Editing Soap opera (section)

==United Kingdom==
{{See also|List of longest-serving soap opera actors}}
Soap operas in the UK began on radio and consequently were associated with the BBC. It had resisted soaps as antithetical to its quality image, but began broadcasting ''[[Front Line Family]]'' in April 1941 on its [[BBC World Service|North American shortwave service]] to encourage American intervention on Britain's behalf in [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Selling War: The British Propaganda Campaign against American "Neutrality" in World War II | author=Cull, Nicholas John | year=1995 | pages=135–136 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=0-19-508566-3}}</ref> The BBC continues to broadcast the world's longest-running radio soap, ''[[The Archers]]'', which first aired in May 1950, and has been running nationally since 1951.<ref name="Archers"/> It is currently broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] and continues to attract over five million listeners, or roughly 25% of the radio listening population of the UK at that time of the evening.

In the UK, soap operas are one of the most popular genres, with most being broadcast during prime time. Most UK soap operas focus on everyday, working-class communities, influenced by the conventions of the [[kitchen sink drama]].<ref>{{cite news|title=When kitchen-sink drama revolutionised British cinema|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/classic-british/kitchen-sink-drama-revolution/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/classic-british/kitchen-sink-drama-revolution/ |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|agency=The Telegraph|date=March 24, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The most popular soap operas in the United Kingdom are ''[[Coronation Street]]'', ''[[EastEnders]]'',  ''[[Emmerdale]]'', ''[[Hollyoaks]]'', and the Australian produced ''[[Neighbours]]'' and ''[[Home and Away]]''. The first three of these are consistently among the highest-rated shows on British television.<ref name="BARB">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16671101 "Tracking 30 years of TV's most watched programmes"]. BBC. Retrieved 20 January 2015</ref> Such is the magnitude of the popularity of the soap genre in the UK that all television serials in the country are reputedly enjoyed by members of the [[British Royal Family]]. [[King Charles III]] himself made cameo appearances in two of the UK's biggest serials during his time as [[Prince of Wales]]: ''Coronation Street'' and ''EastEnders'', the latter alongside his wife [[Queen Camilla]] (then [[Duchess of Cornwall]]), in 2000 and 2022 respectively. Major events in [[British culture]] are often mentioned in the storyline, such as the [[Home Nations]]' participation at the [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] and the death of [[Princess Diana]].<ref>{{cite news|title=World Cup fever hits Walford|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5076722.stm|agency=BBC|date=24 March 2018}}</ref> Since 1999, [[The British Soap Awards]] has been televised on [[ITV (TV channel)|ITV]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Lee+Harpin's+Hot+People+column%3A+Sexy+Mel's+Got+Man+A-Beale!%3B+Soap...-a060149374|title=Lee Harpin's Hot People column: Sexy Mel's Got Man A-Beale!; Soap Awards Special: She wins TV top totty title|last=Harpin|first=Lee|date=16 May 1999|work=[[The People (newspaper)|The People]]|access-date=6 July 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Den Ange Divorce.jpg|thumb|A scene from ''[[EastEnders]]'' on Christmas Day 1986, watched by 30.15 million viewers. The story, in which [[Den Watts]] ([[Leslie Grantham]]) served his wife [[Angie Watts|Angie]] ([[Anita Dobson]]) with [[divorce papers]], was the highest-rated soap episode in British history, and the highest-rated program in the UK during the 1980s. Only the 1966 World Cup Final and the funeral of Princess Diana rank higher in the all time ratings.<ref name="BARB"/>]]
The 1986 [[Christmas|Christmas Day]] episode of ''EastEnders'' is often referred to as the highest-rated UK soap opera episode ever, with 30.15&nbsp;million viewers (more than half the population at the time).<ref name="BARB"/> The figure of 30.15&nbsp;million was actually a combination of the original broadcast, which had just over 19&nbsp;million viewers, and the Sunday omnibus edition with 10&nbsp;million viewers. The combined 30.15&nbsp;million audience figure makes the aforementioned Christmas Day 1986 episode of ''EastEnders'' the highest-rated single-channel broadcast in the history of UK television. Overall it ranks third behind the [[1966 FIFA World Cup Final]] (32.3&nbsp;million viewers) and [[Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales|Princess Diana's funeral]] in 1997 (32.1&nbsp;million viewers) which were transmitted on both [[BBC One]] and [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]].<ref name="BARB"/>

===Television===
An early television serial was ''[[The Grove Family]]'' on the BBC, which produced 148 episodes from 1954 to 1957. The programme was broadcast live and only a handful of recordings were retained in the archives. The UK's first twice-weekly serial was ITV's ''[[Emergency - Ward 10]]'', running from 1957 until 1967.

