Soap Required

The increasingly potty-mouthed EastEnders was joined at least once last night by Coronation Street. The BBC's deal with EastEnders is that it can be as violent, gangster-ridden, drug-addled and sexually irresponsible as it likes, provided that nobody swears. That deal is no longer being adhered to. As for Corrie, it is a sign of just how far standards are slipping in this country. And I really do mean that.

If anyone thinks that this is a matter not worth bothering about, think back to when the then Prime Minister and the then Leader of the Opposition both called for "Deidre Rachid" to be released from prison.

Indeed, only in today's Northern Echo, and no doubt in comparable publications around the country, teenagers are exhorted to learn skills because, "If it wasn't for Sarah's encouragement to Jason to take over Charlie's business, he wouldn't be where he is today."

Now, I watch the soaps. I don't deny it. But the characters are not real. Have you got that? They are not real.

However, the actors and the writers are real. And soap is exactly what they need. Soap and water. To wash out their filthy mouths.