
with a continuous open narrative. Each episode ends with a promise that the storyline is
to be continued in another episode.

A British soap opera almost always features the following conventions:

It is a serialised drama that usually runs week-in, week-out, all year round.

It features continuous storylines (or 'narratives') dealing with domestic themes and
personal or family relationships.

It generally has a well-known theme tune and intro sequence which has changed
little over the years.

Though the casts for soap operas tend to be bigger than for drama series, there is
a limit to the number of characters available at any one time. This allows the soap
to focus on a smaller number of characters, thus allowing more time to be spent
on each, so that the audience knows them better and the storylines can be more
detailed and involved, as well as being more numerous over time.

The plots are open-ended and usually many storylines are featured or even
interlinked in an episode. Often they follow the same issue, with, for example, two
characters dealing with the break-up of a relationship. The storylines in these
cases run parallel.

They are often set around a small, central area such as a square (as in
EastEnders) or a cul-de-sac (such as Brookside). Sometimes, there is something
else connecting the characters. For example, most of the characters in El Dorado
were ex-pats who all lived in a same British-dominated ghetto of Spain.

Soaps often have special episodes for events in the real world such as Christmas
or the Millennium. Some special episodes focus on long-departed characters, or
current characters who travel to a location outside of their usual surroundings
(such as Brookside's 'South', which saw Tracy Corkhill and her boyfriend run away
to London). Such episodes are often referred to as 'soap bubbles' as they are
often self-contained and have little impact on the on-going stories of the regular
show.

1/3
 British soaps most often feature common, ordinary, working class characters, in
stark contrast to American soaps, which tend to deal with richer, flashier, more
fantasy-inspired characters, reflecting the preferences of their respective target
audiences.

As a rule, British soaps are realistic or, at least, aim for realism.

Soap episodes often begin with a 'hook' in which one or more of the narratives
from a previous episode are continued. The episode will undoubtedly end with a
'cliff-hanger', which is a tense and suspenseful, unconcluded piece of dialogue or
action when, for example, a character finds out that their fiancée has just died -
cue zoom-in on their traumatised face.

Three, four or even five storylines will be in progress during any one episode, with
the action switching between them. As one narrative is resolved, another
completely different one with different characters will already be underway. The
characters go from quiet, harmonic (but uninteresting) periods to chaotic,
confusing (but interesting) dilemmas. The action simply concentrates solely on the
latter.

Settings and Storylines

British soaps tend to have a strong regional identity - for example, EastEnders is set in
the East End of London, while Manchester is the setting for Coronation Street. This is
not just to attract viewers from that area, but also to make it more realistic. The area in
which the soap is set also has an effect on its plotting and characters; soaps set in rural
areas are usually more community-based and have fewer characters than in a larger,
urban-set soap.

Again, British soaps are deeply community based and usually have a central meeting
point (often a pub) where all the characters meet. To draw on the examples of the two
most popular British soaps: 'The Queen Vic' from EastEnders and 'The Rover's Return'
pub from Coronation Street. These meeting points are featured in every episode and are
often the settings for major events in the history of the soap. Their important position in
the soap makes them symbols of that soap, and fans visit from far and wide to view this
meeting point in real life.

British soaps deal with controversial issues such as homosexuality, drugs and underage
pregnancies. These issues stir up public debate and media interest, consequently
pushing up ratings and, of course, the issues themselves get more and more
controversial as time goes on - what might have shocked viewers in 1960 - such as
unmarried mothers - is now too tame to court attention. In recent years, producers and
scriptwriters have begun to bring in characters with in-built storylines, such as serious
illnesses or a dark, shady past. This provides interesting storylines from the outset, with
plenty of tension. It also gets an emotional response from viewers, along with high
ratings, though linking a character too closely to a storyline can often mean they outlive
their usefulness once the storyline has been resolved - such as Mandy Jordache in
Brookside, who was at the centre of the 'Body under the patio' story, but who
disappeared soon after that story had run its course.

A birth, marriage or even a death all have a way of injecting new interest into a soap,
which is useful as they're just the sort of dramatic plots that soaps use up rapidly. Illness
also frequently pops up in storylines and characters help to make conditions to become

2/3
better known and more acceptable. Interestingly, this has given rise to a phenomenon
known as 'telly-belly'. Soap producers are anxious to ensure that all medical details are
correct when it comes to these illnesses and soap fans have realised that their own
symptoms are similar to those of these characters. When they visited their doctors, they
have found that they too had the illness or - more often - just thought they did.

Tzvetan Todorov is a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher who has published 21 books and

has been a visiting professor at several prestigious universities. Todorov produced
a narrative theory, and this narrative theory can be linked to the storylines of a Soap
Opera. His theory is that the narrative can progress through five stages. These include:

1. A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be)

2. A disruption of that order (by an event)
3. A recognition that the disruption has occured
4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
5. A return or restoration of a new equilibrium

Todorov argues that narrative involves a transformation - the characters or situations are
transformed through the progress of the disruption.

3/3