Are you a TV soap fan?!

This week, Australian soap 'Neighbours' has been very much in the news with concerns about its future following confirmation it's being axed by Channel 5.

Here in Ireland, 'Neighbours' maintains a very good following since it first graced our TV screens here in the 80s, then with the BBC, and from 2000 on, with RTE.

However, the British soaps like 'Coronation Street', 'Eastenders' and Emmerdale' are the soaps that enjoy the biggest audiences here, with large numbers tuning in night after night, almost religiously, going back decades in some cases.

But what is it about these soaps that's so appealing to so many?!

Maria McCann spoke to clinical psychotherapist Stephanie Regan and local TV and arts critic Pat McEvoy on the Deise Today programme, to get their views...