P1 - TV Drama Case Studies

TV DRAMA CASE STUDIES

Typical conventions of a TV drama:

- narrative

- dialogue, sound and music

- characters

- sets and setting

- camerawork

Case Study 1: Fleabag

Fleabag is a 2 season comedy drama launched in 2016, made by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. It was based off her one woman show first performed in 2013. It is characterised by the protagonist, fleabag, regularly breaking the fourth wall with the audience. It was made in a co-production agreement between BBC3 and Amazon Studios and originally produced by Two Brothers Pictures. 

Personal Relationships:

Throughout the show we see how Fleabag maintains her relationships with other characters. Her relationship with Claire, her sister, is arguably the biggest relationship in the whole show. Throughout the show we see the ups and downs of her relationship with her sister, especially with them both also having a strained relationship wit their father after their mothers death. We can then compare this familial relationship with our own and see if we are similar to the characters or not. Her relationship with men is also a pig plotline in the show, especially with The Priest. We see her struggles with men in the first season and then her relationship with The Priest in the second season. These unperfect and unconventional relationships Fleabag has may be something people can relate to, and compare to their own (especially with the focus on Fleabag rejecting anyone who tries to help her).

Because Fleabag is a very popular show, people may watch it to enhance their personal relationships with other people. If people watch it, they can talk to their friends/family about it and create a deeper relationship with them as well as making them feel like they're part of a community.

Surveillance:

People may also watch the show to simply be educated on how other people live their lives. This show focuses on lots of different themes like feminism, grief, mental issues etc. People who don't experience or go through any of these things may watch the show just to see other people going through those things and gaining an insight on how that person deals with them. 

Personal Identity:

People may also identify with the characters on screen. Fleabag goes through a lot of things during the two seasons. Her issues with loss and grief is a big thing; she loses her mother, her best friend, and later on The Priest leaves her. This grief and loss and feeling of being alone is something people can probably relate to. The feeling of guilt and anger she has are represented so realistically that people can probably somewhat relate to these. Because we see so deeply into the protagonists thoughts and emotions through her breaking the fourth wall, the audience can understand and maybe relate to the character as she seems more like a flawed, realistic person compared to other shows which may present an idealistic view of a protagonist. This means that people can see properly how she deals with all her struggles and emotions, not just her response to other peoples behaviours. They may be able to understand how to deal with their own relationships. 

Escapism:

Fleabag being a comedic drama drama is something that really enhances the escapism of the viewer. It allows the show to cover tough topics in a way that the younger audience can understand and take light of. It means they can look to escape into the situation on screen that is being treated in a much lighter way than maybe what they can relate to. It also makes it more entertaining for the viewers. The fact that fleabag regularly breaks the fourth wall into her own personal dialogue with the camera is also extremely entertaining as this is something that people probably haven't seen in many other shows.

Case Study 1: Normal People

Normal People is an Irish psychological romance drama limited series released in 2020, based off the 2018 book Normal People by Sally Rooney. It was produced by Elements pictures for BBC3 and Hulu in association with Screen Ireland. This show stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal as their protagonists navigate their away around growing up in Ireland and dealing with their complex relationship. 

Personal Relationships:

The series focuses on the relationship between the protagonists Marianne and Connell. Marianne and Connell's relationship is very complex and very psychological. The story spans across a few years in all different areas of their lives. Their relationship seems to be ultimately affected by everything and everyone else, we only actually see them happy together for a very short space of time. They are both very lonely characters, with Connell suffering from depression in College and Marianne having friendship troubles in school and going through multiple abusive relationships. Both these protagonists being so complex and in a relationship creates lots of difficult storylines. People viewing the show will be able to compare this relationship to their own, especially as these characters will be the same age as lots of the audience watching. As mentioned, the protagonists also have complicated relationships with other characters. Both Connell and Marianne have difficult relationships with their friends at some point in the show, as well as family relationships and we also see Marianne dealing with abusive relationships throughout. The audience will be able to watch all these different relationships play out throughout the show and compare it to their own personal experiences. The show being a book adaptation has created a big community around it. The show has become incredibly popular, being nominated for multiple Emmys. This means that when people watch it they can most likely talk to other people about it and create deeper relationships with them.

Surveillance:

By watching the show the audience will be able to gain an insight to how other people live. Especially with the show being set in Ireland, an English audience - for example - will get an insight to this community and will start to be educated about it. Because the show deals with a lot of heavy and serious topics, even if the audience cant relate to them they will still be able to be educated about. The show revolves a lot around the main characters being in school/university - the audience will be able to watch them go through it and maybe be educated on the things they go through or even just watch them go through a different experiences to what they might have had.

Personal Identity:

Connell deals with depression when he is in University, we see his struggles with this. The audience may be able to relate to feelings like this and may learn how to deal with them better. The whole relationship with Connell and Marianne is very complex, with them struggling with different issues throughout the series. Lots of the audience, especially at the age category of 16-34, can probably relate or understand their experiences. They are both presented as very realistic characters with very realistic experiences relevant to the age category, which is really great to help this age category learn how to deal with and navigate through them. Marianne is shown to go through abusive relationships with her family, and is shown to force herself in uncomfortable situations throughout the show to try to deal with her loneliness and struggles. People might see her going through these situations and feel like they can relate to someone. Especially because they may have no one to turn to, her experiences can help them to deal with their own.

Escapism:

Because the story is based off a book, lots of the audience simply watch to just escape into a world they had created in their head. Other viewers often scape into the show through the interesting narrative. Even the show having interesting setting and visual (for example one storyline being set in Italy) also draws the audience in - who probably live in the United Kingdom.