Page 137 - Soaps News Today

Programme that was on a few years ago. so i think thats a very good example of soaps trying to do something different, trying to have an appointment—to—view story that will hopefully bring in some lapsed viewers. ok, and in ourfinal minutes — seconds, even — i was going to ask a question for you all. phil alluded to it earlier, perhaps, but id start with you, phil. if you were pitching a brand—new soap today — perhaps you even are — what would it be? ijust think itd need to be some...

Infact, i remember when siobhan, my mistress in the archers, tragically died, the week... i mean, she was dying of cancer, it was terrible. and the actress, caroline lennon... the week before, i mean, barely... she barely said a word. she was just breathing. and they had her there. and then she died. and i had a scene with her dead body. and i remember going in the studio, which i think i wrote in my book, and there, instead of caroline, was a cushion — because you dont have to pay a fee to a ...

They want bigger and bigger storylines, and that inevitably led to trying to top the last one, trying to top the last one. and one of our watchwords was, "ok, thats the big story. now its back to putting up shelves," you know, because you have to sort of take those beats, you have to take those pauses with the audience. and if you keep throwing it in, you burn up storylines so fast that, in the end, itjust becomes... itjust becomes wallpaper in the end, you know? now, lets think about being in s...

Because remember that... i used to always say to our teams that you have to remember, and we alluded to it earlier, television is a second choice activity. people flock to watch when theyve got nothing else to do. and this is why we used to... we used to lose 1.5—2 million viewers as soon as the clocks went forward and people realised they had an extra hour of daylight to go outside. but these days, you know, people are wasting 30 minutes, 45 minutes going through a streaming platform, trying ...

You just picked... you maybe had to read a book! no, joking. just find the best thing on telly. youd just find the best out of those worst things. - yeah. whereas now theres just i so many different options, and you dont have to even rely on what is streaming _ or on tv at that time. you can go back and watch a box set, whatever it might be. _ so theres so many demands. on your attention, and i think, you know, when soaps do things well, theres nothing better — _ when you get really hooked int...

And more sensation. you know, they wanted more... they wanted more and more episodes, they want bigger and bigger storylines, and that inevitably led to trying to top the last one, trying to top the last one. and one of our watchwords was, "ok, thats the big story. now its back to putting up shelves," you know, because you have to sort of take those beats, you have to take those pauses with the audience. and if you keep throwing it in, you burn up storylines so fast that, in the end, itjust beco...

Itself pretty well in the past four years or so with 9pm dramas and new documentaries, so i think that was part of it as well. right, ok. and, emma, i mean, one thing we do know is that soaps face stiff competition from the likes of structured reality shows like love island, but also, you know, highly personalised social media feeds like tiktok. you know, how can the dingles and the barlows compete with that? its really tricky. and interesting... thinking about the case - of neighbours, there ar...

Right, ok. and, emma, i mean, one thing we do know is that soaps face stiff competition from the likes of structured reality shows like love island, but also, you know, highly personalised social media feeds like tiktok. you know, how can the dingles and the barlows compete with that? its really tricky. and interesting... thinking about the case - of neighbours, there are so many people that hadnt watched it for decades and were still- devastated it was going. you know, the relationship| we have...

Jodi Gordon has undergone a spectacular hair transformation.

The turnaround time for making soaps is really fast, as i understand it. from commissioning a story to transmission is around 16 weeks for a daily show like eastenders, 20 weeks for a weekly show like casualty. phil, when youre tackling, you know, issues, really sometimes very thorny issues, like sexual assault or drugs, you must know that its going to cause a stir. what do you want to achieve, sir phil, when youre coming up with these stories? well, all those things are reallyjust the... theyre...