Elements of a Soap Opera

Narrative

The narrative plays a crucial role both in terms of its structure and content. All soaps are open ended, leading to various storylines spanning over several episodes. The only way a narrative can be surely closed is through the death of a character and even then, there is still a possibility of the deceased character making reappearance. An example of this is found in ‘Eastenders’, wherein Dirty Den returns in 2003 after being presumed dead for 14 years.

The more open-ended form of narrative however, leads to many episodes culminating with a promise of continuation in the episode, or a "cliffhanger".  Suspense is also drawn out between scenes to build tension. Various plots and sub-plots contribute to the make up of the soap opera episode structure, as these narrative threads can also interlink with one another through the mediums of character and setting, as soaps are set in a typically close-knit community.

The value of a storyline being a “main” or a “side” significantly links in with the fluctuation of a storyline in general. This is dependent on the themes and issues raised by certain plot lines, the most important of which are relationships and prejudice. It is through the change of themes that sub-plots can amplify into main plots and vice-versa. This is turn maintains the balance a soap opera "mega narrative" must have: its consistency of a blend of story lines weaving in with one another which vary in significance and run concurrently.

Time 

Soap operas are typically aired from around 6-9 PM, which is the primetime viewing slot as that is when many people return from work and school. Reruns typically occur at 10:00PM, and each episode runs for 30 minutes. This is why they are considered “bankers” by the channels that stream the soaps, as they can rely on the soap to bring in a large audience demographic as well as financially supporting the TV channel. The channel also builds its programme scheduling around the soap, as the views of programmes scheduled before or after the soap can be greatly influenced by some viewers tuning in earlier, as well as viewers who stay on the same channel after the soap has aired.

Realism is also presented through time as it maintains a sense of coexisting between the soap world and the viewers' world. This is conveyed trough the episode structure, which relies on cutting in between scenes to imply a shift in time by minutes, and over the course of 30 minutes, a condensation of the viewers' and characters' weekday. This is further established between episodes, as the start of one episode is not a continuation of the last moment of the one before, like a TV series, but rather a start of the next day to imply a sense of realism among the soap characters and audience

Producers take care constructing appropriate seasons through the set during filming, months in advance before the episode is released in order to further establish a sense of realism. In some cases, breaking news stories, such as Michael Jackson’s death in ‘Eastenders’, the producers organise last minute shootings of gossiping characters discussing the news to represent the soap opera coexisting with real life events.

Realism 

A lot to be said of realism significantly coincides with the aforementioned dynamic of time. In addition to time, the use of stock characters are a good example of how social and cultural indicators are fundamental to the development of the soap opera, as they can greatly influence the audience appeal on the soap. One example of this is found in the downfall of ‘Family Affairs’, which occurred when the villain and pub owner, Pete Callan, was shot dead in September 2005. Now that the equilibrium had been restored, there was no significant suspense to draw from the soap, as its archetypal “bad guy” was no longer there to cause trouble.

The representation of class also coincides with the realistic portrayal of soap operas, as the most commonly represented in British soaps are of a working class. This generates a larger appeal to soap viewing audiences, as a high percentage of the demographic are in this social group. Location shooting is also fundamental to the establishment of realism, as real, familiar settings implies realism. An example of this is found on set of ‘Coronation Street’, where terraced housing clearly indicates a working class environment with working class characters. 'Brookside' have even further progressed with ideals of realism in this sense by buying out an estate to shoot the soap in. 

  

Audiences

Soaps, like many other types of shows, rely highly on audience appeal to survive.

This is why many of them are shown during typical primetime hours, between the times of 7:00 and 8:00 pm. A contributor to gaining audience appeal is found in the tailoring of their content in order to cater for a larger audience demographic. Having characters of different ages, racial backgrounds, and sexual orientations show a diverse community, similar to the audience’s real life.

Real life, relatable issues such as abuse and relationships, combined with the melodramatic content typical of soap operas contribute furthermore to the overall audience appeal. 

The use of signal boosting, particularly in ‘Hollyoaks’ is also fundamental to the soap’s impact on the audience as it shows the importance and realism of the issues presented such as domestic abuse, healthy relationships, and bullying, all of which have websites and phone lines for support. At the end of such episodes dealing with these issues, the credits roll and a list of these websites and help centers are there for members of the audience who are experiencing these issues. ‘Hollyoaks’ also has this on their channel 4 webpage:

Another method of audience appeal is found through synergy. This is found through the commercial tie-ins with charities such as Comic Relief or Children In Need, where special episodes/scenes are recorded and screened during the charities’ annual events. This boosts the soaps’ reputation as well as attracting a higher potential target audience as those who do not watch the soap have to in the case of such events. Christmas episodes also occur; often heavily advertised prior to broadcasting, and with ‘Eastenders’, many families consider it a tradition to sit around and watch their Christmas special.

Repetition

With regards to repetition in a soap opera storylines, it is a key element employed which contributes to the audience’s gratification of the soap. Recurring themes such as death, love, and betrayal, tie in significantly with persistent narratives such as murders, weddings, and divorce.  These continuous streams of recurring storylines are only modified through the use of different characters. For example, in 'Eastenders' house fires have been explored in different time frames with the use of two very different characters, Tamwar Masood and Kat Moon. The personalities of these characters heavily influence their responses when put into similar circumstances, which in turn provides more drama without the writers thinking up new storylines.

There are also similarities with repetition found in different soaps as similar environments and character types clearly leads to similar storylines and themes. Painkiller addiction, for example, has been explored in both 'Emmerdale' and 'Eastenders', both with middle aged housewives, Rhona Goskirk and Sharon Watts. These women often turn to painkillers in times of stress, which makes both situations almost exact.

It could be argued that this is the very ideal which retains soap operas’ older audiences, as the repetition of storylines builds a sense of familiarity between the soap opera and its audience. ‘Eastenders’ for example, are well known for melodramatic character deaths.

Gossip

 

In terms of gossiping between characters, it is seen as a very effective way of introducing characters for a newer audience, as well as encouraging said audience to continue watching. For example, if two busybody characters were to gossip about a troubled Jane in their local pub, followed by a cut to the troubled Jane, the new audience can now identify unknown characters very easily. This in turn develops the narrative of the soap as the secondary characters are bringing attention to an incident or concern. 

Gossip among the general public is also very significant to the soap. Through word of mouth and the increase of social networking, it is essentially a below the line marketing strategy raised by the audience themselves to entice potential viewers.

Promotion through gossip is also heightened with soaps’ symbiosis with TV magazines, as they load their copies with gossip, which proves to be an excellent method of persuading newer audiences to watch the soap. This form of symbiosis is mutually beneficial to the soaps and TV magazines as the soap now has a larger audience demographic, and the TV magazines have attractive content to sell themselves with.

Another form of above the line marketing through synergy is the Christmas/special episode trailers. They are quite ambiguous in content and reveal little to nothing of the episode they are presenting: a great way to entice old and new audiences.