Top 10 Soap Operas of All Time
- The Top109
- Charlie Flake’s version
- Your version
By Charlie Flake
We all love a bit of drama don’t we? And what better way to get at least a weekly dose than the most loved soap operas. Following the lives of fictional characters has now become something of a pastime and they never fail to satisfy us.
×Eastenders
Being quintessentially English and from the South, I have to start with a home-grown soap opera, obviously! Set in and around Albert Square, a fictional street in the fictional borough of Walford in East London, it follows the lives of residents of all ages, genders and social groups, touching upon relevant themes and issues of the time. It has now been going 25 years and I reckon someone has died in the Christmas episode everytime! I will never get over the time when Tiffany got run over.
×The Bill
Writing this actually brings flood of tears to my eyes, because as of later this year, my favourite police drama and British soap will be no more. After 27 years of gripping storylines and big cast names, The Bill is being axed. I have no idea why, but all I can say is it holds a great place in my heart – I have watched it since I was 8 years old. Here’s hoping that it will go out with a bang.
×Coronation Street
Keeping the British theme, I am going to take you North to Coronation Street in Weatherfield, the longest running soap in the UK. Its working class characters will make you laugh, cry and scream at the TV and even take circumstances personally - you think it’s real. Ken Barlow is still going strong as is the Rovers Return. Character Gail has been in the soap 35 years now and four husbands later, she vows to plough through the rotten story lines she’s been given.
×Hollyoaks
One for the teenage telly lovers and the youngest of the bunch at a mere 15 years. Started in 1995, the soap targets 16-24-year-olds centred round the local college and has some colourful characters. Based in the Chester suburb, the soap doesn’t take itself too seriously but also tackles serious issues and over the years, it has done a much better job than previously. The male characters are famously good looking and always feature on my calendar – it’s a shame Calvin has been killed off now though! There have also been a couple of spin-off series for steamier storylines.
×Home & Away
Being in rainy England, it is hard to think that the residents of gorgeous Summer Bay in Australia should ever have anything to moan about, but they sure do. What began 22 years ago with minimal characters centred round caravan park owners Pippa and Tom and their foster children, has since grown into a serious drama with some intense storylines. One thing that has never changed is that whoever owns the caravan park, always seems to have loads of kids running around who aren’t theirs!
×Casualty
Take the high paced pressure of emergency workers and add their complicated personal lives and you have a superb soap that always features different characters. Although it started in 1886, it wasn’t really classed as a soap until 1995 and has launched the career of many young actors and actresses. I used to love the high intensity drama and watching it with my Grandma on a Saturday night. When death and survival constantly underpinning the storylines, how can it not be exciting?
×Brookside
Sadly, after 21 years on Channel 4, the Liverpool based soap opera came to an end in 2003 and I sorely miss it. It was always a little bit on the wild side and sometimes over dramatic but it kept viewers on their toes. When it came to controversy, producers pushed the boundaries and became well-known for broadcasting one of the first lesbian kisses on British TV. It was also the first soap to bring us the beloved omnibus!
×Dallas
When my Mum and Gran kept going on about about how amazing Dallas was, I had to find out for myself, and the American-soap became my new obsession – even though it had stopped being aired over a decade ago. Unlike many of the other soaps in this list, Dallas was based in America, more specifically Texas, and focused of the lives of wealthy family, the Ewings. The constant sex scandals and family feuds had me constantly downloading episodes and the cliffhangers were addictive.
×All My Children
This other American soap is one that has maintained momentum and popularity through its consistency to change with the times, which is why it’s in its 40th year.
High drama and intense storylines that include issues such as rape, abortion and the Vietnam War, means that All My Children is one of the most famous soap operas of all time. It follows Erica Kane and her numerous husbands and is based in a suburb of Philadelphia. If it weren’t for digital TV channels and the internet, my life would be All My Children-less.
×Crossroads
Now, I can only talk about the original that was broadcast on ITV between 1964 and 1988 because second time round, it was cheesier than my dad’s feet. Crossroads was a British soap that was based in a Birmingham motel and featured the lives of employees and regular guests, so mixed the social classes up like a smoothie, and this added to the comical element as well as the serious underlying tone that the soap often carried.
