The staying power of Hollyoaks

This week sees Hollyoaks overtake Brookside as Channel 4 longest running soap which is quite remarkable when you take into account some things. The first is that apart from a brief period in 2001 Hollyoaks was always in the ratings shadow of it's older stable mate, it never had anything to match the water cooler storylines like the body under the patio. It was looked down by the critics who praised the more gritty and realistic Brookside especialy as it had given the start of the careers of 2 of the most lionised writers currently working in British television Paul Abbot and Jimmy McGovern. While Hollyoaks has been more than happy to trade on the good looks of it's cast as seen in the calenders which feature them just wearing underwear. Yet the 2 show would see differing fortunes. Brookside suffered a steep decline in popularity that saw it go from having 3 episodes a week to just 1 and in it's last few months a late night slot that saw swearing and violence in the storyline revolving around drug dealer Jack Michaelson, a character seen as a barbed reference to former C4 head man Michael Jackson seen by the producers as having run down the show in preference to property porn shows like Location, Location, Location and it ended in 2003 without any fanfare. It is worth remembering that Hollyoaks is the last UK wide purpose made soap to have lasted more than 10 years since Eastenders began in 1985. In 2014 at the British Soap Award it won the title of Best British Soap breaking the duopoly of the prize that had been held by Coronation Street and Eastenders since the awards had started in 1999. Though Hollyoaks does feature in the upper echelons of C4 ratings nowadays, the first look episode that airs on E4 after the previous episode has been shown on C4 always rates highly of the digital channels top 30. It is curious to think that a show as highly derided as Hollyoaks should outlast one as much praised as Brookside.