Regional Identities presented in TV

drama

EnglishIn Eastenders it’s the accents that that really show

us their regional identity. Their accents are very ‘east-end’ and they use cockney rhyming slang

every now and again. The main place is ‘The Queen Victoria’ which sounds like a London pub as is has a

member of the royal family in the name and an example of slang that they use is when they call it

‘Old Vic’. The setting of the show is in a little village and meeting places like the pub could represent that they are in a London village. Here is another

video showing examples of regional identity in East enders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=d4XObqq6g6Q&feature=channel From looking at this video only We notice straight

away clear ‘cockney accents’ and slang like ‘sweet’ meaning ‘good’. When we see the station ‘Walford east station’ we know that the setting is in London. Low/middle class is shown in the market place when

they are sold a cheap camera but say that they cant afford it. Everyone’s clothes backs this up as

well.

WelshStereotypes of Welsh in TV Drama:• Often live in the countryside• Attending their sheep• Speak Gibberish (Welsh language)• Obsessed with rugby• Close to their family• Like going out

Example of a TV Drama- Gavin and Stacey

IrishStereotypes of Ireland:GingersFast talkingAccentGuinness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS1ka1j0sV0

Mrs Browns Boys uses the stereotype of the Irish to make the program funny as people can relate to it. In this clip it is

clear all the way through all the characters have a strong Irish accent, talking quickly. The two older women

also have a pint of Guinness which uses the stereotype as you wouldn’t expect

to see women of their age with a pint of Guinness.

ScottishStereotypes of Scottish in TV Drama:• Obsessed with money• Tight when spending money• Likes the outdoors• Drinks a lot of alcohol• Wears kilts• Aggressive and violent with people• Eats haggis

Example of a TV Drama- Waterloo Road

Northhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=zSlB8Gtu_ik&feature=PlayList&p=B5F132F34B3DA430&index=0 Shameless is set in Manchester (Up North). This is shown in their accents, which is a strong Manchester accent which shows us their regional identity. When we

see the women we notice that she is wearing middle class clothes and when the camera shows the drunken man outside we see that she lives in a middle class house. We begin to question the area, she's lives in, safety as when she starts to say things like ‘no there's nobody there love, go back to bed’ or ‘you can get the baseball bat if you want’ we wonder what there is that is threatening her.

She then says yes to the drunken man who has asked her to marry her at which we then question whether this is normal for a drunken man to be proposing and

she saying yes as would someone really agree to marry a man in that sort of state. Words like ‘bugger’ and ‘dick’ used to describe someone at the end of the clip shows a low class as we would never normally call someone these words, or

just shows their slang which may be normal where they are.

Southhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vTzuZk 1OHA

The Only Way Is Essex is obviously set in Essex. They are stereotyped as very image conscious as they always spend hours trying to look good

before they go out any where, unintelligent, love to shop and party. The dialogue/dialect used in the show is their slang which I some people

believes sounds a bit chavvy and annoying. ‘Shut up’ and ‘Oh my God are commonly used phrases as shown in this clip. The girls costumes are often very revealing and fashionable so they are all obviously very self confident

as they are covering up. There are The show is focused in and around clubs showing us they like to party at night.