Task
1: DEFINE and EXPLAIN the differences between series, serials and single dramas, with
examples.
(Give up to 5 examples; how many episodes/ seasons/ audience figures?)
(Give up to 5 examples; how many episodes/ seasons/ audience figures?)
The difference between series, serial and
single drama
Series
A series is made up of sequential episodes, which make up a season. A season runs once a year and contains anything between 6-30 episodes (depending on it’s popularity). A series will have central characters, a genre and a few different narratives, which will either run throughout the episodes or conclude within one episode. Throughout the series, there may even be a story/ narrative that continues into the next series. Episodes are broadcast once a week, have the same introduction – titles and theme tune, and use the main characters in each episode. The narratives are normally linear but may use flashbacks and are normally realist (except Doctor Who which is anti realist).
Series
A series is made up of sequential episodes, which make up a season. A season runs once a year and contains anything between 6-30 episodes (depending on it’s popularity). A series will have central characters, a genre and a few different narratives, which will either run throughout the episodes or conclude within one episode. Throughout the series, there may even be a story/ narrative that continues into the next series. Episodes are broadcast once a week, have the same introduction – titles and theme tune, and use the main characters in each episode. The narratives are normally linear but may use flashbacks and are normally realist (except Doctor Who which is anti realist).
Period Drama: Downton Abbey
This popular period drama is set in Edwardian
times in Yorkshire. The fictional location is a country manor house and shows
the lives of an aristocratic family and their servants. It stars Maggie Smith
and Hugh Bonneville, who are very famous English actors. The series has won
many TV awards and is the most watched TV series on ITV.
Made in the UK - 2010 – 2013
Made in the UK - 2010 – 2013
Channel: ITV1
Seasons: 3
Episodes per season: 7 (Season 1) 8 (season 2)
8 (season 3)
Top audience rating: over 12 million
Hospital drama: Casualty
This is weekly show is the longest running
emergency medical drama on British TV. It’s based in a hospital and focuses on
the lives of the staff and patients. Families like this drama because of the
action and the emotional scenes.
Made in the UK – 1986 - 2012
Made in the UK – 1986 - 2012
Channel: BBC1
Seasons: 27
Episodes per season: 10-49
Top audience rating: over 12million
Sit-com: Citizen Khan
This comedy programme has just been
commissioned for a second series. It is
a family based situation comedy set in Sparkhill, Birmingham. There are some
funny characters with good character traits like the loud mouth dad and the
long-suffering wife.
Made in the UK - 2012
Channel: BBC1
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 6
Top audience rating: over 3 million
Sci-fi: Doctor Who
The BBC have been making this series since 1963, earlier episodes are in black
and white, amazingly they are still making them in this present time. They have
even made a TV film. They are still being made because people really like the
central character (The Doctor) and it’s one of the only SciFi drama on
television. The TV reviews of the show have been really good so the audience
figures in the new run have increased.
Made in the UK - 1963 – 1989 + 2005 - 2012
Channel: BBC1
Seasons: 26 + 8
Episodes per season: 20 – 42 + 13 - 15
Top audience rating: over 10 million
Comedy: Shameless
Shameless is set on a Manchester council estate and shows the lives of poor, dysfunctional working class people. The main character, Frank is a wasted man who is very intelligent but an alcoholic. It has won Best British Drama in 2005 at the British Academy Television Awards.
Shameless is set on a Manchester council estate and shows the lives of poor, dysfunctional working class people. The main character, Frank is a wasted man who is very intelligent but an alcoholic. It has won Best British Drama in 2005 at the British Academy Television Awards.
Made in the UK – 2004 - 2013
Channel: ITV1
Seasons: 11
Episodes per season: 7 – 22
Top audience rating: over 3 million
Serial
A serial is when a book or real event has been
turned into a TV programme. They are normally only a few episodes (between 1 –
3) and are only broadcasted on TV once. Serials reflect real life, narratives
can be fictional or real and they use the same characters and locations. The
episodes are have ‘open’ endings, storylines do not conclude in one episode,
which means that they have cliff hangers, and encourage the viewer to watch the
next episode.
The books of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and
Emily Bronte have all been serialized. There have been many versions of Charles
Dickens’s Great Expectations. These period dramas are very popular with
families and are normally shown at Christmas time when all the family are at
home, on their Christmas holiday. The books of the author Lynda La Plante have
also been serialized into a series (Prime Suspect).
Real event can also be serialized. Jimmy
McGovern wrote a story based on the Hillsborough Stadium disaster in Sheffield
and Neil Biswas wrote and directed a story about youths involved in the
Bradford riots.
Single Drama
A single drama is a ‘one off’ story for television
or a TV film. The stories are often based on real life or topical issues.
Single dramas are quite rare now, as you don’t see them much on television
anymore. They are normally broadcast on one day.
Recent examples 2012 Bafta awards:
Holy Flying Circus (BBC), 90 minute comedy film
Page Eight (BBC), 100 minute political drama film
Stolen (BBC1), 1 hour, 30 minute thriller drama
about child trafficking
My Murder (BBC), 1 hour crime drama about a real honey trap killing
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