Soap opera
![Publicity photo of Rosemary Prinz as Penny Hughes from As the World Turns.](/Images/godic/202502/11/Rosemary_prinz_as_the_world_turns2845.JPG")
![A scene from EastEnders on Christmas Day 1986, watched by 30.15 million viewers. The story, in which Den Watts served his wife Angie with divorce papers, was the highest-rated soap episode in British history, and the highest-rated program in the UK during the 1980s.](/Images/godic/202502/11/Den_Ange_Divorce2845.jpg")
![Leah Thys, actress in the Belgian soap Thuis. At the back Peter Rouffaer is visible.](/Images/godic/202502/11/Leah_Thys_thuisdag2845.jpg")
A soap opera, soapie, or soap is a serial drama on television or radio which features related story lines about the lives of many characters. The stories usually focus on emotional relationships to the point of melodrama. The term soap opera originated from such dramas being typically sponsored by soap manufacturers in the past.