Charlotte Burton A2 Media Coursework

 The Grandparent Figure.

The character within most soaps that is available as a guide for all the characters whether they are family or not. Usually wise and female she has connections to most families and characters meaning she is at hand at all times.

e.g. EastEnders' Pat Butcher who through her various marriages has connections to lots of characters who she looks after aswell as her immediate family.

The Gossip Queen.

The character that's always in the know, the gossip queen is usually featured in a soap as a friendly character that is friends with everyone. Usually thought to be quite feminine as gossip is associated with females, the role is usually matched to a character that can hold up this role and spread the juicy gossip round to all the characters as quickly as possible without being caught.

e.g Sean Tully in Coronation Street is the typical gay character that spends a lot of his time with the ladies at his job at Underworld picking up and spreading the gossip he overhears. 

The Strong Woman.

The strong woman can be found in all soaps sometimes as a single mum looking after her kids meaning she is tough from the harsh background she has come from. Other stories can include being in a troubled relationship which she has bounced back from making her stronger than before fighting to earn the reputation as a strong independent woman that some viewers would inspire to be like. 

e.g. Jacqui McQueen from Hollyoaks who bounces back from her harsh relationship with Tony including miscarriage and abortion to still become the strong woman she is shown to be.

The Pregnant Teenager

As a shock factor for each soap, the storyline of the pregnant teenager is prefquently used to develop a character and make their character more well known to the audience on how they cope to the situation. The pregnant teenager character is usually either a rebellious working class teenager with no ambitions in life or the outcast from their society who has to face the life of being a single teenage mother. Abortion and adoption are often linked to these stories to add another dramatic issue to the story making the character be the one to be sympathetic with when they have to make this decision in the storyline.

e.g. EastEnders' Lucy Beale was featured in a storyline of becoming pregant and offering to give her child to her stepmother until her father forced her into abortion. This created a dramatic and quite controversial storyline of an unwanted pregnancy and the consequences of it. 

The Young Couple 

In soaps there is usually an undergoing minor storyline in the background of a young couple struggling through the problems in their life together. Commonly issues such as a rocky relationship, family disapproval and jealousy from others are used as aspects that prove to the viewers that they are a strong/weak couple so that they can decide as the audience whether they think they should be together or not.

e.g. EastEnders' Jodie and Darren's wedding ended in disaster as Darren couldn't carry on due to his falls of cheating on Jodie with his boss' daughter Lauren and stealing money from his job. This particular young couple ended in disaster through their rocky relationship and mistakes without approval from parents.

The Jack-the-Lad 

 Sometimes associated as the 'baddie' the Jack-the-Lad can be seen to be a troubled character that keeps us his persona by flirting and playing girls or getting himself in some sort of trouble. However, although shown as this character he can sometimes soften over time so that the audience can see a sweeter side to him.

e.g. Darren Osborne in Hollyoaks was shown to create bad money problems for himself and his father due to having a bad gambling habit, however, the character turned a corner when he married Hannah Ashworth until their marriage failed after an affair keeping us on his antics.

The Boss Figure 

The position of this role is usually held by an authorative male that owns a place within the soap for example, the pub, or club or some sort of business in which he has authority over other characters. Usually upholding more than one business the character has quite a lot of money which they sometimes use against other the gain more power if they feel they are lacking in it.

e.g. Jack Branning in EastEnders is quite authorative within the square with his overall persona and how he has ownership of the car lot, the boxing club and previously the nightclub. Through this he has a connection with lots of characters developing his character to the audience.

Feisty Young Female

A young, strong-willed character usually fits the bill of the feisty young female, usually with a desire to be independent and strong within and herself and to the people around her the character may be quite vulnerable inside but want to present herself in this way so that she is not one to be messed with. Due to her extravagent ways the character is usually featured in dramatic storylines so the audience are dealving underneath her strong outershell to reveal the innocence beneath.

e.g Coronation Street's Rosie Webster who has throughout her years on the programme shown her vulnerable side like when she finds out her mother has cancer and when her relationships break up but also is shown to be a strong woman being an aspiring model pushing forward to reach her goals.