1. Radio Dramas
A radio Drama is a dramatized performance with no video components which depends on
dialogue, music and sound effects to carry the story. For this assignment I am looking at a radio
drama called Blackwater. Blackwater was a drama series that was released in 2019. As for the
typical radio codes and conventions the dialogue and speech are being spoken in what seems
like an Irish accent this sets the scene that it is taking place in Ireland without saying that this
takes place in Ireland. The dialogue that is within this drama sounds quite natural and it flows
quite well, it doesn’t sound like they are just reading a script. I think that this radio drama has a
quite wide audience as it isn't specifically about one thing, but I do think that people who like
mysteries would be a big part of the audience. Also, I think that it is for an older audience as it
does go into some very distressing subjects.
Every time the scene changes it is represented by a piano playing to signify that the scene has
changed, this happens after the dramatic buildup of when Zoe realizes that she her dad isn’t
actually her dad but her uncle is her dad and the scene builds up in dramatic tension as the
scene starts to end the piano starts to play. Most of the sounds that are used are diegetic
sounds, it is only them talking there is not many sound effects used in this radio drama except
for the piano sound that is used to signify the change in scene. I think that this radio drama
could be further enhanced by putting in some more background noises such as cars and people
talking in the background to make the reader feel like they are there and can see what is going
on. It can be quite confusing when listening to this as it has some flashback scenes and it can be
hard to tell whether a scene is in the past or not. Also there is a lot of characters in this drama
so it can be confusing keeping all up with who is who.
This radio drama is a single narrative drama as the storyline is all about Zoe and how she was
found alive 10 years after being declared dead and her trying to figure out where she had been
throughout the last 10 years of her life.
I also listened to another radio drama Queenie, the genre of this is comedy/drama it is also a
single narrative drama as it is told by only one person and it is her story. This radio drama is
based in the UK maybe London this can be found out by the accent within this, throughout the
whole radio drama there is only one speaker doing all the characters which can stop the
audience from becoming fully immersed in the drama as it breaks the audience from thinking it
is real. A change in setting is indicated by music allowing the audience to know where she is,
also the is a lot of background sounds such as the clicking of typing on her phone at the
beginning of the radio drama and footsteps of people walking. This allows the audience to feel
fully immersed in the radio drama. I feel like the audience for this radio drama is a lot younger
than the audience for blackwater as it is about a young women's experiences in growing up so I
feel like the audience will be females in their late teens ad twenties as they can relate to the
characters more.
2. As well as looking at a Drama and a comedy drama I also looked at a soap radio drama named
The Archers, The Archers are from England which can be known by the accents they have, and
the radio drama also seems to be a multi strand narrative as it follows the stories of different
characters and it is also a linear narrative as it happens in order of the time it took place. There
is a lot of background noises within this radio drama such as at 3:58 you can hear sounds of
various animals which indicates that the setting they are at is a farm, this helps the audience a
lot as they can visualize the setting in the scene. The changing of the scene can be heard by
silence this indicates that the scene has changed so the audience can keep up with where the
characters are.
I think that the audience of The Archers would be middle ages men and women as they are the
people who are stereotypically supposed to like watching soap operas such as Emmerdale and
coronation street. The first episode that I watched ended on a cliff hanger which makes the
audience want to come back to watch the next episode. All of the radio dramas that I watched
ended on cliff hangers because they all want their audience to come back to listen to the rest of
the story.
