When you think of event telly, few shows do it better than soaps, and that’s always been the case.
40 years into its life, EastEnders is still providing the water cooler moments (kitchen tap moments if you work from home), trending all over social media, and stirring up controversy.
Killing off THE Martin Fowler!? How very dare you!
Meanwhile, Emmerdale was boldly going where few soaps dare to tread – by executing a cull of characters with the backdrop of a seriously eerie, thriller-esque spectacle.
Okay, so when soaps go big it usually means death and destruction, but that’s what we have come to expect and love.
EastEnders was always going to go mega for its big birthday and it did not disappoint.
The stunt that blew up the Queen Vic was nothing short of jaw-dropping, the peril of Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) going into labour was edge-of-your-seat stuff, and who across the nation was not a blubbering mess thanks to the phenomenal performances of James Bye and Lacey Turner as Stacey was forced to say goodbye?
The genre is often marred with negativities amid discussions around cast cuts, slashed budgets, shifts online and falling ratings.
But this week has proven how much life remains in soap, which is able to deliver things that shorter term dramas simply can not.
Soap is dripping with history and no fan could quite find the buzz elsewhere of seeing Sharon Watts, Angie Watts, Grant Mitchell, Bianca Butcher and Nigel Bates leading a cast list in 2025.
I’d have thought I was tripping if you told me that would happen a couple of years ago.
I am all for soaps moving with the times, as they have to – I am a real fan of having the flexibility to view online.
However, there isn’t a treat quite like sitting down with the nation to experience a live episode together. For me, it’s the first time in years I haven’t known for sure what was going to happen.
With Bianca Jackson’s (Patsy Palmer) impeccable one-liners, Lacey Turner and James Bye’s impeccable delivery of long, uninterrupted dialogue, and scenes of disaster and crowds being pulled off flawlessly, the episode was a bold triumph.
Emmerdale is not to be outdone and while you may raise an eyebrow at the timing of such a big week in line with EastEnders’ anniversary, for a soap fan less interested in industry politics, it was a treat to have two shows going big.
Emmerdale was packed full of tension, with a real spook in the air. The ice lake sequences were genuinely chilling, and not just because of the cold.
I was deeply terrified by Amy’s plunge into the water, fearful for the characters I love, and heartbroken by the losses that seemed to keep on coming in the village of the damned.
When the soaps go all out, it’s the viewer than benefits the most and this spectacular week is proof of that.
If this is what we have to continually look forward to, then long live soap -decades on, there’s life in the old dogs yet.
