A British soap opera follows many of the same conventions, allowing it to be recognisable as a soap opera. These conventions have almost always been the same. The following are examples of typical conventions:
- The programme usually runs for 52 weeks a year, and normally 5 times a week. The exception to this is when major sporting events, such as Wimbledon, interfere with the scheduling, meaning the soap may change time or not be shown for the week at all. .
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The soap will feature continuous storylines that could run for a few days, or months at a time.
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The who shot Phil storyline is a perfect example of a storyline which ran for months and months -
The theme tune is normally a well recognised piece of music, meaning when it is played people will know what soap is on without looking at the screen.
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Soap casts are normally large, but very rarely will one episode focus on more than 3 or 4 storylines. This allows the audience to get to know the storylines and characters better, rather than trying to focus on lots of storylines and characters at the same time.
An example of the size of the casts which are employed by soaps, Coronation Street in this example. -
Soaps are normally set in one set location, for example, Eastenders is set in Walford. This means the sets become recognisable to the audience and familiar. The majority of the storylines will all take place in these locations. This means there's a limited number of settings, meaning they are cheap to produce.
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The soaps will feature special episodes at special times of the year. For example, the theme of Valentines Day will feature in Eastenders on Valentines Day. The Christmas and New Years Eve special have become a part of tradition, with 2 episodes of Eastenders on Christmas day.
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The characters are normally middle class people. This allows the majority of the target audience to relate to the characters they see, and this also allows them to build up a relationship with the characters.
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Middle class Stacey Slater. -
The majority of episodes will end on a cliff hanger, trying to entice people to watch the next episode.
- Successful soaps will continue for many years: so new viewers have to be able to join in at any stage in the serial. Any key information which might have been missed is worked into the plot when necessary to catch people up.
- A soap Opera's target audience will almost always be a feminine one, with females making up the majority of viewers. The structure of a soap contributes to this. Critics suggest that men prefer something with a definitive end and conclusion, whereas women prefer an open ended or long running conclusion, making them better suited to soaps.
