The reasons why I love the soaps at Christmas
I love the soaps at Christmastime and I like to sit down and watch them in peace. In fact, I’ve been known to take myself off to my hammock for an hour, so I can watch them in peace.
I realise how ridiculous that makes me sound, but we all have our things and the soaps are mine, so they always form a part of my digital Christmas preparations. I love to decorate the whole house, to plan weird and wonderful gifts for my family (including gifts for the children and our pets) and to plot which soaps and films I to watch; it’s all part of my festive routine.
I love the run up too. Making homemade Christmas gifts, whilst sipping a glass of red wine and watching the Corrie Friday night double bill, has become something of a tradition.
It’s clear that I’m not the only one with these views. The soaps are always popular at Christmastime and millions of people tune in. Some people watch live, whilst others tune in via on-demand services.
A Christmas cracker
The main reason why I love the soaps at Christmas is because major storylines come to a head. There’s usually some kind of blow up, some shouting and a long-running storyline that reaches a conclusion.
You may wonder why people enjoy watching people shouting at one another. But Christmas can be a stressful time. Not everybody has the perfect day, so in a way it’s comforting to see somebody’s fictional Christmas dinner go to pot.
There’s always a dose of festive cheer too. Somebody burning their Christmas dinner and a neighbour stepping in to feed them, snow, love and bucks fizz.
A tale of two halves
It seems that the soaps tend to approach the festive season in one of two ways: with an explosive story, or with a lot of love and cheer.
Occasionally the soaps will go light over Christmas, but save the drama for the new year. Does anybody remember when Ronnie and Roxy met their end in EastEnders? That was a New Year’s storyline, not a festive one.
If I am being honest, I like the drama-packed festive episodes. Give me an affair reveal over a Christmas cracker joke any day of the week.
A festive reward
I see the soaps as my pay off for investing my time over the year. I always enjoy these episodes and I think it makes it worth seeing out the lulls. Usually I notice that things start to gather momentum in autumn, ready for the festive climax.
I can’t imagine a time when I won’t want to watch the soap specials at Christmastime. Sitting by the Christmas tree at home, with a piece of cake and watching the soaps unfold, has become a festive tradition for me. It really is my favourite part of Christmas.
