Waterloo Road is a BBC TV drama about a troubled school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. The show follows various storylines and characters over 10-episode series. This scene depicts Sam, a student at the school, in her final moments as she dies from a brain tumor, surrounded by her family and boyfriend. Her quiet, dimly-lit bedroom creates a calm setting for her passing as the scene cuts between her and others awake thinking of her.

1. TV Drama
Waterloo Road is a TV drama which is broadcasted by the BBC. It is
written and directed by various writers and directors and was created
by Ann McManus and Maureen Chadwick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q0gwBmJO3M&feature=related

2. Characters
Sam (Sambuca) – Main character in the scene.
Rose – Mum of Sam
Tom – Teacher at the school, like a step dad to Sam and her two brothers
Finn – Sam’s boyfriend
Two boys – Sam’s two younger brothers

3. Narrative
This scene does not have much of a script but when the characters do
speak, they sound quiet or sometimes even whisper. Sam is lying in bed so
she seems relaxed and comfortable but when she is speaking to Tom and
Rose she sounds very out of breath which shows she is becoming very
weak. Sam says before these scenes she wanted to find her real dad. At
the beginning of this clip she says to Tom that she thinks of him as her real
dad. This can show a sense of closure by finding the one thing she wanted
to do before she died, also it makes it seem like her life is complete.

4. Mise en scene
Waterloo Road is filmed/based in Greater Manchester
and is about a troubled school in Rochdale. Sam was
a student at the school and was seen as one of the
‘troublesome’ students. The last few scenes of this
episode are focussed on Sam. This was her last
episode on Waterloo Road as Sam had a brain
tumour and this episode shows her last moments
before she died, these were filmed in Sam’s room.
This scene shows Sam lying down with Rose and Tom with her. The scene shows she
is at her weakest moment and you can tell this was going to be her final scene.
Her room is quite dark but with a few dim lights on, which produced quite a calm and
peaceful setting, also it seems quite a comforting place to be. Her two brothers are
shown sitting outside her bedroom door as they may be too uncomfortable to go
inside, but this can show in the scene that she is surrounded by the people who love
her.
Waterloo road usually shows students in their uniform inside the school and sometimes
outside the school. In this scene Tom and Rose are dressed very casually and Sam is
in her pyjamas which can also show that Sam is tired and possibly weak.

5. Mise en Scene
Sam’s two brothers are sitting outside the door, and it is quite a dark
scene, which can show it is maybe late at night when it is quiet and
when people are usually asleep.
Finn is shown lying down in his room still awake, holding a necklace
and then he looks up as if he is thinking. The scenes before and
after this shot are about Sam, which suggests the necklace he is
wearing is linked to Sam.
The scene from Sam to her brothers and then to Finn, are blended
together so they gradually go from one to the other. This links all the
scenes together as this is what is happening whilst Sam is falling
asleep. After Finns shot, it automatically cuts back to Sam’s
bedroom where it shows she has died. This quick change of scene
could be a representation of Sam’s death as she died in her
sleep, so it would have been a quick death and she would not have
been in pain.

6. Sound
During the scenes there is very few background noises and
no sound effects included. However when it comes to
Sam’s last few words before she dies, there is a tune
playing in the background. It is just played on a piano
with no lyrics, it is played in quite a high pitch but is very
quiet and soft, giving a light, calming feeling to the
scenes. The music plays through the scenes with Sam’s
two brothers and Finn, and then back onto the scene
showing she has died. The tune finishes at the end of
the episode which fits in perfectly with her final scene
because as she has died the tune finishes as if that had
died too.

7. Industry
The BBC broadcast the show on Wednesday
nights. It is usually advertised on BBC
channels, on the BBC website and in TV
magazines. The show is broadcasted for an
average of 10 weeks, as part of one series.
Each part/series is shown every few months.
The TV drama has a different storyline each
week. At the end of every episode there is a
short clip of what to expect the next week, which
will encourage the audience to watch it
again, which can attract the same audience and
more people each week.

8. Audience
I think the programme is aimed at both genders, aged 13+.
As it is based around a ‘troublesome’ school it is likely to
attract students to see that side to a school. Each week
there is a new storyline which will keep the audience
engaged with the programme as the storyline will not be
dragged out over a period of time and will not get boring.
Waterloo Road can also attract an older audience to get
an insight of what school life can be like sometimes and
how teenagers cope with different problems. This TV
drama can show people how teenagers may respond to
a certain topic. However this can be a negative portrayal
of teenagers if it shows them dealing with a situation in a
bad way. The clip I chose was showing how a family was
dealing with the loss of a young school girl and how she
dealt/coped with with her illness.