TV - British Soap Operas

Typical Examples:

• Coronation Street
• Eastenders
• Emmerdale
• Hollyoaks
• Waterloo Road
• Casualty
• Holby City

Example 1:

Example 2:


Format:
Typically for soaps, they tend to run in a continuous broadcast in which events from the previous episode will probably effect the following events to occur. Soaps are usually in the "tea time" slot (around 6-8) so the family can sit down, have their tea while watching one of these. Furthermore, they are usually on big network channels (ITV, BBC, Channel 4) in which they will draw a bigger viewership than if they were on a smaller network or a different time slot. Additionally, soaps don't really run in a series rather they go from one episode to the next with the occasional what seems to be the finale, in which a traumatic event will happen. Throughout this continuous broadcast, stories will unfold either throughout the episode or through many episodes however, in more of a background role.

Appeals:
Arguably, people may watch the show for the over dramatisation of everyday life which fits entirely in the conventions of a soap opera as they supposed to be like such, although, people still may be able to identify with a character or a situation, with this type of identification it falls directly into the uses & gratifications model. Furthermore, soaps check off another category of the uses & gratifications model as they can be also used for social interaction whether between people in the same house or the same workplace; they are easy to discuss as they tend to have events be obvious and also dramatic in which will be rememberable.

Target Audience:
There isn't one entire categorical audience for soaps as audience members can range drastically; whether someone who is 12 and going to school from a working class area to someone who could be in their late 40's with a degree and is in the upper middle class. However, they will mainly tend to the mainstreamer of the 4Cs model as the shows are typically working class people getting on with their lives in which may draw comparisons with the everyday person. Furthermore, some soaps may be for traditionalists of the lifestyle categories as some have been aired since the '80s and even earlier (e.g Coronation Street) in which storylines will always be similar but only slightly adjusted whether for a character's story-arc or to fit with modern ideologies. 

Opening Sequence:

This is the famous opening of the soap Coronation Street with a lot of shots being out of focus, this could be possibly used to show that this could be anyone and because of nobody being in focus the audience can't notice who it is but still be able to identify with them as they don't have recognisable features. In the case of Coronation Street, this is shot in Manchester, a very urban area, in the case of the show a relatively working class area.

Setting:


Technical Codes:


Characters & Representations:


Narrative: