As the number of soap episodes increases, so does the pressure on the stars. Now some are feeling the strain and are finding that soapland can be an unhealthy place to be.

BEING a soap star, like cigarettes, can damage your health. As TV executives increasingly use soaps as ammunition in the ratings war, actors are dropping like flies from exhaustion and stress as the number of weekly episodes and the workload on cast members increases.

On-going soaps like Coronation Street and EastEnders may provide regular work in an industry where 75 per cent or more of actors are unemployed at any one time, but the cost to their wellbeing can be high.

Soap icon Julie Goodyear hardly had time to upack her bags as the Street's Bet Lynch before going sick. Her much-publicised return to the cobbled streets of Weatherfield came to an abrupt halt after just a few weeks. Scriptwriters were left hastily re-writing storylines to cover her absence as she retired to bed suffering from exhaustion. Comedy actress Maureen Lipman has been recruited to play the Rovers' temporary landlady until Bet's return.

Goodyear came to the Street from a stage tour of the musical La Cage Aux Folles and was, perhaps, unprepared for the tough schedule needed to get four episodes a week of Coronation Street in the can. Much has changed since she was last a regular in the series, mainly the addition of one, sometimes two, extra episodes a week.

EastEnders has also increased to four times a week, while Emmerdale runs from Monday to Friday. Extra characters have been introduced to try to lessen the workload but, inevitably, it means more work for the regular actors. They can work a 12-hour day six days a week.

The money may be good, although only for the top end of the cast, but when do they have time to spend it? When they get home at night, they need to learn their lines for the next day, then get a few hours sleep before an early morning call. They might even go through scenes privately in their own time.

One soap actress confessed to me that she and her co-star rehearsed their scenes privately as there was no time on the set for preparation - it was lights, cameras, action without rehearsals or discussing motivation.

If a character has a major plotline, the pressure increases. That was the case with Michelle Ryan, the 18-year-old who plays Zoe Slater in EastEnders. She's been involved in many big Walford stories of the past year, including finding out her sister is her mother and fighting family disapproval of her engagement to Albert Square doctor Anthony Trueman. Zoe and Anthony's wedding has been put on hold while Ryan takes time off. She's been ordered to rest by producers concerned about her health. Doctors have told her to take things easy.

Earlier this month, her worried parents called the police when she went missing, after driving off to a well-known local suicide spot. She was upset at splitting up with her boyfriend. Earlier, she'd revealed that on-screen emotional scenes were affecting her off-screen too. "It was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. By the end, I felt totally worn out," she said. "It's not just the job, it's all the pressures of fame. It's totally mad and sometimes hard to deal with."

Paul Nicholls, who played disturbed Joe in EastEnders for two years, has spoken about the stress he suffered. He said the work schedules made him unhappy, and that he was unprepared for being thrust into the spotlight at the age of 16.

Another actor, Jeremy Sheffield, has taken a six-month break from BBC1's Holby City because of tiredness and stress. "It was getting too much. I was going insane," he said. "I've been working six days a week, between 11 and 12 hours a day, and it just got too much." Joe McGann, who appears in ITV's Night And Day, has said he was exhausted by the shooting schedule. Sometimes cast members were required to film seven days a week, often late into the evening.

Former EastEnders actor Michael Rose has just joined the cast of ITV's The Bill and told me that working on the long-running police series was harder than working on the Albert Square soap. The production has three film units operating at once, with actors moving from one to another. A normal day can start with an early morning call and not end until seven at night. There have been reports that technical staff on The Bill have been complaining about poor working conditions and long hours for which they get no pay. This follows the revamp of the series, which has seen many familiar characters axed and the series go twice weekly.

Actors know what they're getting into when they sign up for a soap. Perhaps they shouldn't complain and just be grateful for the work. But, as TV budgets get tighter, especially when advertising revenue is down, the workload can only get greater. Those playing the most high-profile characters also have to cope with the intrusion into their lives, their every move reported in the gossip columns.

Having your private life become public can add to the stress, as another EastEnder Slater sister found out. Elaine Lordan, who plays Lynne, was photographed dancing wildly outside a nightclub and was banned from a hotel for bad behaviour. Later, she became hysterical on an aeroplane. Last year, after splitting with her boyfriend of 11 years, a stressed Lordan was given three months leave of absence to sort herself out.

Of course, some soap stars should know better. With fame, come the invitations to premieres and parties. Some can't resist drinking and dancing the night away after a long day in the studio. Not a good idea if you've hard day at the office - or the TV studio - beginning early next morning.

Published: 29/06/2002