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Why Do Soap Characters Mostly Seem To Have Relationships With Their Neighbours?


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Old 23-07-2016, 11:43
claremonts
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Maybe i'm getting cynical (or old) but why is it that a lot of characters in soaps seem to be attracted to/sleep with/have affairs with/marry (I could go on) with people who live on their doorstep. I know the pool of characters in soaps is limited and people can build an attraction to someone over time, which is often the basis of soaps, but when we get breaking news about a storyline, revealing that "so and so will sleep with so and so" then i often think here we go again, or do you not get out much to meet someone else?
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Old 23-07-2016, 12:00
Corrie_Fan2
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This is my biggest bug bear with soap. The stock response is that these programmes were created in an era when most interactions were between colleagues and neighbours and in close knit communities. But that doesn't wash for me. In Corrie for example the first two relationships focused on were Malcolm Wilkinson and Christine Hardman and Susan Cunningham and Ken Barlow both the non-regular being from other parts of Manchester. I think the bottom line is lazy writing and cost cutting. Introducing romantic interests from outside the street is the common sense approach and allows realism much better - I'm not saying never develop relationships between street members.

The really basic issue is characters not being given varied enough lives. The corrie syndrome where everybody works/goes out and lives within about 4 streets comes to mind here, nobody really lives there life like that in real life (well very few people) so there's not enough room for people to meet those other than their neighbours. The issue lies in that sort of realism is very boring. Sally waking up at 6am in the morning to commute for her job in Manchester and not getting back until 8pm at night barely leaves room to develop her relationship with Tim in this Hyacinth Bucket vein, similar as Tim would probably be commuting into Salford/Manchester for his call centre/retail job he'd have very little time left either. They'd also realistically spend more of their weekends out of the street rather than all congregating in the Bistro and Rovers. Some of the street would play amateur sports, go to watch films etc at weekends.

The insular nature of soaps is so annoying because it traps these characters development in the confines of their own estate. I know location filming is a bit more difficult than using the same places on set, but it needs to be done so much more on soap.
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Old 23-07-2016, 12:09
Jane_Lee3
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It is daft and annoying, but I guess they have to find storylines from somewhere, and seeing as how everyone lives within 5 minutes walk of one another, and they all work closeby, and no-one ever mixes with anyone else, and never leaves that immediate area, it's hard for them to have relationships with anyone else other than their neighbours.

Problem is, in real life this rarely happens, so for it to happen with such frequency is daft .I hardly ever speak to my neighbours LOL.
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Old 23-07-2016, 12:29
IvanIV
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It's cost effective, no links, no new sets.
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Old 23-07-2016, 13:54
BlueEyedMrsP
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It's cost effective, no links, no new sets.
Pretty much that. It would come across as pointless and annoying if several cast members had relationships with people that we never saw on screen. Why bother.
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Old 23-07-2016, 14:02
fredthe3rd
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Pretty much that. It would come across as pointless and annoying if several cast members had relationships with people that we never saw on screen. Why bother.
Yes. The same goes for everyone working on the street/square where they live.

Bradley in Eastenders used to work in the city but then he just kept disappearing near the start n episode and reappearing about halfway through and it was hard to make storylines relating to his job. So he quit the city to work in a used car lot. As you do.
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Old 23-07-2016, 22:57
claremonts
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Hi, thank you all for your comments-much appreciated 🙂
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Old 24-07-2016, 03:08
MelSingleton
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So that most of the characters in each storyline are characters we already know. It would be tiring for the audience to see new character in every romance. The cast would be unfeasibly huge if every romance was with a new character. And as others have said the budget wouldn't cover all the new sets, locations, costumes. Soaps don't have the time and budget to keep devising new characters / hiring new actors for every single romance story. They re-use the sets, characters they already have.

This is true of non-romances too. A story about something particular (a fitness class, a weekend away) will feature a bunch of regulars who don't really have an interest in whatever it is, but they are there as they are the show's regulars and are already on hand.
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