My Own Soap/Drama (Please Read!)

Apologies for jumping on the bandwagon regarding new ideas for a soap/drama but this is something I felt that needed a thread of it's own.

This is something I’ve been working on for a year and a half. It’s not necessarily a soap as I’ve only written eight episodes/scripts as I’ve only intended it to be a season of eight episodes but I could extend it in the future.

The series would be called NorthView (homage to EastEnders by capitalising the second E) and would be set in Salford in a typical backstreet. It wouldn’t be copying Coronation Street, but I have used elements particularly from the early 1960’s episodes, for example the trio and friendship of Ena Sharples, Minnie Caldwell and Martha Longhurst (who I love!). This type of friendship group seems to be lacking in soaps of today, and in my opinion can provide rich characterisation, comedy and drama.

I have included typical issues of the day (or what we would expect to find in soaps of today) like alcoholism, homosexuality, infidelity, suicide, death and sexual assault. These features would not just be totally used for plot devices but to aid the characterisation of the people involved in the stories.

And to aid the characterisation, the fictional setting would include 10 houses, a cafe, a shop and a pub all on two different street sides; a bit like Coronation Street is now with the terraces on one side and the businesses on the other (I know realistically a pub, shop and cafe wouldn’t be located in one vicinity but it helps in terms of character-driven stories)

Please read this (it is a lengthy read!) and share your thoughts and opinions. I don’t mind any criticism as I can take your criticism’s on board and use them to change certain aspects that may prove unpopular or aspects that may not work.

Now to move onto the 24 characters...
I have also included the potential actor/actress who would play the roles and what they have starred in.

Angie Carpenter, played by Joanne Froggatt (Anna in Downton Abbey)
Angie is 33, attractive, caring and has a huge personality. She co-owns and runs the pub The Buccaneer along with her husband James Carpenter. Inevitably, this proves her downfall as she depends on alcohol a lot which doesn’t help matters as she runs the pub! Alcoholism would be Angie’s main story which would be explored and how Angie deals with it.

James Carpenter, played by William Ash (Chris Mead in Waterloo Road)
James is 33, same age as his wife Angie. He is very friendly and gets on with everyone. He’s basically the archetypal male character in a soap. He co-owns and runs the pub with Angie. As with any soap the couple’s marriage is flawed. He has been having an affair with Maria Pullman for some time, and to put his character into context, he’s just an ordinary bloke who is in a ridiculous situation. Who would he stay with? Angie or Maria? This would be James’ main story and further on, we would see how it would play out.

Raquel Burton, played by Maureen Lipman (Irene Spencer in Ladies of Letters)
Raquel is 65, and is the mother of Angie Carpenter and Sue Swann. She can be interfering and quite often with delusions of grandeur (think of Annie Walker in the early days of Corrie!) She is deeply supportive of her family, especially with her grandson Jamie Swann who is coming to terms with his sexuality, and of her daughter Sue.

Sue Swann, played by Natalie Casey (Donna in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps)
Sue is 36 and is a mess. Whilst her sister Angie is confident and outgoing Sue is clinging on to past happiness with her one true love Paul Holt who is in a relationship with Katy Dean (who Sue loathes and vice versa). She has a daughter and a son – Cheryl Swann and Jamie Swann and is estranged from her husband Mike Swann. What would be heavily explored throughout the series is the relationship between Sue and Paul as we find out that Paul is Jamie’s father and only Sue knows.

Jamie Swann, played by Christian Cooke (Dorian in Trinity)
Jamie is the son of Sue Swann and Mike Swann and brother of Cheryl Swann. He is 20 and is extremely confident, good-looking. His main secret is that he is gay and is in a secret relationship with Nick Howard. It takes a lot for the pair to come out and be comfortable within their sexuality but once they do they are quickly accepted. Again, this would be a long running story and how the two characters and their respective families would come to terms with it.

Cheryl Swann, played by Linzey Cocker (Jess Fisher in Waterloo Road)
Cheryl is 19 and is the daughter of Sue Swann and Mike Swann and sister of Jamie Swann. She is best friends with Michelle Howard and is very confident and very glamourous. She is close to her father Mike which is what causes Cheryl and her mother (Sue) to clash.

