Do you still watch soaps?

[BenFeldmanFan]

I'm mid-40s. Growing up I watching Corrie, Eastenders, Neighbours, Home and Away, Hollyoaks. Over time I stopped watching for various reasons - in my 20s wasn't home from work in time, putting kids to bed. Then in 30s, if I did catch them I thought the storylines were often depressing or ridiculous. Also the concept seemed a bit dated. Out of a friendship/acquaintance group of 50, I would say I know 5 people who still tune in. Have soaps had their day with audiences until 40?

Never really have been but i keep meaning to try and get into eastenders i watched for like two weeks when Bobby was revealed to be the murderer

Went through years of Coronation Street. Loved it. Have massive affection for the characters.

But once babies came along, soaps kinda went cos they're on at the worst possible time if you have young kids I. E. bathtime and bedtime.

I also started to get a bit irritated with the sheer amount of time they wanted you to put in. Several times a week and sometimes twice a night?? Ain't nobody have time for that!

Similarly to you - stopped 10/15 years ago and now the thought of it seems outdated - you missed Brookside n crossroads

I became obsessed with Neighbours when on mat leave but when DD got older and stopped napping just couldn't keep up with a five episode a week soap.

The only one i watch is neighbours. The rest are just misery.

I only watch Eastenders. Being a single parent I wouldn't have the time to watch more than that. It's on at a convenient time for me - never earlier than 19:30 which is DS (5) bedtime anyway.

I watch Corrie and EE, no more than that. If I'm at home I watch Classic EE and Classic Corrie.

Sometimes they are better than others but I like them, am interested in the characters, feel as though I know them.

I dip in and out of Corrie and Emmerdale, don't watch the others.

The one I really love and never miss is River City, Scottish soap set in Glasgow

Stopped watching them all after second child 18 years ago. Can't imagine wanting to watch them again.

Yes, I'm with you. I used to watch EastEnders until I decided I hated all the characters and was pleased when they died, so why was I bothering? And then I had kids and there was no time any more. My mum still watches ALL the soaps so maybe it's something that comes back as you get older?

I’m 44.... used to love EE but stopped watching it about 15 yrs ago... too miserable for me. Used to watch Corrie and Emmerdale but stopped 3 years ago... haven’t missed them at all.

Is neighbours still going?

Same here, I used to watch Emmerdale, Corrie, EE and Brookside. Also Neighbours on and off. Watched Brookie till the bitter end even though it was dreadful by then. Gradually stopped EE and Emmerdale 10 or so years back, couldn't keep up with them 5 nights a week with young DCs and couldn't stand the Dingles particularly. Stuck with Corrie till about three tears ago when I finally got sick of the far fetched plotlines and multitude of new characters plus the endless far-fetched Connor family plot lines.

I still watch Doctors though

I used to watch them all - but they got too dark! Soaps should be fun!!
I now tape classic Corrie and watched recently from 1986 to 1992 now - brilliant lines, and good camera work
I started watching classic emmerde, but it got too daft
My DH and I watch our taped Corrie when we get in with a glass or two

I used to watch them all years ago but stopped over the past few years after I became a single parent. I still watch occasionally if there’s a big dramatic storyline.

I am however, loving watching old Emmerdale on ITV3 every day, it seemed so much better then! I tried watching old Corrie and Eastenders but they seemed very dated.

I also love watching old The Bill and old Holby City. Nostalgia.

I grew up watching neighbours - haven't watched that hardly since uni, I see Karl Kennedy is still in it though. I used to watch Eastenders but fell out of love with it after that heist storyline outside the garage. I now think soaps are awful.

I watch hollyoaks, emmerdale and casualty, corrie if I'm in the mood. E. E haven't watched for years now.

I used to watch almost all of them! I stopped watching Neighbours/Home and Away because I wasn't home from work in time and couldn't be bothered to set the video recorder. I think I then decided to stop watching the others gradually because they were taking up too much time.

Corrie lasted the longest, despite having 2 DCs close together. As they got older though, I had to record it and watch it another time. I then started recording the omnibus edition and watched it in one go during the week - that's when it struck me how bloody dull it was and I went cold turkey!

Yeo - Corrie & Emmerdale.
Record them so watch when DD is in bed.

When I was younger (teenager to mid-twenties) I used to watch pretty much the lot - EE, Corrie, Brookside, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, Home and Away, Neighbours...even Eldorado!

It dwindled away until I only watched Emmerdale and Corrie but now I only watch Corrie.

I have it on series link and binge watch it when I fancy some crap tv.

I grew up with all the soaps on all the time in our house. I really hated it. It felt really 'constraining' - it was meant to be escapism but I just used to feel stressed being forced to become engaged and entangled in a load of other people's lives for an hour or two every day.

When I left home I stopped watching all soaps apart from Doctors. I fucking love Doctors. I save them all up and have a Doctors binge on a Sunday afternoon.

I'm mid-40s now. I used to watch most of the soaps when I was younger. I stopped after DC1 was born. The last one to go was Hollyoaks. I don't miss them at all.

If I do catch a bit of one I find them depressing and shouty. I couldn't imagine letting my DC watch them. I can see how people get sucked in.

To be fair I'm lucky if I get to watch tv an hour a night anyway so I have to choose wisely.

No. Used to watch. Stopped many years ago, when good series, like ..... Boardwalk Empire etc, became the norm.

GoT and the like now. Just no need.

I watched Brookside until it ended and Eastenders but stopped that about 10 years ago. Now there is so much choice and decent drama on the streaming services that I would never devote anytime to watching a soap. I can remember watching the Brookside omnibus on the weekend as a teenager but I can’t imagine my children ever doing something like that when they have YouTube, Netflix and thousands of films via a smart TV.

Someone must be still watching Eastenders...it's always featured heavily in the iPlayer 'most popular' collection on the iPlayer home page.
I don't know anyone who watches a soup now, there's too much competition from netflix love island etc