How is EastEnders Packaged as being a real representation of Britain.

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Tarana Syed 10F

How is the EastEnders Packaged as being a real representation of Britain.

Julia Smith- "We do not make real life,

We reflect it"

In the 1980s there was a rating war among the Television channels. They were fighting for viewers. BBC was losing. They did not have any flagship programs like ITV (Coronation street). So BBC introduced a soap called 'Triangle', but it was unsuccessful at attracting viewers. They were trying to make some other soap. In 1982 there was a real sense of panic among the executors of the BBC because of the birth of a new channel- channel4. They were showing a new soap called 'Brookside'. It also attracted many viewers like 'Coronation Street', because it dealt with real issue in every day life.

At the same time, Julia Smith, producer of the 'Grange Hill' came up with the idea of a new soap to compete with programs like 'Brookside' and 'Coronation Street'. They watched 'Coronation Street' closely to assess its popularity with an aim not to  duplicate it, because the viewers will not stop watching 'Coronation Street' in order to watch something like ''Coronation Street''.

On 19th February 1985, the BBC released the soap 'EastEnders'. The target audiences for 'EastEnders' were all types of people. It was shown at 7pm so that everybody could watch it. Julia Smith tried to attract viewers in many ways. She attracted the young viewers by selecting actors from 'Grange Hill' i.e. Susan Tully (Michelle Fowler). It helped young viewers to recognise and understand the characters because the characters in 'EastEnders' are the same as in 'Grange Hill' i.e. Susan Tully mentioned her working class character in both programs. Julia Smith also tried to attract the older viewers by introducing prominent actor/actresses from named past series. For example, Wendy Richerds (Pauline Fowler) from 'Are you being served'.

EastEnders is one of the most successful BBC programs in history and to date is topping the charts with viewing figures of over 20 million viewers per episode. It represents the East End of Britain in many ways. It is relate to the real life.

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The main  difference of 'EastEnders' from other soaps is that when dealing with issues, 'EastEnders' focus on the individual character. For example, how the problems affect the character, how he or she deals with it, and the ways in which the problems effect the family, friends and community. Whereas in 'Coronation Street' and other soaps, focus the issue on the adults and their views on the situation and not the character with the problem.

For example, the issue of drug addiction i.e. Nick Cotton (John Altman) and his heroine addiction and various other drug issues such as dealers ...

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