Hollyoaks
This is a British soap aimed specifically
at young people. It is written by Phil Redmond, the producer of Brookside.
It centres around the young people living in the fictional suburb of Hollyoaks
in Chester. It is a relatively new programme, but has already
caught viewers' attentions by including such storylines as rape, drugs
and teenage pregnancies. Most recently, such stories have been included
as characters learning about their real parents and one character coming
to terms with the fact that she had been raped by her father. Although
the ratings for Hollyoaks are not as large as for other soaps, it remains
a popular soap that young people can relate to.
This is an Australian soap which
first aired on Australian screens in 1987, and followed on into Britain
later on. It is mainly filmed on Palm Beach in Sydney. It is
set in the fictional town of Summer Bay and follows the lives of some of
the families who live there. Issues covered by the programme in the
past include teenage pregnancies, fostering, a teacher/pupil affair, lesbianism
(although the majority of this storyline was cut for British broadcast)
and stalkers. The programme remains popular with young people as
they can relate to some of the stories that occur within the soap.
The most recent major storyline was that of the Nash family being stalked,
eventually leading to the kidnap of their daughter and the burning down
of their house.
Neighbours
This Australian soap was first broadcast in Britain in 1986, having
proved very successful over there. In 1988, repeats of the programme
were shown at tea-time (5.35) to attract the young people at school.
Due to the fact that it is screened one hour earlier than in Australia,
the BBC has censored many of the storylines in Neighbours including nudity
and violence, such as shootings. It has been sold to over 40 broadcasters
in over 60 countries worldwide, most recently in Croatia and China.
Past storylines in the soap include teenage pregnancies, drownings, fires
and cancer. Neighbours still remains popular, although not as much
as in the late 80s and early 90s, when such characters as Scott, Charlene
and Mrs Mangel appeared. Neighbours has been a starting point for
many of it's actors and actresses to launch their pop careers. Such
stars as Kylie Minogue (Charlene Robinson), Jason Donovan (Scott Robinson),
Craig McLachlan (Henry Ramsay) and Natalie Imbruglia (Beth Brennan) have
gone on to have successful singing careers.
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