Teaching TV Soaps

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by Louise Alexander and Alison Cousens

British Film Institute

Due/Published October 2004, 80 pages, paper

ISBN 0851709788

As the most popular and enduring television genre worldwide, soap opera is an essential element in any Media Studies course. This teaching guide looks at four key areas in TV soap opera: forms and conventions, representations, institutions, and audiences. It provides an accessible and concise overview of theoretical approaches to TV soap opera and offers four comprehensive case studies--on EastEnders, Coronation Street, Neighbours, and Hollyoaks--to support and illustrate these approaches. Topics covered include the history of the soap opera genre, narrative conventions, ideas of realism, current TV production contexts, approaches to soap opera audiences, links with other media, and issues of ideology. The guide combines challenging theory with accessible and up-to-date practical teaching ideas.