How the soaps were in the10s and what you hope the 20s will bring

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

So with another decade gone and staring at the barrel of a new, how would say each soap did during the 2010s and what do you think will happen to the soaps in the 2020s?

2020 itself celebrates 60, 35 & 25 years of Corrie, EE & Oaks, while 2022 will be Emmerdale’s 50th.

I think by the mid to late 2010s the soaps had become stale, each of them focused too much on certain characters and not enough on others, and far too many stunts.

The Who Killed Graham storyline on Emmerdale seemed lacklustre, compared to the groundbreaking Who Killed Tom King storyline a decade and a half ago

EE is too stuck on Phil Mitchell and Corrie was too stuck on Michelle

What do you hope happens to soaps in the coming decade?

 

[soapfan]

First of all, there simply hasn't been a best soap at all since the 21st century from 2000 onwards.

Secondly, it seems to be that soaps are gradually falling by the wayside and the problem with the soaps during the last 20 years is that they've been broadcast nearly every weekday night and the quantity rather than quality.

I'm getting fed up of Phil Mitchell now, he's getting tiresome, i'm surprised Steve McFadden doesn't just quit altogether and move onto other things within the Drama/Performing Arts industry profession, or maybe Sky reviving "Britain's Hardest".

This latest storyline with the 35th Anniversary with Denny's death is where Phil has gone too far now. I've found myself going back and forth at times between Coronation street and EastEnders, and gave up being a regular Coronation street viewer from 2000+ when Jim McDonald left as a full time regular, and only ever tuned in when Jim/Charles Lawson makes returns every so often. I wish Phil/Steve McFadden had left EastEnders instead of Jim/Charles Lawson leaving Coronation street. Very deep down, Jim was a good man, and he's not been anywhere near as nasty as Phil, where Phil bullies ANYONE/EVERYONE, i'm surprised the producers and writers of EastEnders have allowed it to get this far. EastEnders is pointless now with all these silly reckless decisions where they are constantly killing characters off - Eventually, they might as well just kill off the entire programme altogether because they'll be no characters left to kill off eventually.

On the other hand, I don't know if this direction would have been taken with the character of Jim McDonald has he continued as a full-time regular during the last 20 years of Coronation street and if Phil/Steve McFadden had left EastEnders in 2000 instead.

Ultimately, EastEnders will be lucky if it survives going into the next decade, it's treading on very thin ice, it was already under threat when Coronation street surpassed the odds and won the "Best Soap Award in 2013" , and even if EastEnders does continue into the 2030s, the appeal to the show just simply isn't there now. I'm past caring for EastEnders, it's beyond credibility now. EastEnders has the best chance of being the next remaining soap to end, the BBC don't have a clue or care for it, they don't promote it enough like they do with the Coronation street nostalgia dvds etc they release on Amazon from time to time.

 

[James from London]

I turned on Coronation Street for the first time in years for the 10 millionth episode or whatever it was and thought it was lovely.

I normally hate knowing anything in advance about an episode -- and I mean anything; for the life of me, I can't see the difference between a preview and a spoiler -- but watching last Friday's EastEnders with the knowledge that someone was going to die, but not who, made the whole thing incredibly exciting and emotional. I loved it.