I prefer Coronation Street, but it isn't as available around here, where the local PBS out of Syracuse ran (may still run, but I don't get it here in the boondocks) Eastenders, and I got hooked early.

Very different, but then, you'd expect that since they're mostly true to their settings. (Unlike the US soaps where whether set in Port Charles [nominally New York state] or Llanview [nominally midwest], they're all pretty homogeneous).