TV Drama Conventions

Miranda

The sub-genre is a comedy drama.

Characters: Miranda is the main character throughout the epidodes, she has a controlling mother called Penny that wants her daughter to get a proper job, but even better, a husband. Gary is Miranda's love interest, and it shows that Gary would appear to quite like Miranda too, but unfortunately she always manages to make a complete fool of herself in front of him. Stevie is Miranda's childhood friend. Up-tight and businesslike, but she is usually keeping Miranda's childish acts under control. Tilly is Miranda's posh school, who often shows Miranda up by having a better job and love life. Miranda comes across to not like Tilly very much, but she still agrees to spend time with her. Lastly, is Miranda's friend Clive who is also a bar man. He is very camp and regularly manages to get himself tangled up in Miranda's life.

Stories/Narratives: Each episode has a different story line therefore it is a serial made up of mini series. Episodes of Miranda will never be the same, they will always have a completly different plot/narrative throughout them. This means it won't have any cliffhangers or linking programmes during most episodes.

Familiar settings: Miranda is usually set in Gary's restaurant, Miranda's joke shop or Miranda's apartment. But on some occasions it is set in other locations such as the park or in a club. These are all in farmiliar settings to make the audience connect with the show more and to give a feel to Miranda and her life. The audience are seeing and experiencing things through Miranda's perspective.

Dialogue: The dialogue in this TV drama is mainly proper English with the occasional mild language. Miranda is a very high educated lady, therefore the level of dialogue is very intellectual yet grounded and easily understood.

Music: The music follows a quick scene of Miranda's recent events. The music has a fast beat and a quick, happy tune. The tune is somewhat hectic, reflecting the show itself. As it's very up tempo and fast it presents the feeling that the episodes will have a similar feeling to it, such as a frantic, rushing narrative.