The show's adulterous storylines mirror real life

A new study says the BBC's soap EastEnders is so popular because the plotlines echo primal human behaviour.

The survey, released by New Scientist magazine on Wednesday, said the BBC One soap's issues of infidelity, deceit, rape and murder all harked back to basic animal instincts.

"The antics that keep EastEnders viewers coming back for more are the same ones that animal behaviour experts find among our evolutionary cousins," the study said.

But it also said real life was often more shocking than the soap's storylines.

"Our own survey of 18 years of EastEnders reveals that the series actually underplays many of our vices, compared with figures from British social surveys," the study said.

The study analysed plot developments in the drama and found some of its more sensational storylines were less common on Albert Square than they were in real life.

The study found the incidence of infidelity was many times higher in real life than it was in the fictional Walford Square.

Basic behaviour

It found men were more than eight times more likely to commit adultery in reality compared to the soap, with women over four times more likely to stray.

The study said such issues were popular because they stemmed back to basic human behaviour.

Males had sex with several partners to ensure they had descendants, while females chose several partners so males would compete to bring up the offspring, ensuring more resources for their babies.

Dirty Den was one of the show's most notorious strayers

Such findings also related to issues such as deceived fathers. One of the show's long-term characters, Ian Beale, had twice been deceived by pregnant partners.

The study said that up to one in 10 births may involve a deceived father, and the figure could rise even higher with DNA tests.

The study said that in two areas the soap was more far-fetched than reality - murder and rape, with 0.2% of the soap's population being murdered every year, 137 times higher than the national average.

But rape cases were much closer, with 0.30% of the population a victim of rape, and 0.35% on the show.

But the study said rape was such an under-reported crime that it too could be more common in everyday life than the show suggested.