U42 LO1 Task 3

During this essay, I am going to critically evaluate the two radio dramas, one
being postmodern and one being traditional. The Postmodern radio drama I have
chosen is The Blind Mans Confession by Frederick Greenhalgh and the
traditional radio drama is The Archers created by Godfrey Baseley from and is
aired on Radio 4.
A traditional drama is often referred to as works of literature that were written
during the restoration period and can be based or real of fiction events. Whereas
postmodern dramas is a recent phenomenon in world theatre coming out of the
postmodern philosophy that originated in Europe; postmodern dramas emerged
as a reaction against modernist theatre and most of them are centered on
highlighting the definite truth.
The Archers is a British production is the longest running radio soap opera and
has been running since 1951 meaning it has had around 18,150 episodes. It
gains up to five million listeners and is Radio fours most listened to non - news
programme, holding a record for BBC 1. The original intention of The Archers was
to educate farmers and increase food production after World War 2 but it majorly
became a source of entertainment for urban and rural audiences and attracted
nine million listeners by 1953. Their main target audience will be based at
middle-aged family based people who still listen and enjoy radio dramas and
soaps.
The Blind Mans confession is a twelve-minute postmodern horror drama as a
young mans joyride 1 October night turns into a hell he could never imagine.
Posted on an online website final rune productions it became very popular
gaining comments on the website of how much people enjoyed it. The target
audience for Blind Mans Confession are teens, young adults and anyone that
enjoys thrillers. As the drama is intense, younger audiences will not choose to
listen to the drama; however, younger audiences will not choose to listen to The
Archers either as it is a grown up drama so younger audiences will get bored by
it.
In The Blind Mans Confession, there is one main character, the audience never
learns his name instead they follow the journey he goes on one night as it turns
into hell when things go wrong along the way and a crime is committed. The
episode itself is very dark and mysterious but works well considering most of the
episode only features one character.
The Archers, which features on BBC radio 4, is set in the fictional village of
Ambridge in the English Midlands; it is seen as an everyday story of country
folk and described as contemporary drama in a rural setting. During this
thirteen-minute episode Debbie and Brian help deliver the costumes to the dress
rehearsal and discusses the land, finances and the farm with him. Elizabeth and
Debbie discuss how Elizabeth is ready for a new relationship and people find
suspicions over Debbie and Richard leaving the pub together at the end of the
night.
The two dramas are both twelve minutes in length, which is a good length for a
drama because it is not too long for people to end up losing attention or
forgetting what happened. During the Blind Mans Confession, the length is
perfect because the story is told in enough detail but it doesnt get boring it
stays interesting throughout.
The Blind mans confession includes codes and conventions, the words used is
normal day to day language to make the post seem relatable and real and the
language that is used also enhances the fact that a story is being told and comes
across casually with a chilling feel to it too. Due to the language being casual, it
conveys a feeling of it being life like however the words suddenly turn chilling
which creates a more intense atmosphere and the audience are left feeling
ominous as to where the story is being led. A lot of sounds are used in order to
help create the story, some examples within this radio drama is the sound of the
rain falling on the car as he is driving and lightning can be heard in the
background at the beginning which sets the scene for the listeners. When he
crashes, ends up in the lake sound effects of the water gushing around him can
be heard, and the narration then becomes more muffled which is another way of
highlighting that he is now submerged in water and is struggling. It is so
important for the writer to add these things in as the listeners do not get any
visuals so they need to be able to figure out what is going on and sounds effects
really helps adds to the ambience of the drama. Some sound effects were used
in The Archers but not as many as a lot of it was conversation, footsteps can be
heard in the grass when two of the actors are walking and talking and sound
effects are also used in the scene when everyone is rehearsing for the show
featured within the drama and this helps to give more of a feel to the drama and
make it more realistic.
Characterisation is used throughout both radio dramas. The man from the blind
mans confession is from Southern America which the listeners can tell through
his accent and we know he is male from the depth of his voice. His demenour
highlights that he has come from a working class background and his is middle
class. There are more characters featured throughout the Archers and therefore
multiple characterisations are created which helps the listeners determine each
characters background due to the way they speak.
Many codes are used in The Archers; the voices created by actors within the
drama are English Countryside, which straight away sets the scene of where the
drama is set.
The speech used at the beginning of this episode is slight upper class but the
conversation at the beginning is about farming so the audience automatically
know that these current actors are not completely upper class because farming
is theyre living so it shows they are middle class which makes it easier for
everyone to relate to listening as the target audience is middle class. The Blind
mans confession uses everyday basic speech so that the viewers understand
exactly what is going on and this works really well for the listeners and stops
them getting confused. The words used in the Archers characters language is
casual which gives the listeners a lot of information and helps them to
understand where the characters are from, the words that are used are so casual
that it conveys how relaxed the characters are and helps to understand where
the characters are from in the sense that if posh language is used then the
audience can quickly pick up where the characters are from or if they use slang it
would imply that they are from a rougher area. So straight away, the audience
picks up that the first two characters of the episode live in the country because
they talk about farming and how farming is their living so it is clear of their
surroundings from the start. The speech that is used within both of the radio
dramas describe how the characters are talking and the tone of voice they use
which show whether the actors are saying a certain thing in a patronizing way or
an angry way and this is so helpful for the listeners to understand how the
characters feel.
There is constant conversation between people during this episode, which is why
there is no music in The Archers because the listeners need to be able to hear
the conversations going on between the actors and music is not needed because
it should feel life like. The only music used is at the beginning when piano music
is being played to introduce the episode and at the end when the episode has
finished. This highlights that but throughout the episode, no music is used. There
is no narration either so the audience are living through the actors and are
listening in on their conversation, which is how they are finding out the
connections between people and what, is going on during the episode or this is
why narration is not needed. This is different to The Blind Mans Confession as
there is narration which is the same main character and he changes to third
person so that he is telling his own story to help the listeners understand what is
happening; also in the blind mans confession there is not a lot of conversing
between two people as most of it is the main character telling the story so it
would be especially difficult for the listeners to understand what is going on.

