What Makes a Good Soap Opera?An Analysis of One Episode of EastEnders

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Jack Prickett

What Makes a Good Soap Opera?

An Analysis of One Episode of EastEnders

        EastEnders is a soap opera which has been running for a considerable amount of time, more than 18 years. A soap opera, or a ‘soap’ is called this because when ‘soaps’ began in America as radio plays many years ago all of the adverts during the breaks of the plays were for soap powders, or cleaning products, and are therefore these dramas are referred to as soaps. EastEnders is set in a place called Walford; Walford is derived from Walthamstow and Ilford, two parts of the east end. Soap operas are now a part of many people’s lives, but what makes a good soap opera?

        EastEnders is a very popular soap, it is simply recognisable from the opening theme tune; almost everybody would recognise the theme tune just from the three drum beats at the start of the tune. The opening credits do not appear until the acting itself begins, after the starting sequence. The starting sequence consists of a street map of London, with The River Thames in the centre of the picture, and large lettering also in the centre of the screen reading; EastEnders.

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        Rapid scene changes make EastEnders popular, as there can be many different storylines happening at the same time, and therefore enables more characters to be a part of the show and keep it fresh and interesting and also more action into a thirty minute episode. Although there were many scene changes, the plot was still very simple and undemanding viewing, which is a great strength of EastEnders as people want to come home from work, and relax and don’t want anything too ‘heavy’ to watch.

        Locations are another important thing in the making of a good soap opera, in Eastenders ...

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