I have done the unthinkable. Somehow I find myself watching and following the trials and tribulations of the less than beautiful people in an English soap opera that shall remain nameless. Why is this a terrible thing? Well English soap operas are just downright depressing. This one is particular focuses on the down trotted who all congregate on a regular basis in a local pub drinking away their sorrows. No one in this working class area of East London is doing well — at least not for any significant amount of time. So it’s all a bit too real and raw and in no way could be classified as escapism television.
So why am I watching? Really, I have no idea. I avoided this show and all others of similar format for the first couple years I’ve been in London. Yet in the last six months, I’ve found myself watching it with some regularity. Interestingly enough, I don’t see the show when it is first broadcast as I’m never home at that hour. I usually watch when it’s rebroadcast on the weekends. So even more depressing — particularly as this show is in no way similar to the American soap operas I use to follow in high school.
I mean, CBS daytime soap operas like The Bold & The Beautiful, As the World Turns, Guiding Light and The Young and The Restless have their share of dysfunction and craziness but at least the houses and people are all beautiful and very much in line with what escapism television should be.