Yes but to be fair I don't that undermines his central point and idea.

True, but it makes me question the validity of the article. I'm sure most people on here know what Emmerdale is like under Kate Oates.

I do feel that in the main the characters in Emmerdale are more real under Kate Oates even if some of the events aren't.
I feel the characters under Kate are better written than previously.

Lack of storytelling imagination? Stuck in a dependable but repetitive groove?


Oh I do hope that you are THEE Polly Perkins! 😘I adored you in Eldorado (which should never have been axed!) and as Rose Cotton in EastEnders!

Yeah I can see that, Emmerdale is more enjoyable than Corrie IMHO but its not more realistic. To me Emmerdale in its current state is a countryside version of Hollyoaks with better writing and acting and to expect someone who produces a show like this to make Corrie more realistic makes zero sense.

I think Corrie viewers though will end up with better written characters by and large and a clearing out of some of the deadwood.
I think Emmerdale sensationalism is a better class of it and better done than Hollyoaks version

I agree 100%, I just think the writer of the article is wrong about Kate Oates bringing Corrie back down to earth. You can say whatever you want about Blackburn but he keeps things more realistic.

He's too hit and miss for me -He's not really a soap producer with a clear vision or ability.

Are soaps in general becoming too predictable because they've been around so long?

You could say that, there is a repetitive formula to it whereby storylines tend to move in circles just with different characters. Perhaps that contributes to it as well.

I suspect it does, they can be very formulaic in content and feel at times and that can take them into wallpaper tv territory at times.

I think you've got it. With soaps you're limited as too what you can do. You can't exactly have someone abducted by aliens or become a vampire if you've run out of stories. I suppose it's the same with some dramas, but they have a fixed amount of episodes, you see the story from start to finish and that's it.

Despite that, I still enjoy soaps and it'd be a shame too cancel them, it's not like they are down to 8000 viewers an episode. I'll just enjoy them while they last and try not to worry, it's a bit of entertainment on a cold night when I've got nothing to do. I won't get worked up over it

Indeed theres certainly no point stressing about it so just cherish,chill and enjoy them while their here.Soaps in a way were of their time,their roots are in the 4-5 terrestrial tv channel era.The explosion in digital choice and the internet was always going to cause a challenging shift.The tectonic plates in the media industry are and will continue to move!One reason why I feel DVD boxsets and shorter series like Mad Men are increasingly more popular is because their shorter duration actually unleashes more creativity in the storymaking process and thus entices in many viewers.Longterm though I think soaps are going to struggle even more with the competition to be original and eye catching without descending into the sensationalist and the ridicicolous were will that take us?Interesting times but no era by definition lasts forever and the heyday at least is definitely over.

Not the end of days atm no but I do feel long term the ground is shifting.It seems that less and less young people are watching soaps regularly if at all.Maybe they view soaps as old hat and the more structured and definitive resolution of stories and their arcs in shorter series much more satisfying and much more in their control which they value more?

You make good points about sensationalism -Its become both a curse and a blessing,a double edged sword and I dont see how soap bosses can completly extract themselves fom that.Perhaps theyve very much become a victim of their own success?

I think that the Christmas tv ratings for soaps raise some interesting long-term questions about soaps again anew.