This document discusses soap operas and their anniversaries. It notes that while soap operas are a staple of television, they are often overlooked in academic research. Anniversaries of long-running soap operas are constructed events used for marketing and promotion. EastEnders' 30th anniversary storyline of finding Lucy Beale's killer is discussed as an example. It engaged fans through speculation and paratexts online and in media coverage, turning the reveal into a media event beyond just the episodes.

1. Dr Ruth A Deller
(r.a.deller@shu.ac.uk @ruthdeller)
Transmedia storytelling in soap opera

2. ‘There is television that gets watched and there is
television that gets discussed: the two do not
necessarily coincide… there is a wealth of television
that is invisible to what we do as academics; that is,
there are programmes that exist, but seem not to
be seen… Ratings show that these series are not
invisible to significant proportions of the population.
‘Invisibility’, then, aims to capture the notion that
this is broadcasting which appears to go unseen
within academia; it is simply overlooked or looked
through as though it were not there…. . In seeking
out the new I am suggesting we downplay the
significance of the old, the ongoing, the repetitive,
the always- there. And in doing so, we inadvertently
render a wealth of programming invisible.’ (Mills
2010: 1, 7)

3. ‘[A]nalysis of soap operas has been limited in recent years precisely
because it is assumed that all the work that needs to be done has been
completed and we now have an agreed approach towards their
analysis. The fact that alternative approaches have not been
developed, and changes in soap operas in the last couple of decades
have not been taken into account, demonstrates how easy it is to
ignore soaps, precisely because they are always there, part of the
furniture of television, ordinary and invisible’ (Mills 2010: 8).
‘British soaps are no longer discussed, or even very much watched, in
television and media studies. Soaps have become the staple of
textbooks and, if they have a role in contemporary debates, it is as the
standard binary against which other, more significant or engaging,
programmes are measured. A similar lack of interest can be found in
the broader television culture online and in the British press... This shift
away from soap opera pre- dates but is aligned to debates about
quality and aesthetics.’ (Geraghty 2010: 82-84)

4. ‘Soaps are distinct from other media forms due to their longevity… the daily
instalments of “primary” text… their celebration and magnification of
emotional expression, and the possibility of lifelong relationships forming
between loyal viewers, soap characters, and the communities in which those
characters live and work. No other form of media fiction offers comparable
dailiness, intimacy, and familiarity over the long haul. Soaps’ longevity poses
challenges to researchers, who struggle with the sheer volume of textual
material produced, as well as to the soap industry, which struggles with staying
true to shows’ long narrative histories and developing characters in “real time”
while aligning those narratives with contemporary tastes of both newbies and
lifers.’ (Harrington 2015)

5. • Webisodes, bubble episodes, late-night episodes, VHS episodes and spin-
offs (1997 – present).
• Open casting calls (e.g. 'On the Pull', 'Desperately Seeking‘).
• First (only?) UK soap to use music as soundtrack. Spin-off music show.
• ‘First Look’ episodes on E4 (2001-present).
• Summer Strallen - planted promotion for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sound of
Music (2007-8): ‘As the two Summers' lives head inexorably towards a
worm-hole in the space/time continuum, we are all left dealing with the
knowledge that, even for a moment, Hollyoaks was real.’ (Julia Raeside,
The Guardian, 2008).
• Online ‘soap within a soap’, Runners, proposed (2008-09)
• Non-linear week (2009).
• Flash-forward episode (2009-10).
• Flashbacks to 1960s and 1980s to develop back story of characters.
• Point of view week - one week, one story, five perspectives (2016).
• Product placement (2012-present) (see Channel 4 2014) and episodes
made with real-life magazines (e.g. Heat, Company).
Hollyoaks: Text and Narrative innovations

6. • Paratexts ‘extend[ing] the invitation to play’ (Gray 2010: 187) (Also Booth 2010, Deller 2014)
• ‘According to the team, it [the SnapChat spoiler] received “phenomenal feedback” for
showing its fans “trust and respect”… “Lime has a reputation for delivering talked-about
youth programmes,” says Little. “If you’re not looking at it through the lens of a digital eye,
your shows are not going to get the traction you need to make it a success.” (Lime Pictures
MD Kate Little in Campelli 2014)