Mike Swann, played by Will Mellor (Gaz in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps)
Mike is 35 and is the estranged husband and father of Sue, Jamie and Cheryl Swann respectively. Mike as a character is not seen very often but when he is, there is an uneasy tension between Sue, Angie and Raquel who all hate him. This is due to the fact that in episode one it’s revealed that he has been hitting Sue.

Elsie Griffin, played by Lynda Baron (Violet Carson in The Road To Coronation Street)
Elsie is 66 and is the archetypal grumpy, gossipy, battleaxe of the series. She has lived in the street all her life and is prone to eavesdrop and gossip about her neighbours. She likes to spend her days with her two lifelong friends Pat Dors and Annie Mortimer drinking either cups of tea in the cafe or drinking in the pub of an evening. She is the mother of Shirley Howard and often looks down on her son-in-law John Howard with his apparent laziness and disinterest in “family matters”. She is fiercely loyal towards her family especially towards her grandchildren Michelle and Nick Howard, especially towards Nick as it is Elsie who uses her “initiative” and guesses that Nick is gay.

Shirley Howard, played by Debbie Rush (Anna Windass in Coronation Street)
Shirley is 44 and is caring and sweet natured. She is the daughter of Elsie and is sometimes prone to everyday criticisms from Elsie. She married her childhood sweetheart John Howard and the couple have a son and a daughter, Nick and Michelle Howard. She cares desperately for her children and can often get emotional towards the way they lead their lives.

John Howard, played by Jason Done (Tom Clarkson in Waterloo Road)
John is 40 and is the husband of Shirley Howard. He is often the victim of putdowns from his mother in law Elsie Griffin over disinterest in “family matters” and his inability to find a “suitable” job.

Nick Howard, played by Jack McMullen (Finn Sharkey in Waterloo Road)
Nick is 19 and is the son of Shirley and John Howard. He is quite shy and quiet which could have something to do with the fact that he is hiding his homosexuality and romance with Jamie Swann. Eventually, his gran Elsie Griffin guesses that he is gay and the entire family gradually come to accept his sexuality. This would be a major story in the series, and we would see how Nick and Jamie basically deal with life.

Michelle Howard, played by Rebecca Ryan (Vicki McDonald in Waterloo Road)
Michelle is 21 and is the daughter of Shirley and John Howard. Compared to her brother Nick Howard, she is very confident and outgoing. She is best friends with Cheryl Swann and the two provide emotional support for each other. We learn very quickly in the first episode that she wants to pursue a career in fashion and moves to London much to the shock of her family. The move to London proves to be a downfall as she arrives back in Salford after being the subject to a sexual assault. This story would show how Michelle and her family cope with such an attack.

Pauline Roach, played by Amanda Burton (Karen Fisher in Waterloo Road)
Pauline is 50 and is seen to be a typical “salt of the earth” figure. She is married to husband Tom Roach and is the daughter of Violet Smith. Compared to other residents she is quite quiet and reserved. As we move into the series, and with the untimely death of her mother, we see how she copes with life without her mother and we get a glimpse of a potential feud with other members of her family.

Tom Roach, played by Ian Puleston-Davies (Owen Armstrong in Coronation Street)
Tom is 50 and is the husband of Pauline Roach. He is very friendly and caring compared to the somewhat mundane personality of Pauline. We don’t see much of Tom due to his demanding job as a journalist at the Manchester Evening News. Pauline and Tom’s marriage and possible downfall due to his job would be explored as we move into the series.

Violet Smith, played by Anne Reid (Vera Small in Ladies of Letters)
Violet is 75 and is the mother of Pauline Roach. She is a sweet, kind-natured lady who gets on well with most people in the area, except Elsie Griffin. Quickly into the series as Pauline and Tom return from a holiday, they discover her dead at the bottom of her stairs due to neglect from Violet’s home help. Her death further intensifies the uneasiness of Pauline and Pauline’s sister Kathy Armstrong who fleetingly returns for Violet’s funeral.

Pat Dors, played by Helen Fraser (Sylvia “Bodybag” Hollamby in Bad Girls)
Pat is 67 and is one of the best friends of Elsie Griffin and Annie Mortimer. She is immensely caring and sweet natured and is never seen without her faithful companion – Scottie her dog. She, like her two friends spends most of her days either drinking cups of tea in the cafe or her speciality drink a tequila sunrise in the pub of an evening. She is known to be somewhat forgetful or just “daft” and can often chuck in a malapropism mid-sentence.