The blind mans confession only includes one episode and at the end of this the
writer, Frederick Greenhalgh ends it on a slight cliffhanger to keep the listeners
guessing. The last sentence said by the main character is I already told you
more than I should, I tried to keep my side of the bargain and this gives the
impression that there was a deal between the two men however one of them
dies during the episode so the main man is talking to himself and the tone
suggests he regrets something he said. The Archers usually ends on a cliffhanger
because it is a soap and most soaps do this in order for their audience to be
intrigued as to what happens next so that the audience come back the next day
to tune in and find out and that is how the show is kept popular due to the
questions that the listeners need to find answers for. For example at the end of
this episode Debbie and Richard leave the pub together and people get
suspicious about it which makes the listeners question what will happen between
them. So both traditional and post-modern end in a cliffhanger style, which works
very well in a way to maintain listeners.

Silence is used differently within both dramas, The Archers use silence to
highlight when time has passed in order for the listeners to know when time has
passed, different characters are talking or if the setting has changed. This helps
separate out the drama successfully so that the listeners do not get confused as
to where Debbie has disappeared to or why the conversation has changed. The
silences are not too long but are long enough to create a visual pause and this
works well when listening to the drama. The silences in both dramas are created
with fade-outs, which make them more subtle instead of the episode stopping
dead whatever is happening (background music or people talking for example)
will be faded out, then the silence will continue, and this stops the episodes from
being too choppy and confusing. The Blind Mans Confession also uses the
silences to highlight the changes of time; like the archers, which continues to
move forward in time the blind mans confession goes from current time to the
future. For example at one point the man is crashing the car and it is happening
in current time and next the man is talking about how he crashed the car in 3rd
person and to enhance these swaps the creator has put in pauses to show this
which again helps to guide the listeners and to stop them getting confused.
Silences are also used in the blind mans confession to add suspense; at the
beginning no one talks all the audience can hear is lightning above which creates
an eerie mood. Then further, into the drama, the audience hear the car crash
and then there is silence, which again adds suspense and keeps the listeners
guessing.