8. ‘Extensions may serve a variety of different functions. For example, the BBC
used radio dramas to maintain audience interest in Doctor Who during
almost a decade during which no new television episodes were produced.
The extension may provide insight into the characters and their
motivations… may flesh out aspects of the fictional world…Transmedia
storytelling practices may expand the potential market for a property by
creating different points of entry for different audience segments… Similarly,
the strategy may work to draw viewers who are comfortable in a particular
medium to experiment with alternative media platforms. The encyclopedic
ambitions of transmedia texts often results in what might be seen as gaps or
excesses in the unfolding of the story: that is, they introduce potential plots
which can not be fully told or extra details which hint at more than can be
revealed. Readers, thus, have a strong incentive to continue to elaborate on
these story elements, working them over through their speculations, until
they take on a life of their own. ’ (Jenkins 2007)

9. The Square. Under New Management.

13. • Anniversaries as ‘Pseudo-events’ – constructs for
marketing and promotion rather than naturally occurring
(Boorstin 1963).
• ‘Media events’ as moments of connection between
dispersed people, privileging the home as a centre of
encounter (Dayan and Katz 1992).
• ‘[P]opular media events break with the everyday but in a
much more routine way; they do not monopolize ... media
coverage in total, but in a certain segment…’(Hepp and
Couldry 2010: 8)
• Anniversaries as a site that connects the present, past and
future – and draw upon television’s obsession with
nostalgia and remembering/reiterating its own
importance (Holdsworth 2011)

18. On 21 February 2014, the BBC EastEnders blog revealed that Lucy Beale… would be killed that
Easter in a storyline that would run until the soap’s 30th anniversary in 2015… A large part of
this buildup centred on the importance of viewers finding out the identity of the culprit live,
as well as the secrecy surrounding the reveal. Interviews with cast and crew claimed that only
a very small number of people knew the outcome, so spoilers would not be revealed.
However, what is interesting is that the production team chose to very publicly ‘spoil’ the fact
that Lucy would be killed two months before it happened. Here they used notions of spoilers
in different ways to establish hype: revealing spoilers to initially hook viewers in, then keeping
spoilers from them to ensure they continued watching. This is common practice with soap
operas, inducing viewers to watch through the promise of sensational storylines or character
introductions/returns – then rewarding that viewing by inserting surprise twists, revelations
and events. This strategy tends to pay off in increased viewer numbers and social media
discussion – as happened with big events such as Coronation Street’s 2015 fire (Leyfield
2015) and Neighbours’2016 hotel explosion (promoted as a week of #hoteldeathtrap events),
(Nottingham 2016). Viewers are spoiled as to what will happen, but have to tune in to find
out the answers posed in promotional questions such as ‘Who will die?’ or, in the case of EE’s
30th, ‘Who Killed Lucy?’ (Bell and Deller, forthcoming)

19. There’s a killer among them

20. [F]an speculation and anticipation form a key part of the appeal of the ‘WKLB?' storyline, with such speculation
often intersecting with official show paratexts such as the soap's website and social media channels (Gray
2010)… the show's production and marketing team deliberately sought to engage fans in this sense of
“paratextual play” (Hills 2013; Deller 2014) by encouraging speculation on who the murderer was, how it took
place, and what its impact on other characters would be…A few weeks before the climax to the storyline,
viewers were invited to take part in a competition predicting the killer, with winners receiving the prize of a set
tour. The cast also took part in the ‘game’, giving interviews in which they predicted ‘whodunit’… paratextual
play is a common part of soap fandom. However, it is much rarer that such play crosses over into mainstream
media, which typically do not cover soaps unless there is a particular controversy. However, the ‘Live Week’
attracted a considerable amount of mainstream media coverage… speculation typically surrounded lists of
suspects informed by fan theories. (Bell and Deller, forthcoming)

21. • Paratextual anticipation and speculation (Garner 2015, Gray
2010)
• Mystery narratives extend beyond fictional form (soap itself)
to paratextual speculation, not only about storylines, but
about production, actors, audiences.
• For anniversaries: Will this please the fans? Will X return?
Will the episode(s) be a ‘fitting’ tribute?
• Plural audiences for anniversaries (see Hills 2013, 2015).
• Media event beyond the episode(s) themselves – reveals,
clues as moments of ‘mini-event’ and inducement to watch.
• Reveals outside of the text: SnapChat, NTAs…

