How to Write a Radio Serial Drama for Social Development- PDF

Chapter Three: Characteristics of Radio Serial Drama 39
The Multi-Plot Nature of a Serial
The serial is the drama format that most reflects real life, because it
“constructs the feeling that the lives of the characters go on during our
absence” (Ang, 1985). Serial drama, therefore, can be most effective as a
means of reaching and affecting a wide audience with a story that has all the
appearances of reality, while being fiction. The versatility of the serial lies in
its multi-plot structure. Several stories are woven together: a central story
(the main plot) and several additional stories (sub-plots). A serial that runs
for 52 episodes typically has three or four sub-plots accompanying the main
plot. Each plot has its own characters and its own dramatic conflict, climax,
and resolution, but all the plots are interrelated in some way. Frequently, a
serial, like a series, has a central uniting character who connects the various
plots without having a strong, separate plot of his or her own. (Further
information on the central uniting character is contained in Chapter 5.)
The following plot treatment, of a serial entitled Too Late, Too Bad,
includes a main plot and three sub-plots. The treatment shows how each
of the plots is separate, yet connected with all the others, and how the
central uniting character, Dr. Peter Moss, helps tie the plots together.
The treatment also shows how the message is brought in as part of the
lives of the various characters; it is not the central or only event of
importance to them.
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