Why Emmerdale is Britain’s best soap
The once sleepy series is essential viewing, with story lines that leave its rivals in the shade, says Rachel Ward
Come seven o’clock tonight, somewhere in the region of six million people will be glued to their television sets, waiting for an ex-con, serial adulterer to fall off a balcony. Kim Tate, one of Emmerdale’s most memorable villains, returned to the village last night after 19 years, stepping out of an Aston Martin DB9 before crashing a masquerade ball, whipping off a royal blue feather mask and proclaiming herself the rightful owner of Home Farm.
Tonight, as has been heavily trailed, the party turns nasty and the blonde baddy (played by Claire King) is pushed by a mystery assailant and lands on dozens of glasses stacked on top of each other in a “champagne fountain”. Say what you like about ITV, they know how to do a soap. Often regarded as a poor relation to Eastenders and Coronation Street, Emmerdale actually gets more viewers than the former and has been beating the latter to top awards.
Average ratings are 6.4million per episode, which is more than the Christmas edition of Doctor Who
(5.7 million) and
1.7 million more than X Factor. Emmerdale
won Best Soap in 2016 and 2017 at the British Soap Awards, plus the 2017 Bafta for Best Continuing Drama.