Soap opera began airing a recap sequence at the beginning of each episode. With the exception of "Hollyoaks", soap operas in the UK also lack incidental music, although "EastEnders" would sometimes feature music that plays over an ending scene if it was dramatic, with an alternative "EastEnders" theme known as "Julia's theme". Australia has had quite a number of well-known soap operas, some of which have gained cult followings in the UK, New Zealand and other countries. The majority of Australian television soap operas are produced for early evening or evening timeslots. They usually produce two or two-and-a-half hours of new material
Soap opera Christmas Day episode of "EastEnders" is often referred to as the highest-rated UK soap opera episode ever, with 30.15 million viewers (more than half the population at the time). The figure of 30.15 million was actually a combination of the original broadcast, which had just over 19 million viewers, and the Sunday omnibus edition with 10 million viewers. The combined 30.15 million audience figure makes the aforementioned Christmas Day 1986 episode of "EastEnders" the highest-rated single-channel broadcast in the history of UK television. Overall it ranks third behind the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final (32.3 million viewers) and Princess Diana's