The end of soaps? Not so fast – EastEnders' 40th proves they're still a powerhouse

Initially charmed by the roll call of returning characters from Albert Square past – Ross Kemp’s Grant Mitchell and scene-stealer Angie Watts (Anita Dobson) still able to put the Queen in the Queen Vic, 37 years after she left the show – I stayed for an explosion in the pub, a baby’s birth in the rubble and a rekindled love between Stacey and Martin, the latter fatally trapped under a fallen beam.

I then watched Denise play ipsy-dipsy between two suitors (eventually following her heart, and the viewers’ vote, to Jack’s door), and I waited for bereaved Stacey (a performance by Lacey Turner that would surely win a best actress BAFTA if this wasn’t a soap) to tell her daughter about their loss. Before I knew it, I’d watched the next one, just to check up on everyone. And the next. Who needs box sets?

It turned out I wasn’t alone, with the live episode drawing 3.7 million viewers, 1.5 million above the overnight average. It was a telling moment, coming the same week as we learnt that Amazon had pulled the plug on a rebooted Neighbours, and with more speculation about a mass cast exodus from Corrie’s cobbles. We’ve been hearing about the demise of soaps for years.

For sure, the 30 million-watching heights of Den serving up divorce papers in 1986 – “Happy Christmas, Ange” – will never be repeated. This era sees soaps competing for eyeballs with not just streaming platforms, but also reality TV franchises, their “stars” cheaper and willing to support the enterprise with social media engagement. More of us leave our sofas these days, whether it’s to dine out or visit the gym (no, me neither). I met somebody last week who doesn’t even own a television set. We didn’t speak for long.

If this is the natural order of things, why does it matter? Well, off screen, soaps are like other organisations, supporting businesses from catering trucks to local coffee shops. Specifically, they provide training ecosystems for hundreds of cast and crew, introducing and nurturing fresh writers and actors who will go on to create our next big streaming hit.

Suranne Jones, Sarah Lancashire and Ben Hardy are all soap alumni turned A-list talent. Writers who cut their teeth on soaps include Sarah Phelps (EastEnders) and Sally Wainwright (Coronation Street) – so no soaps, no Sixth Commandment or Happy Valley.

On screen, it matters, too. Where else do we get stories crossing class, racial and generational divides, or as we saw with RT’s recent issue celebrating Walford’s femmes fatales, so many strong, complex, witty women? For lots of viewers, soap characters are as familiar and sometimes more welcome than real-life relations. At worst, tuning into a soap is like bumping into a chatty friend and settling down for a coffee. At best, it can move, inspire and help us make sense of our real lives.

I hope EastEnders’ 41st year represents its Roman spring, that this freshly large audience stays for everything that’s to come. Which grieving lover will be front row for Martin’s send-off? What will become of Phil’s gun, now in Grant’s hands? Will Sharon ever read Phil’s letter? I’ll be there.

Original commissioner Michael Grade recently told RT, “Streamers make programmes to work all around the world, some of it utterly brilliant TV, but it adds nothing to British culture.” These are the stories of us, and not just if you’ve tried to whack your ex-daughter-in-law with a shovel, saved her life from fallen debris – or, somehow, both, if you’re Kathy Beale.

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EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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