The moment EastEnders’ Kat Slater revealed she was Zoe’s mum was today voted the greatest soap scene ever.
Screened in 2002, the emotional exchange between Kat – played by Jessie Wallace – and Zoe outside the Old Vic sent shockwaves through the audience.
Runner-up in the poll was another EastEnders moment – the death of infamous Dirty Den in 2005 featuring his haunting last words, ‘You’ll never get me out of the Vic!’.
The devastating 2010 Coronation Street tram crash, which peaked at 15.9 million viewers, came third in the list of 20 top soap moments.
Twisted Richard Hillman’s attempt to drown Gail Platt and step-children Sarah-Louise and David and step-granddaughter Bethany also made the list.
Deirdre Barlow being jailed for fraud saw Coronation Street take three of the top five viewers’ favourites.
The research commissioned by TalkTalk TV looked at the evolution of TV watching in Britain’s living rooms.
The study also found two thirds of us have missed the original airing of a crucial moment in TV history.
Soap legend Julie Goodyear MBE, best known for playing landlady Bet Lynch in long-running soap Coronation Street, said: ”How we watch TV has changed dramatically since I first started on Coronation Street; people would ignore the telephone while major programmes were on for fear of missing out.
”Now, we can catch-up on all sports, soaps and series in our own time and even pause and rewind live TV.
”For big TV moments like the World Cup, people miss out on the live action by being stuck at work.
”Catch-up changes all this and enables us to watch anything we’ve missed, whenever we want.”
The study also found gone are the days when we’d move our routine around a favourite soap or move heaven and earth to catch a sporting event.
The figures show three quarters of us have since switched to watching our favourite shows on catch-up TV at a time that suits us.
Top reasons for recording shows include two programmes clashing, an inconvenient air-time and the fact we’re often at work when our favourite shows are on.
And 66 per cent now choose to watch later at night and 39 per cent save up their favourite shows and series until the weekend.
Missing key moments no longer holds dread for the average viewer – the main interruptions voted as ringing telephones, someone at the door and toilet breaks no longer cause frustration with the ability to pause and rewind.
* To help football fans get all the action in today’s first Quarter Finals, Bet Lynch will be pouring pints with TalkTalk TV at a once-in-a-tournament catch-up pub, delaying kick-off so fans can watch in their own time as if it were live.
TOP SOAP MOMENTS
1. Kat Slater revealing she was Zoe Slater’s mum and not sister – EastEnders
2. Murder of Dirty Den – EastEnders
3. The 2010 tram crash – Coronation Street
4. Richard Hillman’s attempt to drown the Platts- Coronation Street
5. Deirdre being jailed for fraud- Coronation Street
6. Ronnie swapping her baby with Kat’s- EastEnders
7. The plane crash in 1995 – Emmerdale
8. Little Mo’s domestic abuse- EastEnders
9. Phil Mitchell got shot- EastEnders
10. Richard Hillman driving his car into a canal (Coronation Street, 2003)
11. Janine killing Barry- EastEnders
12. Sarah Lou’s teen pregnancy- Coronation Street
13. Max Branning’s affair with Stacey Slater- EastEnders
14. EastEnders’, Tiffany is run over and killed, December 1998
15. ‘Dirty’ Den Watts in a canal-side shooting that turned out to be faked (EastEnders, 1989)
16. Trevor Jordache’s body being found- Brookside
17. Trevor Jordache killed and buried under the patio (Brookside, 1993)
18. Coronation Street’, Mike Baldwin dies, April 2006
19. Mike Baldwin collapsing in the road and dying in Ken Barlow arms (Coronation Street, 2006)
20. Pauline Fowlers death- EastEnders
