Narrative in TV Drama

Narrative in TV Drama
Conventions of a complete narrative

A couple wake up and go downstairs. They do not realise that they are being watched by terrorist. The dog starts to bark angrily at the front door, but the couple tell it off and lock him in a different room. The man takes out the rubbish and gets hit by the terrorists, and falls unconscious. The woman hears the noise and goes outside, only to be grabbed by the terrorists and shoved in the back of the car. The man wakes up and jumps in his car behind the terrorist and chases them, this car chase leads to a car crash and the terrorist car flips over and catches on fire. The woman is trapped in the boot of the ablaze car, but is recued just in time by her husband and the emergency services before the car blows up.

Most stories end happily because it rounds off the story well, and fill people’s expectations. People like the fill good ending because people use TV as a form of escape so they don’t want anything depressing.

The beginning of Spooks feels like the beginning because everything begins in equilibrium, a couple waking up for work and having breakfast, an everyday morning that everyone can relate to. But there is a disruption which is the terrorists which can be expected of a beginning of a narrative. This is the standard beginning because it is something exciting to hook the audience in. The binary opposites are the obvious good and bad & victims and villains in the form of the couple and the terrorists and normality and disruption.

Single Drama/film: Margeret
Todorov's narrative structure, equilibrium – disruption – equilibrium during every episode/film.

Two nighter: Trial & Retribution
These also have the same narrative pattern of Todorovs equilibrium – disruption – equilibrium but it is spread across two episodes, therefore there is usually a cliffhanger at the end of the first episode keeping the audience intrigued and hooked on to it so they want to watch the next one to see what happens.

Soap: Eastenders
Soaps don't really start with equilibrium because it is on going and a lot of storylines don't end happily, or take weeks to resolve. The binary opposites are always there with more being introduced as different storylines develop and different characters come and go.

Serial: Bleak House
Serials are similar to soaps as they go on for a long time. Sometimes the equilibrium comes at the end of the series, but sometimes it is left on a cliff-hanger so that people want to watch the next series .

Anthology Series: Skins
This uses Todorov’s narrative pattern equilibrium – disruption – equilibrium within each episode. There are also ongoing storylines that run underneath the weekly ones which often get resolved in the last episode.

Long – form Series Drama: Lost
The same as an anthology series because there is usually an underlying narrative which carries on throughout the series, as well as storylines that are resolved by the end of the episode . The binary opposites are introduced as the storylines unfold more and more.

Long – Form Series Drama with Some Narrative Experimentation: 24
Once more there is a narrative pattern which is spread out across the series, with equilibrium being restored at the end. There are also smaller disruptions throughout the series which are usually resolved in that episode. The binary opposites are mostly introduced at the start.