LO1 Task 1 TV Formats

LO1 Task 1 Written Task
Explain the difference between series, serials and single drama’s.

Series
A series has a set number of episodes and runs for one season which is broadcast once per year. The season will have a main narrative which will conclude in the last episode but the weekly episodes will have a self contained narrative which will close at the end of the episode. 
Each episode will start with the same theme tune and title sequence. It will feature the same characters and locations, so the viewer knows what to expect and can relate to the story.

The four types of series that I have chosen to write about are Coronation St, Eastenders, Friends and Waterloo Road.

Coronation Street is a British television soap opera, first aired on Granada television in 1960. This is a soap, which is a series with no end. Coronation street broadcasted originally on ITV, STV and UTV. It has been broadcasted for 52 years, 128 days. The running time of Coronation Street is 30 minutes, but 22 minutes (excluding advertisements) with occasional 60 minutes episodes, mostly on at christmas time. The first episode of Coronation St was watched by 3,501000 million homes which equates to 7,702,200 viewers. Coronation St is a realist narrative, as the daily life situations happen in a society and the community, which makes the events within an episode, realistic.

Moving onto Eastenders, this is a well-known soap opera that is watched by the majority of the nation. The soap is based in Albert Square, London. It is about real life events and the daily life of how an individual and normal families lives. Eastenders is a never ending series, when there is suspense or a character has been murdered, then the viewing figures increasingly rise. It is a popular and a well-known soap that is watched on a regular basis, near enough every day of the week. Eastenders has been aired since February 19^th 1985. The target audience is families, teenagers, adults, and older people in their 60’s. The story lines in this soap include love affairs, divorce, family situations, teenage problems, alcohol or drugs, murdering, teenage pregnancy, and many more. The number of episodes that have been broadcast are 4619 (as of 9 April 2013).

My third choice is another example of a long running series. The American sitcom Friends has been broadcast since September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. Friends is centered around the complex friendship of 6 flat mates, who all live close to each other. It involves storylines about companionship, arguments between friends, close relationships, and love. The target audience is aged between17 to 25 as the series is humorously funny and its purpose is to make the viewers and audience laugh. The number of episodes for Friends are 236 in 10 seasons. Friends is a series that you can watch with your family at home, as some of the narratives are a suitable content.

Lastly, I have chosen Waterloo Road. This series was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on the 9^th of March 2006. This series is a realist narrative because the audience can relate to a student's school life and teaching profession. The story lines include social issues such as affairs, divorce, abortion, suicide and child abuse. The series has 150 episodes in 8 seasons, as of 7^th of March. The running time of Waterloo Road is 60 minutes. The original channel it broadcasts on is BBC One for all episodes, BBC HD for series 5 and BBC One HD series 6.

Serials
A serial is typically a serialisation of a book. The adaptation is shown on national television only once. The adaptation from book to screen for example, Great Expectations is a novel written by Charles Dickens but has also been filmed for TV purposes. It was originally published in a serial format in a magasine as well. 

Great Expectations is a three part BBC television drama adaptation of the novel which was written by Charles Dickens. There are a set of 3 episodes and the adaptation was first broadcasted on British Television during the Christmas period in 2011. The novel itself was first published in serial form in Dickens weekly periodical All the Year Round, starting from the 1st of December 1860 to August 1861.

Emma 2009 is an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Emma, which was first published in 1815. Originally, the serial ran on weekly basis broadcasting on Sunday nights on BBC1 from the 4th - 25th of October 2009. This realist, linear narrative is about a woman named Emma who believes she has good matchmaking skills and repeatedly attempts to pair up her friends, she likes to meddle into people's love lives while forgetting about her own.

Revenge is an American television prime time soap opera, it debuted on September 21, 2011 and aired on Sunday nights at 9pm. The overview of this serial is about a character named Emily Van Camp who returns to the Hamptons under a new identity. She is dedicated to her charity work, in order to gain revenge and justice for the people responsible for her father's death and wrongful conviction of terrorism. The number of episodes that have been shown are 33, in 2 seasons. 

Sherlock is a British television crime drama which portrays an update about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. The number of episodes is 2 and the second serial has 6 episodes. The running time is 90 minutes and was originally aired on the 25th July 2010.

Single Drama
A single drama is a narrative programme for television. It can be called a TV film and is broadcast in one night. The running time for a single drama can be 1 to 2 hours. The narratives include topical issues and real life events.

My Murder is based on a true story. This story line is about a young vulnerable boy who fell in love with a girl that led him to his own death. Shakilus Townsend was played by John Boyega, the main character was murdered in real life in 2008 in an area called Thornton Heath, London. A 16 year old boy, was led to his death by the killing of a 15 year old girl he thought of as his loving girlfriend, in what became known as the honey trap killing. I also think that this drama had an impact on youngsters, as it was shocking and known to be a true story that happened in London. This single drama is a piece of fiction based on real life events. 

Top Boy is a British television crime that was first broadcasted on Channel 4. The content of this drama is about individuals who follow the life of drug dealing and street gangs, with anti-social behavior. The genre of this drama is Crime. The narrative is about a drugs business, which is run by Dushane (Ashley Walters) and his Friend Sully (Kane Robinson). They want to become the richest men on the block, living a rich life. Both characters go into a partnership with top don Bobby. Rivalry happens with Kamale and his gang get a money loan from Raikes. The money is stolen and they want revenge. Due to the situation, another character Ra’nell gradually gets involved into the gang and drug business, his poor mother has a break down and ends in hospital with brutal consequences. The target audience for this would be teenagers, as many of them could be going through the same life stages and are being introduced to alcohol or drugs, and street gangs. This drama may have an impact on some body’s life, due to going through the same phase.