23. • Social media as sites of paratextual play between producers, actors and
audiences – e.g. sharing memes, jokes and humourous lists (Deller 2014)
• Affective sensibilities of play – appealing to audiences’ nostalgia and
recognition as well as humour.
• ‘Social networks don’t switch off in the face of contemporary media events:
rather, they are energized by, and in turn work to narratively (re)activate, the
paratextual prefigurations and after-images of a brand anniversary. (Hills
2015: 21)
• ‘Television topics that trend highly are generally those considered as
‘watercooler’ TV such as reality television programmes, contests and talent
shows, or ‘event’ drama, such as cult television or series finales… While soap
operas are discussed on Twitter regularly, the frequency of episodes means
they do not generate enough traffic to ‘trend’ regularly – unless there is the
climax of a major storyline, they are not considered ‘event’ TV.’ (Deller 2011:
225-6)

24. ‘“Liveness” naturalises the idea that, through the media, we
achieve a shared attention to the realities that matter for us as
a society. This is the idea of the media as social
frame, the myth of the mediated centre. It is because of this
underlying idea (suggesting society as a common space
focused around a ‘shared’ ritual centre) that watching
something ‘live’ makes the difference it does: otherwise why
should we care that others are watching the same image as us,
and (more or less) when we are?’ (Couldry, 2004: 97-99)
Maximum liveness: ‘we are watching at the same time as the
event, at the same time as everyone else, and, what is more,
with an event taking place in different locations connected by
television, as is typically the case with major media events’
(Bourdon 2000: 534-535).

25. ‘EastEnders created a further sense of being part of the
viewing community in its approach to “live week”,
encouraging audience participation in the event through
live viewing and simultaneous engagement on social
media. The show’s Twitter, Instagram, Vine and Facebook
accounts were all updated as the episodes were
broadcast, providing commentary on events as they
happened. The notion of a ‘live week’ emphasised the
importance of watching the show as broadcast, rather
than via catch-up services at a later time. This draws upon
the notion that liveness indicates a sense of commonality,
bringing viewers together around one central moment.’
(Bell and Deller, forthcoming)

28. Modes of play included:
• Role-playing accounts (e.g. as Ian Beale,
Mick Carter)
• Memes
• Intertextual jokes and references
• Teasers and speculation
• ‘Canonisation’ by producers of fan ideas
(Deller 2014, Veale 2013) and live
mishaps.

30. ‘The key thing I fight for is funny content. The biggest reason people say they don't watch EastEnders is
because "it's miserable". It is... But it's also very, very funny too. So I use a good sense of humour on
social to make people who don't watch (or have stopped watching) consider giving the show a chance…
[on Tamwar tweets] All credit to Himesh. He wrote it, steered it and made it what it was. Can't take any
credit for that. Just getting him the opportunity he needed to be brilliant. And he was!’ (EE social media
editor Stephen Saul)
‘I tend to tweet as the show is being broadcast & at random times if I think of anything funny that's
related to Tracey or EastEnders in general… my character doesn't have a huge speaking role but I decided
to create my Tracey account because I believe she is looked upon as a EE legend & apart from Ian Beale &
Dot Branning, has been in the show from the beginning. Also because so little is really known about her
that that leaves me with more room for expression. (@Traceythebarmaid)
‘one day I was bored and I thought I'd make a twitter account to post a few harmless jokes and Ian Beale
seemed a random character to base an account on. At the time I don't think there was many soap parody
accounts on twitter, if I recall there was just a Roy Cropper account from Coronation Street… I gained 2-3
thousand followers in a couple of days and I was like whoa! people seemed to like what I was tweeting
and nearly 4 years on I have 158K followers… during those live episodes I did get a lot more retweets
than usual and I think I gained 4 thousand new followers from using the #EELive hashtag’ (@_IanBeale_)
In-characterTwitterplay(Trotman2016)

