Tuning into TV soap operas has become such a massive part of our lives that it feels like we are part of the family. Over the years, we have experienced some shocking, saddening, sweet storylines and felt every emotion imaginable, but which can be crowned the best?
From IMDb ratings to the number of awards won and more, our research team at Slingo have compiled a range of factors to reveal which television soap operas are the best. Like any good award ceremony, we have some ‘best category’ accolades up for grabs.
And the award goes to…
Best overall UK soap opera
1. Coronation Street - 8.29 /10
Coronation Street, or ‘Corrie’ for the superfans, is a soap opera set in the famous cobbled streets of Weatherfield, Greater Manchester. Aside from being the longest-running UK soap opera, Coronation Street has won hundreds of awards since it first aired in 1960 and has garnered more than 4.7 million Google searches in the last year alone. These factors have resulted in Coronation Street being crowned the best UK soap opera, with an overall score of 8.29 /10.
2. EastEnders - 7.37 /10
From Manchester to London, EastEnders falls just shy of the top spot, with a score of 7.37 /10. This soap may be younger than its Northern competitor, but EastEnders has received more awards than any other soap and has amassed the most UK Google searches over the last year, totalling 271 and 6,750,000, respectively.
3. Emmerdale - 7.24 /10
Emmerdale takes the bronze medal in UK soap operas, scoring 7.24 out of a possible 10. Originally named Emmerdale Farm, this soap is approaching 10,000 episodes and recently celebrated its 50th birthday.
Whether or not you are a regular Emmerdale viewer, you are likely familiar with some of the show’s most memorable storylines, including the 1993 plane crash and the dramatic 2003 plot in which a flood submerged the village. These are just some of the things which have cemented Emmerdale as an iconic soap opera.
Best overall US soap opera
1. General Hospital - 8.25 /10
General Hospital is the Guinness World Record holder for the longest-running American soap opera still in projection, having run from 1963 to the present day. This longevity is a testament to its popularity and quality among viewers. There were 5 million Google searches for the programme, almost double the amount of the second-most searched soap.
2. Days of Our Lives - 7.25 /10
Another extremely long-running soap opera is Days of Our Lives. The programme has run for almost 60 years, first broadcasting in 1965. Set in the fictional city of Salem, Illinois, the show focused on the Brady and Horton families and their daily lives. There have been almost 15,000 episodes produced, the most of any on the list.
3. The Young and the Restless - 6.88 /10
Compared to the two soaps ranking above it, The Young and Restless (Y&R) is a baby, having only been on air for just over fifty years. Initially focused on showing the difference in class in America, the show focused on one wealthy family and one working-class family, but the show's focus has changed a lot over the years.
Soap opera winners by category:
The most iconic villain scene
Simon Barlow - Knocks out his school friend (Coronation Street): 2,000,000 YouTube views
When you think of TV villains, it's not very often that a child comes to mind. Still, from physically abusing his mother to dealing drugs, Coronation Street’s Simon Barlow has had his fair share of frightful storylines over the years.
Plenty of this character’s rash behaviours have gone viral on YouTube, but none of the scandalous events in this character's life have been viewed more than when Simon got aggressive with his school friend during a football match. First aired in February 2016, this shocking clip has garnered more than 2 million views, more than any other scene on this list.
Longest standing villain
Phil Mitchell - EastEnders: 3,559 appearances
Regarding television soap operas, no character is more familiar with doof doofs than Phil Mitchell. Played by Steve McFadden, Walford’s very own gangster has appeared in over 3,500 episodes since his first appearance in 1990.
Over the years, Phil Mitchell has become known for his short temper, and despite having a list of enemies bigger than anyone can imagine, his extraordinary loyalty to those he loves has meant that we have all grown to love this legendary character.
Most searched-after death
Kylie Platt - Coronation Street: 26,350 Google searches since 2020
Kylie Platt is a character missed massively by fans of Coronation Street, with over 25,000 searches for the former character. Platt became an instant fan favourite when she was introduced in 2010, with actress Paula Lane being praised as she won the Best Newcomer award at the 2011 National Television Awards, aged 25. After Lane decided to leave the show in 2016, the character was killed off, tragically stabbed in the street.
The most iconic fight scene
Mick Vs Dean - The Final Showdown (EastEnders): 732,000 YouTube views
The most iconic soap opera fight scene is ‘the final showdown’ between EastEnders characters Mick and Dean. Mick Carter (portrayed by Danny Dyer) gets into a fight with Dean Wicks (portrayed by Matt Di Angelo) over their shared history with Linda (Kellie Bright). The fight scene has almost three-quarters of a million views on YouTube.
Methodology
Data is accurate as of 23/10/2024.
Using a series of listicles, we made seeding lists of soap operas, past and present, one for US and another for UK soaps.
For each list, we compiled the following data:
- Number of episodes
- IMDb rating
- Number of awards won
We used Google Ads Keyword Planner to calculate the total number of Google searches for each soap between October 2023 and September 2024.
We used the soap-related factors (number of episodes, IMDb rating, number of awards won, Google searches) and normalised each factor out of 10 before taking an average of those scores to get our overall score.
We used a series of listicles to create separate seeding lists for well-known soap characters in the following categories:
- Villains
- Deaths
- Fight scenes
Using YouTube, we found the most viewed video involving each villain on the respective soap opera’s official YouTube account after searching ‘name + villain’.
We used Fandom to find the number of episodes each villain has appeared in.
We used Google Ads Keyword Planner to calculate the total number of Google searches for each soap opera death between October 2020 and September 2024.
Using YouTube, we searched 'name + death' and filtered the results by 'view count'. We took the top entry for a video with the character's name. We repeated this to find the most popular fight scene.
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