Vote for your favourite soap in the RadioTimes.com Soap Awards now

So to ensure the biggest storylines, performances and moments don’t go unpraised in 2020, we are launching the RadioTimes.com Soap Awards!

Read our full list of nominations and head to the bottom of the page where you can cast your all important vote.

[The vote closes on Tuesday 2nd June at 5pm.]

Best Actor

Ian Bartholomew - Geoff Metcalfe, Coronation Street

Geoff has gone from being Tim’s buffoonish dad to a manipulative, menacing bully, and Bartholomew has transformed the character with pitch-perfect levels of calculation and creepiness in Corrie’s coercive control storyline.

Max Bowden - Ben Mitchell, EastEnders

In just over a year as the recast Ben, Bowden has confidentially made the part his own and it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing Phil Mitchell’s tormented son. His romance with Callum and struggle with hearing loss has made the audience really root for him.

Jeff Hordley - Cain Dingle, Emmerdale

Often overlooked at awards time, Hordley notched up 20 years as Emmerdale’s alpha male recently and he’s still at the heart of the show. Being cheated on by Moira with his secret son divided fans, but you can’t fault his consistently compelling performance.

Gregory Finnegan - James Nightingale, Hollyoaks

He lost lover Harry to the local serial killer but shot the wrong person in revenge, pushing him over the edge psychologically and making us care about the spiky but sad lawyer even more.

Rob Mills - Finn Kelly, Neighbours

Fiendish Finn is one of the most dangerous villains Ramsay Street has ever seen, and Mills wasn’t afraid to push his alter ego into seriously dark territory as his reign of terror came to a shocking climax. He’s still causing chaos from beyond the grave.

Ray Meagher - Alf Stewart, Home & Away

Summer Bay stalwart Alf remains the heart and soul of Home and Away, and this year he finally got a happy ending by remarrying childhood sweetheart Martha, who was missing presumed dead for decades. It was a huge moment for long-term fans.

Best Actress

Shelley King - Yasmeen Metcalfe, Coronation Street

King’s utterly fearless performance as abused wife Yasmeen has made for uncomfortable viewing, and rightly so. Corrie’s unflinching approach to the coercive control storyline would not be as compelling or truthful without her commitment.

Letitia Dean - Sharon Watts, EastEnders

It was a big year for EastEnders as it notched up its 35^th anniversary, and producers gifted original cast member Dean with a roller coaster of emotion that saw Sharon’s fling with toy boy Keanu exposed, her marriage to Phil wrecked, and the tragic death of beloved son Denny.

Michelle Hardwick - Vanessa Woodfield, Emmerdale

Being held hostage by mad man Pierce Harris was just the start of an enormous journey for the village vet, who was then diagnosed with bowel cancer. Hardwick has always been engaging and sympathetic and this story has seen her finest work yet.

Anna Passey - Sienna Blake, Hollyoaks

Just when it looked like she was getting her happy ending with Brody and a baby it all came crashing down for Hollyoaks’ tragedy magnet Sienna. Passey effortlessly combines enormous empathy with a hint of that old evil streak, making the character more watchable than ever.

Jackie Woodburne - Susan Kennedy, Neighbours

Rightly placed at the heart of Neighbours’ 35^th birthday year as her long-standing rivalry with Finn Kelly reached a jaw-dropping finale in an electric two-hander (a first for the soap) reminded us what a consummate pro Woodburne is. As if we needed reminding.

Lynne McGranger - Irene Roberts, Home & Away

Home and Away legend ‘Reenie had one of her biggest storylines in years as a teen online grooming plot opened up a painful chapter of her past, giving McGranger some tough, uncompromising material she knocked out of the park.

Best Newcomer

Mollie Gallagher – Nina, Coronation Street

Roy’s goth niece Nina is a quirky presence on the cobbles who is full of surprises – she shares her uncle’s love of bats and defended poor old Asha during her online ordeal. Gallagher is a real find.

Milly Zero – Dotty, EastEnders

Last seen as a Wednesday Addams-alike tween, Dot’s granddaughter returned and recast as a punky, sassy troublemaker who reminds us of a young Janine Butcher. Zero has risen to the challenge of portraying the offspring of Nasty Nick Cotton.

Mark Womack – DI Mark Malone, Emmerdale

Another in a long line Hotten Constabulary’s corrupt coppers, Womack has made Malone an impactful baddie in his first ever soap role with the right mix of charm and menace.

Joe McGann – Edward Hutchinson, Hollyoaks

Casting a member of a famous acting dynasty was a coup and McGann has not disappointed in his portrayal of the narcissistic surgeon out to steal his son’s life. There’s a delicious dash of dark humour there too.

Jemma Donovan - Harlow Robinson, Neighbours

Being the real-life daughter of Jason ‘Scott Robinson’ Donovan means young Jemma is already Ramsay Street royalty, but the subtle integrity she brings to principled Harlow has made her one to watch.

Kawakawa Fox-Reo – Nikau Parata, Home & Away

Hotheaded and impulsive, Nik could’ve been like a million other off-the-rails teens who’ve rocked up in the Bay over the years, but Fox-Reo is a breath of fresh air as part of the soap’s first indigenous family and we feel like he’s been there for ages already.

Best Storyline

Coronation Street - Coercive Control

A rarely-explored form of domestic abuse has been bravely highlighted by Corrie. What started as a slow burning background plot has boiled over into one of the most talked-about storylines of the moment.

EastEnders - Boat Disaster

The soap pushed the boat out – literally – to mark the 35^th anniversary of the TV institution. Pulling together the threads of Sharon and Keanu’s explosive affair saw fights, fallouts and a jaw-dropping death that changed life in the Square forever.

Emmerdale - Who Killed Graham?

‘Who shot Graham?’ was elevated from your usual soap whodunnit by the shock reveal that rapist Pierce was the culprit, four years after his exit and with no prior warning he was even returning. Rhona finally getting justice made it all worth it.

Hollyoaks - Ste's Radicalisation

A true soap first, Hollyoaks deserve recognition for bravely tackling such a taboo topic. Disenfranchised, grieving Ste’s grooming by the far right provoked questions about politics and society, but was ultimately a story about love triumphing over hate.

Neighbours - Finn's Revenge

Fiendish Finn’s nine lives were finally used up in a brilliantly plotted final act for the sociopathic bad boy as his beef with Elly and Susan put half of Ramsay Street in danger. It was darker territory than normal for sunny Neighbours, and formed the backdrop to the nostalgia-fest of the 35^th anniversary.

Home & Away - Hospital Siege

One of the Aussie soaps best set pieces in years saw a bunch of characters thrown together in terrifying circumstances that brought some stories to a tragic end, sparked surprising new bonds, and shook Summer Bay to its foundations. RIP Mason and Robbo…