Did you watch the soaps on TV when you were a child?

[CosyJanuary]

I was having a conversation with someone and I wondered if my experience was normal/typical of the times.

I was born in a he 80s and I always watched the soaps on TV in the evening right from when I was a young child probably age 6-7 and carried on until my teens.

It was a normal thing in my house to put the soaps on if an evening from 7.30pm and he allowed to sit and watch them with mum and dad.

They weren’t really suitable for children and my friend was horrified that I was allowed.

Yes I did, corrie, eastenders, emmerdale, the bill! Heartbeat on a Sunday as well. I watched everything my parents did early evening, not much else to do in the 80’s early 90’s 🤣

I watched Home and Away at 5.10pm after school. That's all.

I didn't get interested in Corrie until I was away at university.

My mother never missed Coronation Street but although it was on in the sitting room, when I was a child in the 1960s I can’t say I followed it. I remember Ena Sharples, Minnie Caldwell, Annie Walker, Bet Lynch and Elsie Tanner, but not any of the story lines.

Only Neighbours and Home and Away. I wasn't allowed to watch Eastenders until I was about 12/13

Yes, yawn

Yeah, neighbours and Home and Away every lunch time with my mum, I remember that from age 3-4. I only went to a tiny village school and until about 8 years old I went home for lunch so it was a daily ritual. Also Corrie in the evenings with my Gran, I still remember her sharp ‘sssh!!’ if we dared talk during it 🤣

I was a proper drama llama due to the Aussie soaps in particular, we used to act out scenes at school of people dying of spider bites etc and discuss the most tragic aspects of the deaths🤦🏻‍♀️😅 Julie coming off the roof in Neighbours was a big one!

all the infidelity and romance scenes proper went over my head though.

No, nobody in the house watched them. If Dad heard the EastEnders theme tune starting (if it was following on from something we had been watching) he'd very dramatically cry "oh no, my brain is melting! It's going to drip out through my nose!"

I did realise fairly early that this wasn't actually true, but still didn't have any wish to watch them. My Grandma watched Neighbours, so sometimes we'd see that if we were at their house, but that's it.

My afternoon/evenings after school went like.

CBBC, neighbours, home and away. Then usually dinner, bath and homework before settling back down for whatever soap was on that evening. Then bed at half 8 with a book. During the Summer months I probably played outside instead but I definitely followed the soap storylines from a fairly young age.

I do think a lot of the stuff went over my head.

Another 1980s kid here. I watched Neighbours and Home and Away every day after school. And Coronation Street because my mum and gran did and I was always either at home or at my gran's so there was no getting away from it being on!

My DM really loved Emmerdale Farm so we watched it together . . . this was in the days when it mainly consisted of Annie Sugden cooking amazing farmhouse meals for all the farmers (well, that's how I remember it!) DM loved the scenery and that everything was centred around the farm, church & village ~ the storylines were all very tame . . .

Not a soap, but loved watching Dallas & Dynasty as a kid!

No because no one watched them. I was allowed to watch inappropriate programmes though - tv wasn't censored (or books) so watched Threads at age 10.

What's your point here?!!;

Yes. Late 90s/Early 00s we watched Corrie, Heartbeat and The Bill (at Nan’s).

I’m not making a point I’m just asking a question.

I watched them all! Early shout outs to The Sullivans, A Country Practice and Take the High Road during the day. On to Neighbours, Shortland Street and Home & Away in my teens.

In the evening I watched Brookside, Corrie, Eastenders and Emmerdale (Farm, as it was then) since I was about 10 as well as Dallas and Dynasty.

I only watch Coronation Street these days.

born late 80s and we watched them all. I remember not being allowed to watch Brookside though when they did the body under that patio storyline

Crossroads when I was a kid. One of my earliest memories was the motel burning down, potentially with Meg in it.

Yeah, a few US daytime ones. And Dallas and Dynasty, primetime soaps.

Neighbours after school, Eastenders in the evenings. Shortland Street if you were off school sick 😂

They were on the tv and parents were watching. I was probably only half watching until my teens though when I enjoyed them.

do people do this now though?

i dont watch anything on tv while my kids are about. Not in case it’s unsuitable (I think the soaps are fine really) but because I don’t get peace to do anything when they are about.

It’s a big failing on my part, I suspect.

I think they absolutely Should leave me to watch a bit of telly in peace. But they wouldn’t. They’d either be fighting loudly with each other, talking to me nonstop, or dancing in front of the tv.

….basically all things I would never have done at that age.

Think I need to bring back some 90s parenting in my house.

Born late 50s and watched Crossroads and Dixon of Dock Green

I'm not sure that the word "soaps" was used when I was a child but I can vaguely recall warching 'Emergency Ward 10', 'Compact', and 'Dr Finlay's Casebook'.

I did watch that storyline unfold and I would have been maybe between age 9-11 when it was going on.

I also seem to remember that it wasn’t long afterwards that Fred West was caught and that storyline unfolded. I do seem to remember getting a bit spooked out by it all and the thoughts of buried bodies.

I vaguely remember my dad suggesting that it wasn’t suitable TV for a child but perhaps he was overruled, I can’t remember.

I did growing up I still watch them ❤️