Confined to bed and  barracks for a bit, recently, I recorded and watched the final episode of Neighbours - a soap my late mum tried never to miss. I was moved by how much I recalled of the characters and never admitting it at the time  what I must have enjoyed I felt really sad when they    played out the song for the last time. Perhaps it is an age thing but I rather like to delve into the old memory box now and then. So  I watched an old Top Gear - gosh they were so cleverly made and such fun. Er...  by the by...where did fun go?

Priscilla - I hope you are on the mend and are now feeling better.

I have never - and I'm fairly sure of that - ever watched a single episode of Neighbours, nor indeed Eastenders, Coronation Street, Crossroads, Emmerdale, Eldorado, Dallas or whatever. Nevertheless their catchy theme tunes and pervasive influence on society mean that I cannot claim complete ignorance of their existance. In the early/mid-1980s when I came home from work to a shared rented house, my flat-mates would likely be gathered around the TV just waiting for Eastenders to start (and the one that worked late shifts had already absorbed Crossroads and Emmerdale earlier in the day). Three decades later, when visiting my parents, my mother would often be watching Neighbours (if it was around midday) or awaiting Coronation Street (if it was near tea-time). My Dad however would very often be occupied with something "urgent" in the garden or his shed, but always only at critical times of the day, which I'm fairly sure this was just his strategy to avoid banal daytime TV. After Dad died and mum - now suffering increasing dementia - was in a nursing home, all these soaps were on the constantly running TVs throughout the home. So yes, although I personally have never had any interest in them at all, their signature tunes, overly-dramatic plots and cultural memes, have provided a backdrop to my life for well over half a century. (And yes I know, I'm mixing my metaphors but I'm sure you still get my drift).

when I lived in Chelmsford, we could get both London and East Anglian TV stations. Crossroads - the only soap where the acting was as wooden as the sets - was on both. One at 4:30 (ish) and the other at ?6:30. Many persons (most but not entirely all of the female persuasion) watched both, despite the fact that the storylines were about 3 months apart, until a couple of special episodes were produced to allow East Anglia to catch up with London for ?Noele Gordon's? iirc wedding. Only soap I ever watched with any regularity was "Take the High Road", mostly for the scenery.

I am sorry to hear you have been unwell, Priscilla and hope you are on the road to recovery.

I dipped in and out of Crossroads way back when.  I liked the early (1980s) episodes of Eastenders but the series became repetitive so only watch it very occasionally now.

My personal theory re soaps is "60 minute threshhold". Once the weekly broadcast time exceeds that, any pretence that the series bears any significant resemblence to reality vanishes.

GG is right too much soap just became too much soap. 
My odd nostalgia conjured up by theme tunes used with serials in fact began my young intro into classical music such as . the Seranado from The Jewels of the Madona, which was the music for a children's adventure series - long forgotten saga but not one note of the intro music. Then there was Paul Temple and that Coronation express Theme.... and all the comedy shows too. Thos were all radio, of course with more on TV  such as the Van de Valk detective series set in Amsterdam - that music became a very unlikely No 1 hit - and when they brought back the series this year they stupidly changed the tune........ no tune... and no Barry Foster, either. Currently replays of the Song of Ice and Fire theme music for a Game of Thrones now brings people out in a nostalgic rash, I read only today.

Apart from watching the odd Coronation Street with my second son for a while in the late 90s I haven't watched anything called a soap opera. I certainly know the theme song to Neighbours but am uncertain why. We do watch old series of Midsomer Murders, but other than that our viewing ranges from modern murder mysteries like Brokenwood Mysteries to old movies. At the moment we are watching Midwich something which I am not enjoying at all or really understanding. Every weeknight I watch old (and generally repeated) series of Would I Lie To You and the end of The Chase.

BBC4 Extra (radio) sometimes has, or at least it used to, re-runs of Paul Temple series.  I used to watch the Law & Order American crime series when they were broadcast.  I don't know if they could be termed soaps but they were formulaic (albeit loosely based on real crimes though they had the usual disclaimer about similarities to real people being co-incidental).  It was a while before I realised that Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order SVU was/is Jayne Mansfield's daughter.  I will plead guilty to listening to some of the music from House of The Dragon the Game of Thrones prequel.  It is very similar to the music from the original GOT.  I'm avoiding anything else pertaining to the prequel as I don't currently have access to it and don't want the story spoiled.  When my parents bought our first 14 inch TV when I was just a lass I remember a Saturday night series called The Groves and of course a bit later on a Saturday, though not a soap, Dixon of Dock Green.

Editing to add that I mean I don't want the HOD story spoiled for me individually.

I'm an avid viewer of the reruns of Poirot starring David Suchet. If I miss one I know it'll be on again in a few weeks.

I periodically meet up with a few friends from the local U3A for a lunch at one of the local hostelries (not always the same one).  Not recently, when we are not long in the aftermath of a very hot spell of weather, but some months back when the weather was cooler, one lady asked if we were wearing our vests (as in the sense of a synonym for singlet).  I'm not nostalgic for vests but I have been known to wear a teeshirt or camisole as a base layer in the colder months.  I suppose there isn't really that much difference between a cotton sleeveless teeshirt and a cotton vest but I prefer the thought of a teeshirt to that of a vest.  Doing some sleuthing on the internet it seems that string vests were invented by a Norwegian who cobbled one together out of fishnets.  "In more recent history, in 1933 a commandant in the Norwegian army Henrik Brun invented the first String vest as we know it. Repurposing two fishing nets used to catch herring, he created a garment that he predicted would trap air near to the skin and insulate the wearer. He was right."  The quote comes from an article on a website https://www.campaignforwool.org/the-power-of-the-vest/
The article shows some modern ladies' vests which are more feminine than the traditional functional ones.  I think I can vaguely remember wearing a liberty bodice when I was a little girl.  I can't remember now if I had any strong feelings about it one way or the other.  When I was a bit older I liked my "can-can petticoat" though looking back it wasn't really a practical garment - pretty though.

I use the word 'singlet' for the garment worn next to the skin and 'vest' for a garment that I wear over a shirt. This vest is sleeveless and worn in place of a cardigan or jersey on days that are not too cold. I favour them because they have pockets and I need a pocket when I walk (not very far) with my stick. There's something about having my other hand in a pocket that helps me balance.

Caro, a vest (in my experience at least but happy to be corrected if anybody has different experience) is a synonym for a singlet in the UK though I have heard the word "vest" used to mean a waistcoat in American English.  There is an exception in UK English for a high visibility garment which is sometimes called a "high viz vest".

Editing to add that I've been doing a little Spanish practice and 'vestir' means to get dressed so maybe 'vest' was apparel in general at one time.  As I say, I'll have to look at an etymological dictionary rather than think out loud (or rather in print).

Just adding that a combat vest and a bullet proof vest are obviously not worn as undershirts.  The word divest is sometimes used as a synonym for to undress.  Maybe I need to try and find an online etymological dictionary.  Priests wear vestments when they are conducting a religious service so perhaps there is a relationship between "vest" and "vestment".

Returning to nostalgia, before my TV conked out I'd sometimes watch reruns of The Bill, Father Brown, Monarch of the Glen and other series on the Drama Channel. The Bill used to be (in my opinion) a good police series but the showrunners decided to increase the number of episodes from one to two a week.  After that the series became a bit more of a soap opera (again this is my opinion).  I still watched it but wished the powers-that-be behind the show had opted for quality rather than quantity.