One of the consistent elements in the creation of British TV soaps has been the desire to represent the way of life in a particular location. Coronation Street was first conceived by a 24 year old Tony Warren in a daydream on a train back to Manchester when he imagined “a little back street in Salford, with a pub at one end and a shop at the other”. In the pitch document for what was then called Florizel Street, he wanted the show to reflect the myriad of unwritten rules that “are the driving forces behind life in the working class street in the north of England.” The lexicon of “chuck”, “by ‘eck” and “nowt” were heard on British television screens for the first time.
A quarter of a century later, the BBC launched EastEnders, a gritty Southern rival to the Manchester-based soap. Set in the fictional London borough of Walford (E20) and based on Fassett Square in Dalston, this show was groundbreaking in terms of representing the diverse ethnicity found in East London. EastEnders opened with Jewish, black, Bangladeshi and Cypriot characters as regular cast members, changing the television landscape.
Hoxton Hall’s new live soap drama, titled Hoxton Street, has promised to reflect the vibrancy of local communities right on their doorstep. Writers Oladipo Agboluaje and Lil Warren spent time in the neighbourhood trying to get the essence of the place. Whether a unique sense of place is delivered, “Episode 1” certainly peppers the script with many local references that the Hoxton community will immediately recognise.
Successful soap operas tend towards a certain recipe, mixing the lighthearted with the life changing, the everyday with the clanestine. And Hoxton Street is no exception. Soap fans will nod knowingly at some familiar tropes. A prodigal son returning to the Street to ruffle some feathers. A family matriarch keeping a worrying health diagnosis secret. Someone with a new identity and a concealed past. Even in its first half-hour episode, Hoxton Street spins enough intriguing plots to match the telly soaps.
Given that all soaps rise and fall on the quality of their regulars, where Hoxton Street succeeds is in the buoyancy of its cast.