How will EastEnders react to ITV’s soap schedule shake-up?

Both will go up against EastEnders, which airs at 7:30pm (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and 8pm (Mondays and Fridays), a clear and confident message ITV is reigniting that age-old channel dispute – the battle of the soaps.

For years there’s been a gentleman’s agreement between the BBC and ITV not to annoy soap fans by stopping their favourite shows clashing unless absolutely necessary. That appears to have gone out the window, which can’t help but be interpreted as a power play from Kevin Lygo et al to take advantage of a below-par EastEnders and - perhaps - kill it off.

ITV’s soaps are in ruder health than their rival, which fans feel has been in a slump for a while, so it’s no surprise the network is strengthening its position by creating ‘a continuous soap fix’ as a result of its extended news output which will run to 7:30pm from March, eating into primetime by 30 precious minutes and stealing Emmerdale’s start time.

Surely Auntie can’t sit back and do nothing, so how should it counteract its commercial counterpart’s surprising shake-up?

The most obvious move would be a swift change of time-slot to get EastEnders out of harm’s way and start at 7pm, preserving the equilibrium that means fans can experience all of the big three live without having to clog up the planner.

History has buried the fact that when ‘Enders launched in 1985 it was in Emmerdale’s 7pm slot, purposely hoping to steal the established adversary’s thunder. In the days before catch-up this was seen as unfair to fans of the genre and after a few months the new kid on the block graciously stepped aside to start half an hour later.

Back then soaps weren’t as prolific and there was room in the schedules for everyone to share the spotlight. Increasing popularity of the genre meant an increase in output, but the respectful dance that ensured they didn’t consistently clash carried on – until now.

Rash, reactive schedule decisions aren’t the Beeb’s style, and it’s unlikely it would jeopardise popular early-evening staple The One Show by evicting it from 7pm. However, with EastEnders under threat the corporation needs to demonstrate the support it seems to have lacked of late.

The much-talked about upgraded new set is now finally in use so there’s no question of the BBC’s long-term commitment, but creatively EastEnders feels like it’s been left to chug along rather than be maintained as the speeding juggernaut it once was – and can be again.

Corrie’s thought-provoking hate crime plot and Emmerdale’s campily compelling saga of Meena the serial killer has kept people interested over the last 12 months.

While EastEnders has had some quick wins, such as Janine Butcher’s return and the tackling of far-right extremism, it has crucially lacked a similarly long story arc to keep viewers consistently hooked in.

Now is the perfect time for some fuel-injected excitement to invigorate Albert Square and, more importantly, for the BBC to shout about it and remind us EastEnders still has that scrappy fighting spirit that revolutionised the entire genre back in the 1980s. The best defence is surely restoring its sense of ambition and drive.

ITV’s new era is not without its risks, particularly messing with Corrie’s start time (an angry fan petition is probably doing the rounds as we speak).

But the migration from live TV to streaming platforms means this might not be as big a deal as we think – is it a step closer to an inevitable world where scheduled viewing is a thing of the past and soaps ‘drop’ once a week in a boxset, as was successfully trialled during last summer’s Euros and Olympics coverage? Soaps survive, and loyal fans adapt to new ways of consuming them.

Whatever happens next, the fact this has caused such a furore proves the continuing importance of the genre to our cultural landscape. Would anyone care this much if Love Island started half an hour later?

And never mind how Mick Carter will be written out, or if Phil Mitchell will become a grass for the Old Bill – how EastEnders fights back will surely be 2022’s biggest doof-doof…

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