Aural sign posting is used in The Blind Mans Confession when the main
character crashes into the lake and the listeners can hear the noise of water
everywhere just after the background noise of the car crash is heard so it means
the audience can add up what has just happened from those two noises. This is a
clever way of helping listeners understand what is going on and later on during
the episode sirens can be heard which is a clear sign that ambulances and
possible police cars are on their way to help so the viewers guess that the main
character and whoever else involved will survive or at least get help. Aural
signposting helps so much to set the scene for the listeners along with other
elements such as sounds, silence and narration as this is a vital part to get right
when creating a radio drama so that the listeners get the exact feel for what is
happening as they do not have the visuals so things could easily get confused
with listeners; the right mood needs to be set.
The mood within The Blind Mans Confession is extremely intense and
mysterious. At the beginning of the drama, there is just one character speaking
and swapping from first person to then narrating his own story in third person
and this really heightens the questions already being asked and builds suspense
because he is slowly building up his own story. Another intense section of The
Blind Mans Confession is when lightning can be heard above and nothing else is
happening which makes the listeners feel un easy about the setting and could
give them a fright. Also five minutes eleven seconds into the drama music starts
to build to really add suspense after the main character says, He tapped him on
the shoulder which keeps the listeners on the edge of their seat.
The mood set in The Archers is very different to The Blind Mans Confession as it
is a lot more positive and is uplifting and enjoyable for listeners. The piano music
at the beginning and end of the drama is uplifting and already gives the listeners
a good impression unlike The Blind Mans Confession, which starts with heavy
thunder and lightning. The Blind Mans Confession needs to have intense sounds
in order to set the mood and make it feel more mysterious which The Archers
does not need and this is how the two dramas are different from each other.

The Archers successfully use chronological development meaning as the episode

goes by the day goes by also which adds to the building of the story. During this
episode the rehearsal for Mother Goose helps to show this because at the
beginning of the episode people deliver the costumes for it and later on the
rehearsal is taking place which helps to show the listeners that we are listening
to these people go through their day to day tasks. It is common for every soap to
be created in Chronological development so this is expected in The Archers and
indeed works well. The Blind mans confession also has a chronological order as
it includes a beginning, middle and end which creates more of a story and gives
more structure to the audience especially if they are listening and dont get to
see any visuals which could make it more confusing.

Flashbacks can be very useful in radio drama if there is important information,

which needs to be included and has not been. The Archers could always use a
flashback for this reason, but the Blind Mans Confession does include a few
flashbacks one is when he goes back to the crash and begins to talk about what
has happened with the man and the agreement they made. This helps the
listeners keep up with what is going on and they can avoid getting confused.
Direct speech is when a character in the drama talks directly to the listeners.
This convention can be confused with narration as that is similar and narration is
used in The Blind Mans Confession so the two could get confused, but I wouldnt
say direct speech is used in The Blind Mans Confession because at no point do
either of the characters talk to the listeners.
Titles and credits are what appear at the end of the programme when visuals are
used but within radio the credits are read out on screen by what is known by a
continuity announcer so that listeners can know what is coming up next and who
was featured in the last programme which is useful for the listeners. We can hear
this at the beginning of The Blind Mans Confession when the creator introduces
his own work, which adds more of a personal touch because he is introducing his
own work.
Narrative structure is the structure of a story and there are two versions of this.
One structure is linnear which is when the story is created with a beginning,
middle, and end and flows straight through to create a chronological story. A non
linnear structure is when the story is told in a random order and doesnt create
much of a flow so the story may start with a flashback and then the story ends
with the same flashback telling the viewers how it happened. Both the dramas
have a linnear structure as they include flashbacks throughout but the stories are
told chronologically.
The Blind Mans Confession features a dramatic reconstruction of the car crash. A
dramatic reconstruction is when something is recreated after it has happened.
The main character of the drama talks about the scene after it has happened
when he is in the hospital as a way of re capping it and explaining to the
audience what happened.
Both of the radio drama examples are twelve minutes long. The Archers epsisode
is twelve minutes long and therefore creates enough drama to keep the audience
entertained and interested without it getting too intense too loose the listeners
attention. As there are multiple episodes on each week the listeners can continue
the stroy and a twelve minute episode is just the right length. The Blind Mans
Confession is again twelve minutes long which works perfectly with the story
being told, it keeps the listeners engaged meaning they do not get bored or
loose interest and as we already know this is a one off epsiode so everything is
resolved.
During The Archers post, the plot is developed so that it can continue into the
next epsiode but also so that there are still some questions un answered.
Whereas the plot of The Blind Mans Confession is developed a lot quicker as
there is only one epsiode dedicated towards the story and it cannot be continued
any further so a lot happens within the twelve minutes of listening to the
epsiode.