Key Soap Opera Facts

There is many comparisions between soaps, many follow the same conventions. Many soaps include the same themes, characters and settings. As a group we have discussed our findings and found a number of similiartites.

The places in soaps are very similar, every soap has a pub which the action centres around, the most famous of these is the 'Queen Vic'. Other similarities include Cafes and corner shops. The general layout of settings are similar also. In most soaps the drama is centered around a single street or square.

The same types of characters are portrayed in soaps, they include the same stereotypes. The main groups of characters are:

• The hard man
• Family from different ethnic backgrounds.
• Homosexual
• Teenagers
• Stereotypical female

All soaps cover different demographic groups, they range from class A to class D, they have a large mixture of workers from mechanics to business men. This is done to inter grate a larger audience so people  can identify with characters and what is happening in their own life.

The times that the soaps are on is also similar, they are usually placed before the watershed, this way the audience figures are increased.

All of the similarities between soaps is used to create verisimilitude and to increase audience figures, we will incorporate these conventions into our piece to make the soap successful.

Will Howlett