In the 1960s, ''[[Coronation Street]]'' revolutionised UK television and quickly became a British institution. On 17 September 2010, it became the world's longest-running television soap opera and was listed in ''[[Guinness World Records]]''.<ref name="Corrie"/> The BBC also produced several serials: ''[[Compact (soap opera)|Compact]]'' was about the staff of a women's magazine; ''[[The Newcomers (TV series)|The Newcomers]]'' was about the upheaval caused by a large firm setting up a plant in a small town; ''[[United!]]'' contained 147 episodes and focused on a football team; ''[[199 Park Lane]]'' (1965) was an upper class serial, which ran for only 18 episodes. None of these serials came close to making the same impact as ''Coronation Street''. Indeed, most of the 1960s BBC serials were largely [[wiped]].

During the 1960s, ''Coronation Street''{{'s}} main rival was ''[[Crossroads (soap opera)|Crossroads]]'', a daily serial that began in 1964 and aired on ITV in the early evening. ''Crossroads'' was set in a [[Birmingham]] motel and, although the program was popular, its purported low technical standard and bad acting were much mocked. By the 1980s, its ratings had begun to decline. Several attempts to revamp the program through cast changes and, later, expanding the focus from the motel to the surrounding community were unsuccessful. ''Crossroads'' was cancelled in 1988 (a new version of ''Crossroads'' was later produced, running from 2001 until 2003).

A later rival to ''Coronation Street'' was ITV's ''[[Emmerdale Farm]]'' (later renamed ''Emmerdale''), which began in 1972 in a daytime slot and was set in rural [[Yorkshire]]. Increased viewership resulted in ''Emmerdale'' being moved to a prime-time slot in the 1980s.

''[[Pobol y Cwm]]'' (''People of the Valley'') is a [[Welsh language]] serial that has been produced by the BBC since October 1974, and is the longest-running television soap opera produced by the broadcaster. ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally broadcast on [[BBC Wales]] television from 1974 to 1982; it was then moved to the Welsh-language television station [[S4C]] when it opened in November 1982. The program was occasionally shown on [[BBC One|BBC1]] in London during periods of regional optout in the mid- to late 1970s. ''Pobol y Cwm'' was briefly shown in the rest of the UK in 1994 on [[BBC Two|BBC2]], with English [[subtitling|subtitles]]; it is consistently the most watched programme each week on S4C.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://s4c.co.uk/abouts4c/viewing/e_index.shtml |title=s4c.co.uk |publisher=s4c.co.uk |date=2005-11-01 |access-date=2012-04-27}}</ref>

===1980s===
Daytime soap operas were non-existent until the 1970s because there was virtually no daytime television in the UK. ITV introduced ''[[General Hospital (British TV series)|General Hospital]]'', which later moved to a prime time slot. In 1980, [[Scottish Television]] debuted ''[[Take the High Road]]'', which lasted for over twenty years. Later, daytime slots were filled with an influx of Australian soap operas such as ''[[The Sullivans]]'' (aired on ITV from 1977), ''[[The Young Doctors]]'' (from 1982), ''[[Sons and Daughters (Australian TV series)|Sons and Daughters]]'' (from 1983), ''[[A Country Practice]]'' (from 1982), ''[[Richmond Hill (TV series)|Richmond Hill]]'' (from 1988 to 1989) and eventually, ''Neighbours'' was acquired by the BBC in 1986, and ''Home and Away'' aired on ITV beginning in 1989. These achieved significant levels of popularity; ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' were moved to early-evening slots, helping begin the UK soap opera boom in the late 1980s.

The day [[Channel 4]] began operations in 1982 it launched its own soap, the [[Liverpool]]-based ''[[Brookside (television programme)|Brookside]]'', which would redefine soaps over the next decade. The focus of ''Brookside'' was different from earlier soap operas in the UK; it was set in a middle-class new-build cul-de-sac, unlike ''Coronation Street'' and ''Emmerdale Farm'', which were set in established working-class communities. The characters in ''Brookside'' were generally either people who had advanced themselves from inner-city [[council estates]], or the upper middle-class who had fallen on hard times. Though ''Brookside'' was still broadcast in a pre-[[watershed (television)|watershed]] slot (8.00&nbsp;p.m. and 8.30&nbsp;p.m. on weekdays, around 5.00&nbsp;p.m. for the omnibus on Saturdays), it was more liberal than other soaps of the time: the dialogue regularly included expletives. This stemmed from the overall more liberal policy of the channel during that period. The soap was also heavily politicised. [[Bobby Grant (Brookside)|Bobby Grant]] ([[Ricky Tomlinson]]), a militant trade-unionist anti-hero, was the most overtly political character. Storylines were often more sensationalist than on other soaps (throughout the soap's history, there were two armed sieges on the street) and were staged with more violence (particularly, [[rape]]) often being featured.

