The arrival of new families has been in the soap-related
news recently, first with the appearance of the extended Carter family in EastEnders, then with the announcement that
Coronation Street is soon to get its
first Muslim family in the show’s history.
Traditionally, family has always been at the heart of soap
stories (and a lot of other TV drama too – the wonderful Game of Thrones is all about rival families, albeit on a larger
scale and with fancier costumes than you’ll find in most soaps) and it’s not
difficult to understand why; familial relationships provide the potential for
conflict that many other relationships don’t as they are build on the most
powerful bonds.
And conflict is the lifeblood of drama; it fuels the engine
that drives drama. Hence the reason for the central role of families and family
life in soap opera set-ups and stories.
But as we all know, it’s good to have friends. And this is
as much true in drama as it is in life. TV soap writers and producers have
understood this from the earliest days of the genre: think of Ena Sharples gossiping
with Minnie Caldwell and Martha Longhurst in the snug of the Rovers Return in
only the second episode of Coronation
Street.
For a start, where do you go when you need to talk to
someone about the problems you’re
having with your family (or your lover, or your enemy)? You go to a friend.
Everybody needs a trusted confidant, someone to spill your deep, dark thoughts
and feelings to, and soap characters are no different.
This can actually be pretty handy if you’re a soap writer
and need to let the audience in on a troubled character’s emotional turmoil; you
could have them muttering to themselves about the desire to murder a
treacherous sibling or turning to camera to do the same, but having them tell a
friend is ultimately more believable and satisfactory.
Another thing a focus on friendship offers is relief from
the very conflict that’s needed to drive stories. It’s good to be able to pull
back from the problems, arguments and strife and experience a little lightness,
warmth and humour. That’s why it’s healthy to spend time in Streetcars with Lloyd,
Steve and Eileen, now we’re fretting about Roy’s whereabouts, just like it was
good to hang out with Minty and Garry in the Arches when there was a lot of
yelling going on in the Queen Vic.
So friends can offer the promise of positivity amid the
darkness of a dramatic life; they can back you up in the midst of family
failings, like Fatboy being there for Tamwar in EastEnders just now (or Bronn being there for Tyrion in Game of Thrones for that matter) and
they can also help save you from yourself, as Bob Adams did with his hapless
pal Deek Henderson in one my episodes of BBC One Scotland’s River City, when Deek spiralled out of
control and into a dark place after the death of his mother.
But because of the very fact that characters do open up to
their friends and trust them with their innermost secrets, this can lead to the
possibility of that trust being broken. Which is great for creating dramatic
tension: we might need to unburden ourselves to a pal but what might they do
with those dark secrets in the future? Can we trust them? Will they betray us?
And what if the confidant learns something they didn’t want
to hear, that a friend has done something illegal perhaps? The moral dilemma
that this kind of situation generates is often the thing that really grabs an
audience and pulls them into the drama; we lean forward in our seats as we
experience the character’s emotional and ethical struggle for ourselves.
Perhaps one of the finest examples of this kind of moral struggle
happened when a much-loved soap character was asked to do something illegal and against her every belief and principle for
her closest friend. We surely all remember the trauma experienced by Dot when
Ethel, suffering from cancer, asked her to assist in her death. This was a
friendship so important, so solidly build on love and trust, that Dot’s steadfast
religious beliefs had to buckle under the strain of the request. And it made
great viewing.
So it’s clear that significant friendships, like family
relationships, are vital in drama, especially soap.
It’s great that the Carter family have been such a
successful addition to EastEnders; I just
hope that we see each of them develop strong bonds outside of the family over
the coming months. This has already started to an extent, with Johnny’s budding
friendship with Whitney (now all that initial confusion has been dealt with!) and
the tentative bond developing between Linda and Sharon – something that’s bound
to bring them as much strife as joy.
As the rest of Kal Nazir’s family hasn’t appeared yet, it’s
too early to say how the Coronation
Street story team will handle their friendships. But, for me, it’s a good
sign that the introduction of this new family has started not with them
arriving en masse, but with Kal and his growing bond with Dev. But who knows
where this new friendship will take the pair, especially as they have begun to
mix it with business? We can only keep watching to find out.
