2. Summary & Genre
The radio drama is an original creation, focusing on a military
operation in Afghanistan.
The general story summary is as follows: A military convoy is
ambushed on patrol and taken captive. As a rescue mission
and news report takes place, they too get captured. Episode
1 ends with bullets flying towards a news reporter.
The genre of the radio drama will be Mockumentary/Drama,
using fictional news reports in a real-life format to make it
seem real.
3. Target audience
The primary audience for my radio drama is
males aged between 17 and 25, in socio-economic
grouping D and E.
These are people who are probably still in education or
a part-time job, and have interest in military and action
storylines in various media forms like films, TV shows
or video games.
4. Character Profiles
Narrator - The Narrator is the person who takes us through
all of the official stories, and links the news reports together
to make the story cohesive.
Sgt. Wallcroft - Sgt Wallcroft is an SAS survivor of the siege,
and gives his point of view of what happened that day
through an interview with the narrator.
News Anchors 1, 2 and 3 - These people give us exposition
dialogue, and tell us exactly what is happening and what the
world knew at the time. They make up the majority of the
dialogue.
5. Character Profiles (cont.)
John Ramirez - This brave reporter is standing where
the previous men were ambushed and captured, and
whilst giving a news report, is ambushed and captured
himself along with another group of soldiers (SAS).
The captured soldiers - These men were on a routine
patrol when their convoy was ambushed and overrun
by terrorists in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.
6. Casting
Radio is much cheaper to produce and quicker to make
than audiovisual productions like TV shows, so it is more
viable and realistic to go for larger actors for my
production, and they will also be more inclined to accept
since it is an official BBC production. Here is my following
possible cast list:
Narrator: Patrick Stewart
Sgt. Wallcroft: Craig Fairbrass
Newsreaders: (Real BBC News anchors) Bill Turnbull, Fiona
Bruce, Charlie Stayt
John Ramirez: Daniel Radcliffe
The captured soldiers: Extras
7. Schedule information
This radio drama will be an episodic story taking place
over three 40-minute evening broadcasts.
It is a 'mockumentary', and will be broadcast on Radio
4 Extra on a Friday Evening (7pm) 3 weeks in a row.
It will also be available on-demand on BBC iPlayer, and
digital download (iTunes, Google Play)
8. Release Date
The release date for this radio drama will be
September 9th 2016. This means that people have just
finished their last work day of the week having just
returned after summer, and spend their Friday night
listening to the radio show in the background.