Since their introduction back in the thirties, people have rushed home from work or hurried their chores so they are able to watch or listen to their favourite soap opera. For most families, the soap has become the focal point of their day. For some, it's to escape, when they come back from work, or have just had a bad day, they can watch someone else's problems on their favourite soap, to take their mind off real life problems.
The name 'Soap Opera' originated all the way back in the thirties in America. In the early thirties, drama series were broadcasted on afternoon radio, aimed at female audiences. The shows were broadcast in between soap powder commercials - mostly sponsored by large companies such as Procter & Gamble. .
The first British radio soap opera began in 1942, it was called Front Line Family. From the 1950's, soaps took over television, with the very first soap launched on BBC in 1954 running until 1957. ITV launched in 1956, By 1960 it flag shipped the very first mass-watched drama, which realistically reflected real life. It is still running today. BBC finally learnt in 1984, when it launched Eastenders. Eastenders is also still running today.
The soap world has witnessed a number of failures. For example, BBC launched Eldorado in 1992, with a rage of publicity. The BBC foolishly spent £2m building a village in Spain. It failed miserably and was stopped within a year. Granada (ITV) launched Albion Market. A lower budget this time, still, it failed to gain enough viewers and was stopped within a year.
The 1960's saw a cultural revolution in British drama and media. Not only was Coronation Street introduced but Britain saw its first daily TV soap, namely Crossroads. It was low budget and poorly acted out - but managed a plethora of viewers by the time it was killed in 1988.
All soap operas follow certain guidelines, called conventions. One of the most important conventions of soaps is that they are continuous.