Annie Mortimer, played by Sue Johnston (Barbara Royle in The Royle Family)
Annie is 66 and is one of the best friends of Elsie Griffin and Pat Dors. She is much more forthright in her nature compared to Pat but can easily be shouted down to by Elsie. Again like her two friends spends most of her days either drinking cups of tea in the cafe or drinking in the pub of an evening.

Maria Pullman, played by Christine Tremarco (Linda in Casualty)
Maria is 30 and is quickly revealed to be the mistress of James Carpenter. She is extremely glamourous and uses her sultry good looks to get what she wants in regards to her relationship with James. However, her nature is needy and obsessional which causes James to end their relationship on numerous occasions. Her obsessional and needy nature would be explored and with a “high noon” showdown with James’ wife Angie Carpenter she would deliberately set fire to the pub which would claim someone’s life and eventually would lead to Maria’s suicide as she comes to terms with the fact that there would be no way of getting James back. (If I decided to have the series as an eight-part series which I have written, the fire of the pub and suicide would mark the end of the series if it would not be successful)

Katy Dean, played by Rachel Leskovac (Natasha Blakeman in Coronation Street)
Katy is 34 and is the resident bitch. She is glamourous and seductive. We learn almost immediately that she is a widow as her previous husband died in a fire. She is a mortal enemy of Sue Swann due to Katy’s relationship with recently returned Paul Holt as Sue wants Paul for herself. Throughout the series we witness endless fights between Katy and Sue which escalate with the revelation that Paul fathered Jamie Swann with Sue and only Sue knows. Katy, Sue and Paul’s history will be deeply explored throughout the series and would provide endless conflict and drama between the three.

Paul Holt, played by James Thornton (John Barton in Emmerdale)
Paul is 35 and has recently returned to Salford from a lengthy trip from Australia as a journalist. He quickly strikes up a relationship with Katy Dean after moving into her house. The relationship between Katy and Paul causes his former romantic flame Sue Swann to have immense jealousy which ensures a bitter feud between Katy and Sue. Paul quickly makes his mark on the street, landing a job at the Manchester Evening News. However; Katy, Sue and Paul’s history will be deeply explored throughout the series and would provide endless conflict and drama between the three.

Sasha Nickolls, played by Maxine Peake (Martha Costello in Silk)
Sasha is 36 and is the wife of Ray Nickolls. She runs the local cafe single handed making the business her pride and joy. Sasha is close friends with Katy Dean and the two often partake in gossiping (usually about Sue Swann, much to Sasha’s chagrin) and quite often Sasha gives advice to Katy regarding her life. If I were to extend the series, Sasha would become pregnant for the first time and Sasha and Ray would become parents for the first time. I would NOT go down the typical “Who’s the Daddy?” storyline route as I can’t bear these types of stories.

Ray Nickolls, played by John Simm (Sam Tyler in Life on Mars)
Ray is 37 and is the husband of Sasha Nickolls. He works away from the area so is not seen as much but still has a big presence. He is friends with James Carpenter often giving advice on his troubled marriage and life.

Anna Richardson, played by Amanda Abbington (Babs in Married Single Other)
Anna is 34 and is the wife of Toby Richardson. What is notable about this character is that she comes from London so is not a “Northerner” like the rest of the cast. This ultimately causes conflict with residents such as Elsie Griffin partly due to Anna’s dislike of the North of England. Anna and Toby both co-own and run the shop much to Anna’s chagrin as she’s used to the highlife of London. It is established in the first episode that the couple have moved up North as they’ve had to downsize due to the recession. She makes a friend in Jamie Swann who starts work in the shop as a shop assistant. As the series progresses, we see another side to Anna which is a woman of a caring nature compared to the rough exterior she frequently shows.

Toby Richardson, played by Dean Lennox-Kelly (Dickie in Married Single Other)
Toby is 39 and is the husband of Anna Richardson. Unlike Anna, Toby is from Salford and it is quickly established in the first episode that the couple have moved up North as they’ve had to downsize due to the recession.

Feel free to add your own opinions and thoughts.

Thanks for reading! It means a hell of a lot!