In 1985, the BBC's ''EastEnders'' debuted and became a near instant success with viewers and critics alike, with the first episode attracting over 17&nbsp;million viewers. The Christmas Day 1986 episode was watched by 30.15&nbsp;million viewers and contained a scene in which [[divorce|divorce papers]] were served to [[Angie Watts]] ([[Anita Dobson]]) by her husband, [[The Queen Victoria|Queen Vic]] landlord [[Den Watts|Den]] ([[Leslie Grantham]]).

A notable success in pioneering late-night broadcasting, in October 1984, [[Yorkshire Television]] began airing the cult Australian soap opera ''[[Prisoner (TV series)|Prisoner]]'', which originally ran from 1979 to 1986. It was eventually broadcast on all regions of the UK in differing slots, usually around 23:00 (but never before 22:30 in any region), under the title ''Prisoner: Cell Block H''. It was probably most popular in the Midlands where [[ITV Central|Central Television]] consistently broadcast the serial three times a week from 1987 to 1991. Its airing in the UK was staggered, so different regions of the country saw it at a different pace. The program was immensely successful, regularly achieving 10&nbsp;million viewers when all regions' ratings per episode were added together. Central bowed to fan pressure to repeat the soap, of which the first 95 episodes aired. Then, rival station [[Channel 5 (British TV channel)|Channel 5]] also acquired rights to repeat the entire rerun of the program, starting in 1997. All 692 episodes have since been released on DVD in the UK.

===1990s===
In 1992, the BBC made ''[[Eldorado (soap opera)|Eldorado]]'' to daily alternate with ''EastEnders''. The programme was heavily criticised and only lasted one year. Nevertheless, soap operas gained increasing prominence on UK television schedules. In 1995, Channel 4 premiered ''[[Hollyoaks]]'', a soap with a youth focus which initially aired only once weekly, but became week-daily in November 2003. When Channel 5 launched in March 1997, it debuted the soap opera ''[[Family Affairs]]'', which was formatted as a week-daily soap, airing Monday through Fridays.

''Brookside''{{'s}} premise evolved during the 1990s, phasing out the politicised stories of the 1980s and shifting the emphasis to controversial and sensationalist stories such as child rape, [[incest|sibling incest]], religious cults and drug addiction, including the infamous 'body under the patio' storyline that ran from 1993 to 1995, and gave the serial its highest ratings ever with 9&nbsp;million viewers.

''Coronation Street'' and ''Brookside'' began releasing straight-to-video features. The ''Coronation Street'' releases generally kept the pace and style of conventional programs episodes with the action set in foreign locations. The ''Brookside'' releases were set in the usual locations, but featured stories with adult content not allowed on television pre-watershed, with these releases given '18' certificates.

''Emmerdale Farm'' was renamed ''Emmerdale'' in 1989. The series was revamped in 1993 with many changes executed via the crash of a passenger jet that partially destroyed the village and killed several characters. This attracted criticism as it was broadcast near the fifth anniversary of the [[Lockerbie bombing]]. The storyline drew the soap its highest ever audience of 18&nbsp;million viewers. The revamp was a success and ''Emmerdale'' grew in popularity.

Throughout the 1990s, ''Brookside'', ''Coronation Street'', ''EastEnders'' and ''Emmerdale'' continued to flourish. Each increased the number of episodes that aired on a weekly basis by at least one, further defining soap operas as the leading genre in British television.

===2000s===
Since 2000, new soap operas have continued to be developed. Daytime serial ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]'' began in March 2000, preceding ''Neighbours'' on BBC One and had since become the BBC's flagship daytime series.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Honebeek |first1=Talya |title=Where is Doctors filmed? All the BBC soap's Birmingham filming locations |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/doctors-filmed-bbc-soaps-birmingham-22273025 |access-date=3 September 2022 |work=[[Birmingham Mail]] |publisher=([[Reach plc]]) |date=29 November 2021}}</ref> The series was cancelled in October 2023, with the final episode screened in November 2024.<ref name="Axe">{{cite news |last1=Warner |first1=Sam |title=Doctors axed by BBC after 23 years |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/doctors/a45570567/doctors-axed-bbc-23-years/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |work=[[Digital Spy]] |date=18 October 2023}}</ref> In 2002, as ratings for the Scottish serial ''High Road'' (formerly ''Take The High Road'') continued to decline, BBC Scotland launched ''[[River City]]'', which proved popular and effectively replaced ''High Road'' when it was cancelled in 2003. The long-running serial ''Brookside'' ended in November 2003 after 21 years on the air, leaving ''Hollyoaks'' as Channel 4's flagship serial. In 2023, it was announced that ''Hollyoaks'' had been removed from Channel 4's early evening schedule, but would remain on [[E4 (TV channel)|E4]] and Channel 4's on demand service and would upload episodes to YouTube.

A new version of ''Crossroads'' featuring a mostly new cast was produced by [[Carlton Television]] for ITV in 2001. It did not achieve high ratings and was cancelled in 2003. In 2001, ITV also launched a new early-evening serial entitled ''[[Night and Day (TV series)|Night and Day]]''. This program too attracted low viewership and, after being shifted to a late night time slot, was cancelled in 2003.

''Family Affairs'', which was broadcast opposite the racier ''Hollyoaks'', never achieved significantly high ratings leading to several dramatic casting revamps and marked changes in style and even location over its run. By 2004, ''Family Affairs'' had a larger fan base and won its first awards, but was cancelled in late 2005. In 2005, former ''Hollyoaks'' producer [[Sean O'Connor (producer)|Sean O'Connor]] moved to ''Family Affairs'', and planned a revamp including a new name and a younger, more glamorous cast, although these plans did not come to fruition due to the show's axing.

In 2008, ITV premiered ''[[The Royal Today]]'', a daily spin-off of popular 1960s-based drama ''[[The Royal]]'' (itself a spin-off of ''[[Heartbeat (British TV series)|Heartbeat]]''), which had been running in a primetime slot since 2003. Just days later, soap opera [[parody]] programme ''[[Echo Beach (soap)|Echo Beach]]'' premiered alongside its sister show, the comedy ''[[Moving Wallpaper]]''. Both ''Echo Beach'' and ''The Royal Today'' ended after just one series due to low ratings. Radio soap opera ''[[Silver Street]]'' debuted on the [[BBC Asian Network]] in 2004. Poor ratings and criticism of the programme led to its cancellation in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/11_november/16/asian.shtml|title=BBC Press Release|publisher=BBC|access-date=30 January 2010}}</ref>

===Format===
British soap operas for many years usually only aired two nights a week. The exception was the original ''Crossroads'', which began as a week-daily soap opera in the 1960s but later had its number of weekly broadcasts reduced.

In 1989, ''Coronation Street'' began airing three times a week. In 1996, it expanded to four episodes a week.

''Brookside'' premiered in 1982 with two episodes a week. In 1990 it expanded to three episodes a week.

''EastEnders'' increased its number of episodes a week in 1994 and ''Emmerdale'' did so in 1997.

''Family Affairs'' debuted as a weekdaily soap in 1997, producing five episodes a week its entire run.

In 2004, ''Emmerdale'' began airing six episodes a week.

In a January 2008 overhaul of the ITV network, the Sunday episodes of ''Coronation Street'' and ''Emmerdale'' were moved out of their slots. ''Coronation Street'' added a second episode on Friday evenings at 8:30&nbsp;p.m. ''Emmerdale''{{'s}} Tuesday edition was extended to an hour, putting it in direct competition with ''EastEnders''. In July 2009, the schedules of these serials were changed again. On 23 July 2009, ''Coronation Street'' moved from the Wednesday slot it held for 49 years, to Thursday evenings. ''Emmerdale'' reverted to running just one 30-minute episode on Tuesday evenings and the other 30-minute installment was moved to Thursday evenings.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jul/08/coronation-street-move-wednesdays |date=8 July 2009 |access-date=14 September 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]] |first=Leigh |last=Holmwood |title=Coronation Street to move from Wednesdays – after nearly 50 years}}</ref> ''Coronation Street'' later returned to a Wednesday slot, to air Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 19:30 and 20:30. ''Emmerdale'' airs at 19:00 every weeknight, and 20:00 on Thursdays.

Later, ''Coronation Street'' (which began airing two episodes on Monday nights in 2002) produced five episodes a week.

It was announced in June 2016 that starting from late 2017, ''Coronation Street'' would air six episodes a week.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/coronation-street/feature/a799753/coronation-streets-six-episode-week-a-treat-or-a-terrible-idea/|title=Corrie's 6 episodes: A treat or a terrible idea?|date=1 July 2016|author1=Daniel Kilkelly|author2=Sophie Dainty|work=[[Digital Spy]]}}</ref>

''Doctors'' aired five episodes a week until 2022, and four episodes from 2022 onwards, and is the only soap without a weekend omnibus repeat screening. ''Hollyoaks'' produces five episodes a week. The imported ''Neighbours'' screened as five new episodes a week. {{As of|2024}}, ''EastEnders'' produces four episodes a week.

UK soap operas are shot on videotape in the studio using a multi-camera setup. In their early years, ''Coronation Street'' and ''Emmerdale'' used [[16 mm film]] for footage shot on location. Since the 1980s, UK soap opera have routinely featured scenes shot outdoors in each episode. This footage is shot on videotape on a purpose-built outdoor set that represents the community which the soap focuses on.

''Hollyoaks'' and ''Family Affairs'' were taped on [[high-definition video]], and used the [[film look|filmizing]] process.