Soap Opera

dropdown Watching TV is a very popular pastime in the UK. But what kind of programmes do British people like to watch? -Well, the most-watched TV programmes every week are very popular dramas that are usually on at least four times every week. They are dramas that try to depict ordinary life in the UK. We call these dramas ‘soap operas’ or ‘soaps’. dropdown In the early days of TV, there were often dramas on during the day. It was traditional for the husband to go out to work and for the wife to stay at home and look after the house and the children. Most of these daytime dramas were aimed at entertaining the housewives who were at home, probably doing the washing. dropdown Companies selling washing powder would advertise their products at times when these dramas were on, and sometimes those companies would even sponsor the drama. So that’s why we call these films “soap”. dropdown So what about the word opera? Well, that’s because these dramas are often an exaggeration of real life. They showed ordinary lives lots of dramatic events, like murders, divorces, affairs etc, all happen probably much more regularly than they would in a normal neighbourhood.