In 1951 the UK’s first soap opera, The Archers’, was broadcast on Radio 4. It was the first soap opera to be broad casted to the UK audience and is now the world's longest running radio soap opera. There have been over 16 000 since it began on January 1st 1951. Each episode is roughly 15 minutes and there are 6 episodes a week shown at 7pm from Sunday to Friday. There is a Sunday morning omnibus at 10am.
It is set in a fictional village called Ambrige, set in the west midlands and focuses on the lives of its residents. The Archers website provides its audience with time lines of the show to remind them of previous story lines and also provides family tree's: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/
Below is an extract from BBC Radio 4:
In 1960 was the first broadcast of the UK’s longest running soap opera, Coronation Street on ITV.
It is set in the fictional, Weatherfield, which is situated in Salford, England.
It's website offers its audience chances to watch missed episodes, watch exclusive video's and get behind the scenes news: http://www.itv.com/soaps/coronationstreet/
Below is an extract from the very first episode:
In 1964 was the first broadcast of Crossroads on ITV.
It is set in a fictional motel in Birmingham and showed 4928 episodes since it began in 1964. Each episode is approximately 19 minutes and episodes were shown 5 days a week.
Below is an extract of the very first episode:
In 1972 was the first broadcast of Emmerdale Farm on ITV. It became known as Emmerdale in 1989 and is set in the fictional village called Emmerdale, West Yorkshire. There have been 5734 episodes which last approximately 22 minutes. Each episode is broad casted Monday to Friday at 19:00 and on Thursday there is an extra episode at 20:00.
Its website offers its viewers second chances to watch missed episodes, as well as news and gossip from the show: http://www.itv.com/Soaps/emmerdale/?intcmp=NAV_2004aa
Below is an extract of the very first episode:
-In 1982 was the first broadcast of Channel 4’s Brookside.
-In 1985 was the first broadcast of Eastenders on BBC1. It has since then broad casted 4086 episodes that last approximately 30 minutes. It is set in the fictional town of Walford, East End London and its viewers can watch the show Monday at 20:00, Tuesday at 19:30, Thursday at 19:30 and Friday at 20:00. Each episode is repeated on BBC3 at 22:00 and there is an omnibus on BBC1 on Sunday afternoon. Its website offers gossip about the soap, character profiles and information about the spin off, E20, that focuses on the younger residents of Albert Square and is aimed at a younger audience, mainly students, teenagers and young adults: http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/
Below is an extract from the very first episode:
-In 1986, the Australian soap Neighbours started on BBC1. It was first shown in the UK on the 27th October 1986 after it had been broadcasted for a year in Australia. It is set in Ramsey Street, a small cul-de-sac in Melbourne, Australia. It started off with just three families, the Ramsey's, the Robinson's and the Clarke's. Each episode is roughly 22 minutes and there have been over 6025 episodes. The show is the only television show to have its whole cast flown over to the UK for the Royal Variety Show. Its viral website provides its viewers with the latest behind the scenes gossip and story lines and offers the chance to catch up on missed episodes: http://www.neighbours.com/
Here is an extract from the very first episode:
-In 1989 Australian soap Home and Away begins on ITV. It was mainly focused on the character Tom Fletcher, his wife Pippa and their four foster children and the caravan park that the bought. Its most famous characters include: Heath Ledger, Dannii Minogue, Isla Fisher, Guy Pearce and Noami Watts. It has broad casted 5185 episodes that last approximately 22 minutes.
Here is an extract from the very first episode:
-In 1995 Channel 4 launches Hollyoaks. It is set in Chester, Hollyoaks and mainly centres around the local college. It is shown at 6 30pm to attract its target audience of students and young adults. There have been 2930 episodes that last approximately 25 minutes. Its website reveals spoilers, has character profiles and offers the audience gossip and the chance to catch up with missed episodes: http://www.e4.com/hollyoaks/index.html
Here is the launch trailer:
In 2005, the British Film Institute compiled a list of programmes with the biggest audience since 1955. The top 10 are:
Rank Show Episode Number of Viewers Date Network
1 1966 World Cup Final 32.30 million 30 July 1966 BBC/ITV
2 Funeral of Princess Diana 32.10 million 6 September 1997 BBC1/ITV
3 British Royal Family documentary 30.69 million 1969 BBC1/ITV
4 EastEnders Den divorces Angie 30.15 million 25 December 1986 BBC1
5 Apollo 13 splashdown 28.60 million 17 April 1970 BBC1/ITV
6 FA Cup replay: Chelsea vs. Leeds 28.49 million 29 April 1970 BBC1/ITV
7 Royal Wedding of Charles & Diana 28.40 million 29 July 1981 BBC1/ITV
8 Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips 27.60 million 14 November 1973 BBC1
9 Coronation Street Alan Bradley killed by tram 26.93 million 8 December 1989 ITV
10 Coronation Street Hilda Ogden leaves 26.00+ million[41] 25 December 1987 ITV
Soap opera storylines such as the divorce of Eastenders power couple has ranked in the same league as the worldwide broadcast of Princess Diana's funeral, this particular storyline has had the most viewings for any soap opera storyline in the UK and these viewings might suggest that this storyline is a particularly controversial situation that many audience members can relate to and emphasize with.
Award totals for soap operas as awarded by the British Soap Awards:
1.EastEnders - 72
2.Coronation Street - 52
3.Emmerdale - 19
4.Hollyoaks - 16
5.Doctors - 9
6.Brookside - 7
7.Family Affairs - 2
8.Night and Day - 1
It can be seen here that Eastenders can be titled the nations favourite soap opera and this is primarily down to the realistic storylines that audience members can relate to and emphasize with. It displays constant realism and verisimilitude and involves storylines that deal with domestic situations that members of the real world face day to day. Ann Gray's gender theory suggests that females are more likely to watch a soap opera than a male because they prefer open-ended narratives, this could be because soap operas provide a sense of escapism to viewers and offers the chance to emphasize with characters that are experiencing similar situations.
I researched this information using Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_in_the_United_Kingdom#Viewing_statistics
No comments:
Post a Comment