Affairs, suicides - the weird world of soaps

[amateur51]

I don't really watch TV very much
and prefer music to drama
but there seems to be a growing inability for folks to perceive the "fourth wall"

if you want a "diet of dysfunction, tragedy and drama" that bloke from Stratford is yer man

Whatever happened to him?

[Simon]

... telly soaps make a point of having miserabilist situations over Christmas - so that the viewers - who may be having miserable Christmasses of their own - can say "well, at least we haven't had a murder / rape / dead cat / incinerated turkey like wot they had on Emmerdale / Corrie / Eastenders... "

And will be - relatively - cheered as a result.

These things are deliberate, y'know!

I like the theory vint. But somehow...

[burning dog]

Less incest and cannibalism than in Greek tragedy though.

Like with all TV there's too much of it now.
Back in Wilie Rushton's lifetime there were already "Too Many Cooks...."


I haven't watched a soap since Stan, Hilda and Eddie Yeates were around, so I'm no judge.

[MrGongGong]

The Archers haven't been the same since Jip died

[amateur51]

The Archers haven't been the same since Jip died

Was that at Agincourt?

[ahinton]

The Archers haven't been the same since Jip died

Presumably mindful of the sheer length of time that this soap has been going, an organist colleague once said to me that its longevity is all very well but you cannot have Archers without first having Bowyers...

[ahinton]

Was that at Agincourt?

Far earlier, surely; isn't "Jip" a reference to Egypt?...

[amateur51]

There is a reason the jokes in Christmas crackers are so bad. It is deliberate. If they were "witty", there is a probability that someone in the family circle (dotty auntie Jane or whoever) wouldn't "get" the joke. And would therefore feel excluded. And sad. By having such bad jokes - which everyone "gets" - and which everyone recognises are awful - and which everyone can groan at - the function is served - of bonding everyone into a happy inclusive unit.

Similarly - telly soaps make a point of having miserabilist situations over Christmas - so that the viewers - who may be having miserable Christmasses of their own - can say "well, at least we haven't had a murder / rape / dead cat / incinerated turkey like wot they had on Emmerdale / Corrie / Eastenders... "

And will be - relatively - cheered as a result.

These things are deliberate, y'know!

You missed out that 60-year long soap known as The Windsors, vints. They always put on a good show at Crimbo. Except one year when I heard the head Windsor Betty speaking thus: "This year we have heard of rarts"

Took me a mo to figure out that she was referring to recent inner-city disturbances

I'm sure that the OP didn't have Betty, Phil and their posse in mind when he started this thread but divorce, alcohol, mental health problems, debt, affairs, they've all been known down the years at the big house at the end of the Mall.

[salymap]

Years ago I watched Brookside for a little while and thought it had a very good cast. Sadly all I can recall now is someone being buried under a patio.

[amateur51]

Years ago I watched Brookside for a little while and thought it had a very good cast. Sadly all I can recall now is someone being buried under a patio.

Yes Brookie wasa great serial I agree, saly but it did go off towards the end. The body under the patio, the girl-girl snog, stand-out moments

And of course independent single woman Heather with a shocking taste in male psychos left to go into Peak Practice, Boon, and Silent Witness.

[Mandryka]

Yes Brookie wasa great serial I agree, saly but it did go off towards the end. The body under the patio, the girl-girl snog, stand-out moments

And of course independent single woman Heather with a shocking taste in male psychos left to go into Peak Practice, Boon, and Silent Witness.

Brookside began as a programme apparently dedicated to a more 'realistic' portrayal of everyday life: by the time it was pulled, the events portrayed in it had virtually no basis in everyday life.

It did Liverpool a lot of damage, creating the whingeing Scouse stereotype that is still with us today.

Its middle-class characters never convinced; its working/criminal class characters were routinely loathesome.

When John McCardle and Sue Johnston were in it, it was quite good, though: the affair between their characters was carefully and skilfully developed.

[amateur51]

Brookside began as a programme apparently dedicated to a more 'realistic' portrayal of everyday life: by the time it was pulled, the events portrayed in it had virtually no basis in everyday life.

It did Liverpool a lot of damage, creating the whingeing Scouse stereotype that is still with us today.

Its middle-class characters never convinced; its working/criminal class characters were routinely loathesome.

When John McCardle and Sue Johnston were in it, it was quite good, though: the affair between their characters was carefully and skilfully developed.

I'd like to watch you saying that to creator Phil Redmond's face, Mandy

[Serial_Apologist]

I used to know a bloke called Pat Yeo. Used to go out regularly on the tiles.

[amateur51]

I used to know a bloke called Pat Yeo. Used to go out regularly on the tiles.

That's dreadful S_A

[teamsaint]

I used to know a bloke called Pat Yeo. Used to go out regularly on the tiles.

Wan't he a mate of Paddy O'Doors?