31. Happy 20th

32. EastErinsborough

38. Neighbours vs Zombies (2014)

42. ‘[O]fficial paratexts in the form of the show’s website, YouTube channel and
social media accounts further encourage a sense of ‘playfulness’ from viewers,
recirculating memes, humorous commentary and ‘play along’ video stories.
Even serious storylines – such as the hit and run killing of ‘bad boy’ Robbo
Slade – become rife for meme creation and comedic promotional artwork,
often adopting the tongue-in-cheek style found on [fan sites] or referencing
fan in-jokes. Although ratings are much smaller than at their peak, the show
still has a high degree of visibility within British culture and its most popular
actors, particularly Alan Fletcher (Karl) and Ryan Maloney (Toadfish), often
appear on British television shows, usually in a humorous capacity, or ‘in
character’, as well as touring university student unions or appearing in
pantomime. These acts of promotion for the soap all reinforce the text as a site
of play between production teams, actors and viewers – even those viewers
who no longer watch the soap on a regular basis’. (Deller 2014: 103)

46. In part, radio has been absent from these conversations because of its
historical status as an ‘invisible medium’ within media studies. Another reason
is simply because the most successful, most popular and highest profile
examples of transmedia franchises – The Batmans and the Harry Potters –
rarely incorporate radio as a major element. This has started to shift in recent
years, as transmedia practices are increasingly adopted by media producers
who are interested less in commercial entertainment experiences and more in
social change and public-interest agendas, who often come from radio
production backgrounds and who incorporate radio broadcast, genres, stations
and their listening communities as fundamental parts of a multi-platform
media project. (Edmond 2014: 1570)

48. The Archers: Transmedia and the Helen and Rob storyline

49. This is Abuse

50. ‘The campaign incorporated character Bebo pages in which the
fictional characters chatted and discussed the episode content with
viewers as the events depicted had taken place, and posted
frequent blogs relating to their leisure time in Manchester. Blogs
initially depicted alcohol use as a positive and fun aspect of youth
leisure, before progressively portraying drinking in a more negative
manner over the course of the month… Viewers’ comments relating
to alcohol included references to the characters drinking too much
and viewers trying to persuade them to stop. However, numerous
comments also encouraged characters to drink and have fun, and
included viewers discussing nightlife, inviting the character to drink
with them and expressing a wish to join characters in their drinking
and partying.’ (Atkinson et al 2010: 461)

51. In our book, we made a distinction between legal ownership over soap narratives and what
we called “moral” ownership over them—fans’ sense that soap opera communities and
characters are “theirs,” rather than belonging to the writers, actors, directors, or producers.
This sense of ownership is rooted in at least three factors. First, “soaps’ very success at
creating and sustaining a seamless fictional world [. . .] creates a space for viewers to assert
their claims when they perceive continuity is broken” (Bielby, Harrington, and Bielby 1999,
36). Second, viewers regularly outlast soaps’ revolving writing and production teams. Many
long-term fans have been invested in their show(s) longer than the people creating them
(as, often, have several of the actors playing the characters, leading to interesting ownership
struggles within the industry [Harrington and Brothers 2010]), and they often do know their
show’s history better. (The same point can be made of long-term sports fans or movie-
franchise fans, contexts in which transgenerational fandoms outlast coaches, players, actors,
directors, etc.) Third, soap production schedules allow the industry to respond relatively
quickly to fan complaints and concerns, giving fans a sense that their opinions can make a
real difference. (Harrington 2015)

52. ‘The likes of Ang (1985) and Spence (2005) note the ‘ironic’ pleasures in
watching soap opera and using it as a source of humour. Of course, some of
this is bound up with notions of taste and the idea that soap opera is a less
venerated form than other media, however, we would argue that this is not
the only salient factor. Bonding over humour and shared social experience is
a key part of the appeal of soap, as it is with many other media and cultural
forms. The humorous appeal of soap is something producers are keenly
aware of, particularly in the way they use social media…By engaging in the
same forms of humorous talk as the fans, and by sharing fan-created media,
soaps… are able to both build their own hype (Gray 2010: 6) and give the
impression that the producers understand what fans want. ’ (Bell and Deller,
forthcoming)

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