What is a Radio Drama?

1. What is a Radio Drama?

2. What is a Radio Drama? • A drama is not a documentary • Documentary: a film or television or radio programme that provides a factual report on a particular subject • Drama: an exciting, emotional, or unexpected event or circumstance • A true story can be dramatized

3. What Does a Radio Drama Use? • Radio dramas use: actors, sound effects, music and silence • However, there is no visual at all • This means sound effects are essential to a radio drama

4. Why Do Radio Dramas Use This? • These features are used to set a scene • By using certain sound effects, the audience can visualize where the characters are • Sound effects, music and silence are used to draw scenes to a close • Sound effects are usually added in the edit, but some are played live • Overuse sound effects, and the • audience will get bored • Underuse them, and the audience • may become confused

5. Jobs in Radio Dramas • Many jobs are involved in making radio dramas • Obviously, sound effects and voice actors are needed • Some of the technical staff involved includes: script writers, editors, directors, technical operators, studio managers, producers and production assistants • That’s not even all of the technical jobs

6. What Stations Broadcast Dramas? • Radio dramas are very expensive to produce • This means only non-commercial stations or chat shows broadcast radio dramas • Some of these stations include BBC Radio 4, BBC Asian Network and BBC Radio 3 • This shows how only big stations can broadcast dramas due to the financial cost.

7. Radio Drama Genres and Styles • Like any other show, radio dramas have genres • They can be any genre including: comedy, soap opera, thriller, horror or any other genre • It is not limited because • it’s on radio • They are either a single • episode, a series or a • serial • They even have their own • audiences like any other • drama

8. Techniques in Radio Dramas • Radio dramas focus heavily on sound • “Radio is theatre of the mind” • A genre will effect the sound used to set the scene • Sounds will be used to set the scene in the listeners mind, and what is happening in that scene • Genre will even effect the • accent of a character

9. The Archers • The Archers is the longest running soap opera in the entire country • It is broadcast from Sunday to Friday at 1:20pm and at 7pm on BBC Radio 4 • The Archers is regarded as the radio version of Eastenders • The timing helps The Archers reach their targeted audience • The Archers is set in the fictional village called Ambridge • Like any other soap opera, the show focuses around the lives of the villages families and their everyday life • Shedtown actors need to be serious, there will be less sound effects, but they will be very specific • The Archers uses silence to end a scene, with the theme song starting and ending the show • The Archers suits it’s audience perfectly as it is designed for Radio 4’s audience, broadcast at the right time and suits the station perfectly

10. Shedtown • Shedtown is a mini series which just completed its third season • The series is aired on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesdays at 11pm • Shedtown is an absurdist comedic radio drama aimed at a middle aged audience • At it’s broadcast time, the BBC Radio 4 audience would most probably be in bed, so it is unlikely that they would be affected by the broadcast of this show • The show was set on a pier in the middle of the ocean where the cast was greeted by two very mysterious people.  The plot followed the main characters learning important life lessons about themselves, until they eventually returned home in the series finale • As a comedy, there was a large usage of a variety of sound effects, which were used to create humour, and set the scene • Shedtown uses silence and the theme song to separate scenes, as well as a narrator • The audience for Shedtown is not the audience for Radio 4.  Although it is broadcast at a time where it’s target audience may listen, it is not on the right station

11. War of the Worlds • The original broadcast on radio in 1938, October 30th on CBS Radio • It was produced by Orson Welles, which was adapted from the book written in 1898 • During the original broadcast people actually believed the drama was real, so believed the USA was being invaded by aliens • Introduced by a continuity announcer, so people would know it’s a drama • The music was continuously interrupted by emergency news updates following explosions on Mars • This escalated until the Aliens launched a full attack on the US, dying off after they all caught the common cold • Orson Welles ends his broadcast by returning to his own character and informing everyone that the Martian invasion was fake • The radio broadcast returns to normal

12. Radio Drama vs Radio Reading • Radio drama is fiction – it may be based on facts but it is fiction • Radio dramas can be anything, using sound effects and actors • Radio readings are just sections taken from a book and read out on air with no sound effects • No actors are used in radio readings • BBC 4: “Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history”

13. Radio Drama: A Conclusion • Radio is theatre of the mind • More thought must go into the presentation of a radio drama to the audience • As there will be no visuals to assist listeners, if they get confused they will be lost completely • Radio dramas are a lot harder to produce than a TV drama, and are a lot less appreciated • The issue is there is no • audience for radio dramas • Radio dramas are an • untapped gem in our society