How boozy is your favourite soap opera?

If we were to ask you which of Britain’s popular soaps shows the most boozing in it; what would you say? Would it be Eastenders with the domestic dramas that regularly reach their climax in the Queen Vic? Or would it be Coronation Street with the many tears that get spilt over a pint of bitter in the Rovers Return? You might be surprised to hear that Britain’s most boozy soap is in fact (cascading drum roll)….Emmerdale.

That’s right, ITV’s second most famous soap, Emmerdale tops the tipple tally with a whopping average of eight drinks consumed per episode. This is in comparison with a slightly less boozy Eastenders and Coronation Street that tie on an average of seven drinks per show. And for anyone who thought students were heavy drinkers, the Hollyoaks cast consumed a more respectable four drinks per show.

So how did we go about finding this out? We commissioned the research company, Kantar Media Precis to watch six weeks’ of Britain’s four top soaps to explore how frequently alcohol is shown or mentioned and more importantly how it’s portrayed to viewers.

The reality of alcohol in soaps

As a result of this epic soap viewing marathon, we found that over a third (38%) of soap air time features verbal or visual mentions of alcohol, but the negative consequences of drinking to excess were rarely shown. Out of the 162 instances of characters drinking more than the government's daily unit guidelines in one episode (3-4 alcohol units for men 2-3 units for women) during the six week monitoring period, only 1.5% of alcohol scenes portrayed hangovers and less than 1% depicted either alcohol-related sickness, crime or anti-social behaviour.

So in answer to our big question; are our favourite soaps providing a realistic portrayal of alcohol? Yes and no. Our research showed that while they regularly show their characters drinking alcohol as an aid to socialising or celebration, or to relieve stress as people might do in real life; the harmful effects of excessive drinking are generally only associated with extreme storylines around alcoholism. What alcohol can do to people’s relationships, wellbeing and other aspects of everyday life is largely absent.

Fixing the holes in the plot

Rather than being a fluffy piece of pub trivia, this research backs up Drinkaware’s concerns about soaps perpetuating a false and potentially damaging view of alcohol. We’re concerned that little or no representation of the everyday effects of excessive drinking may create a view amongst millions of under 18s that regularly drinking above the recommended guidelines doesn’t have negative consequences, such as the short and long term health conditions associated with alcohol.  

In an effort to help to make the great British soaps even more realistic, we’re meeting with TV producers and are offering our recommendations to help soaps better depict the risks associated with alcohol.

5 facts and stats from the research

Over the six week monitoring period we found that:

• a total of 836 drinks (equivalent to more than 3000 units of alcohol) were consumed across the four soaps, including 188 pints of beer, 286 glasses of wine and champagne and 84 servings of spirits.
• Emmerdale’s Chastity Dingle was the soap character with the most interactions with alcohol while Lewis Daley from Eastenders had the least.
• beer was the most prominent alcoholic drink in Coronation Street, Eastenders and Emmerdale, while white wine and champagne were the most represented drinks in Hollyoaks.
• nearly one fifth of soap coverage (17%) features ‘active’ depictions of alcohol consumption, where a character is drinking, buying or accepting an alcoholic drink.
• a total of 383 scenes featured alcohol consumption. Only 12 scenes featured someone with or discussing a hangover.

Read the full research report for more facts and stats on alcohol and soaps.

Next time you watch a soap…

Why not try tracking your favourite character’s drinking using our online unit calculator to see if they drink more than the daily unit guidelines in one episode. It might surprise you how much over they go.

Page last updated by

Unknown, 10 May 2012.

Page checked on

07 Dec 2010