I love the hammy overacting, the awful scripts and constant tears and shouting (the only way for soap actors to win an award is for them to scream and wail for about 6 months in some god awful storyline meaning there's always a lot of strife going on as writers and semi-actors try to achieve this goal.)

Coronation St omnibus has just given me more belly laughs than any comedy I have seen this year - all unintentional of course - and I know this is one of the "better" soaps out there!!

Dear god - how and why do people sit through this drivel every day

I swear you watch big brother so you have no judgement. How can you watch such tripe like that.

I watch the soaps and BB so feel very qualified to speak on this thread

Let's face it they're all twaddle and I suspect without DS to talk about them many of us would have given up watching years ago.

It's escapism. I just enjoy watching them. I enjoy characters and actors like Ross Barton played by Michael Parr on Emmerdale. Millions of people enjoy soaps, it's not just a handful of people on here (obviously). Soaps often make the front page of national newspapers as they are so popular.
Some of the story lines like Hayley's pancreatic cancer bring attention to such illnesses and would have led to many people donating to cancer research charities etc. Other issues make good storylines too.
I also enjoy Brit movies. I find the UK soaps, other dramas and Brit movies are often more enjoyable than some of the crap Hollywood churns out.

This is true trevor.

Enjoyable twaddle though I must admit some of the stories and acting are twaddle like Gail and Michael on Coronation Street. Right now my favourite soap is Emmerdale but Val's funeral was ridiculous I must say. I still watch them all and enjoy them though