Radio Drama

Radio dramas

There is a lot of different radio genres and these all follow codes and conventions to make it fit into the category (genre) of radio drama for example the codes maybe speech and dialogue an example could be that in a sitcom radio drama they would use natural dialogue so that they can make it funny as it is just joke after joke when in reality nobody talks like that to others as it just wouldn’t make sense. Also other codes include Music, sounds and silence these are all effective codes in radio drama. The conventions that are in radio dramas that are important are things such as cliff hanger endings and mood music and many more different things along with it. The cliff hanger gives the audience eager to find out more about what happens next in the story.



Washington Irving – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Horror)

This radio drama falls under the category of a horror radio drama miniseries with three episodes to it. Because it’s in the horror genre it means that they have used expository speech which allows it to create the mood it needs to for that genre making the audience feel tense and nervous while listening to it. Fades in and out have been used within the episode as well as it allows you to realize that they have either moved location or it is the next day in the story. Accompanying this there is also music played in the background which helps to set the eerier tone which is needed during the short episodes as it yet again solidifies that this is set in the horror genre. Whistling is in this episode also as the man approaches the tree and starts to whilst you can clearly hear this and it’s called diegetic sound as it’s something that you could hear if you were there. There is also fades within this episode which signify how they are changing scenes or changing the day. It also follows a linear narrative which means that it allows the listener to listen to it in piece and not get lost in the story line while doing it. A convention that this radio drama has is that it has intro music before it stars which is very common within radio dramas. To accompany this, it also has signature music that can be heard throughout the episodes of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It also follows a linear narrative in the story as it all unfolds in order. The audience that this would be aimed at would be the more mature audience as scary stories are not suitable for the children.



EastEnders the podcast

This radio drama unlike Legend of Sleepy Hollow falls under the category of drama whereas Sleepy Hollow was a horror. Using natural dialogue, it allows the viewer to forget that its all made up as they sound like they are just going about normal life. Dramatic music is also used within the drama as when it seems to get intense it starts to play in the background behind the dialogue that’s getting said in the scene. There is a great big use of diegetic sound that gets used in this radio drama as there is a lot of action that is going on in the scenes as there is a lot of violence to stuff getting broken and hit is all able to hear. Fades in and out also are used to show how a flashback has started in the old man’s head. When the drama starts, they use a signature EastEnders tune which is a convention of radio drama. It follows a linear narrative as you follow the story all the way through and you are clearly able to know what is going on in the story. The audience for this radio drama is also for the older generation because of how serious the story is and how it might not be suitable for people who are younger.