Drama Proposal Presentation

Blood Relations Drama Proposal by Daryl Gilham

Script Proposal

In this unit we were asked to think up ideas for a dramatic script which we would then present to each other and vote on which ones we would do. The title of my story is called ‘Blood Relations’ this name is a reference to the murder of the main protagonist’s brother early in the episode.  The story begins with the scene in which Nigel’s brother is killed by the gang of smugglers he was trading with for drugs arms. This scene would be brief and would jump straight in to the narrative; the viewers are then drip-fed information about Nigel’s life and are left to draw their own conclusions on the character.

The USP of this show is that it shows the complications of living a life of crime for a young Caucasian adult, this topic is not often depicted on mainstream television. It also deals with the effect that loss can have on someone who never had much to begin with. The genre of the show would be an action-drama with the emphasis on the drama, the action scenes only serving to add to the drama that entails within the show.

The show would be a six-part series in which we watch as Nigel gets closer to exacting his revenge, we learn more about his family situation and his upbringing. The final episode would show Nigel struggling between his desires for revenge and his brother’s last wish for Nigel to give up the life of crime. By focusing on this narrative I hope to achieve an accurate, meaningful portrayal of the difficulties of life for the lower class of Britain. I would like the drama to be quite moving and to tackle some issues that everyone has to deal with as well as draw attention to a much misunderstood part of society and the human sides of the monsters society knows as ‘criminal’.

I think the general narrative of my story could be described as high concept; however I believe that certain unique elements of the story are more original. I think this balance will keep audiences engaged with the familiar concept and will interest them with the original narrative. I think the characters will be interesting to an audience of young adults, predominantly males as a lot of the characters will be relatable to their own lives. A lot of the dialogue will feature language that is popular in youth culture today so this will be another relatable feature for the demographic.

I think the intended message of the series would be one of peace and pacifism at the end of the series Nigel can’t bring himself to exact his revenge as he’s tired of the killing and decides he must make his own world a better place. I want to show that although this character is dealing with emotional pain he realises that the answers to his problems are not in murderous revenge and they are in fact in reformation. The end of the programme would show that Nigel now holds his destiny in his hands and he has the power to change his life for the better.

The main character is Nigel McManson a young adult who has to support his struggling family by engaging in drugs and arms deals, eventually this goes bad for him as he loses his brother Timmy McManson. Timmy idolises his older brother and one day follows Nigel to a meeting place where he is talking to the smugglers. When the deal goes wrong and weapons are drawn Timmy gets scared and runs to his older brother. Nigel, horrified by his brother’s presence is distracted and this allows the smugglers to shoot first. The smugglers manage to escape and Nigel manages to dodge the bullets but is racked with remorse as he witnesses his brother dying before his eyes. Timmy tells Nigel that he should get out of the world of crime before dying in Nigel’s arms.

Another character that appears in the first episode is ‘Schizo’ Pete who has been an acquaintance of Nigel’s for years going back to their childhood, initially Nigel contacts him for information on the location of the smugglers but Pete turns out to be working for them and attacks Nigel. The end of the episode is a cliff-hanger as the viewer does not see who gets shot at the end. The following episode would continue straight after the last scene of the first episode and would show Pete slumping to the ground.

Realistically for this story the cast would require a child to play the role of Timmy as he is younger than Nigel; however this is the only specific requirement in the whole story as all the other characters are around the same age group and therefore it wouldn’t be too hard to find actors matching those requirements.

Dramatic Sript Synopsis

Nigel “Big Mac” McManson is a young adult living with his family on the mean streets of Gorleston struggling to provide for his family including his little brother Timmy who idolises him. In the opening scene we see Nigel undergoing drugs and arms trades with some dangerous looking smugglers. Nigel and the smugglers begin to argue over the cash; and as the tension mounts and everyone arms themselves for a terrifying face-off Timmy unwittingly gets caught up in the crossfire. Nigel survives the ordeal; Timmy does not.

Next we see Nigel mourning the loss of his brother at home, looking through pictures teary-eyed. He knows in his heart that he must get revenge on the criminals that killed his little brother, now Nigel must use his illegal connections to trace the killers. This will be a journey spanning the distance of an entire town and surrounding villages as Nigel fights his way to justice.

Nigel first meets up with one of his local drug dealers, Schizo Pete who has some interesting Intel on the whereabouts of the smugglers. As it transpires Nigel realises the killers might be closer to home than he thinks. After Nigel thanks Pete and pays him, Pete pulls out a pistol and Nigel realises he’s been double-crossed.

Nigel manages to distract Pete and the two then struggle with the gun; eventually Nigel gets the gun away and the two youths begin to scrap in hand-to-hand combat whilst exchanging insults. Nigel gains the advantage but Pete brings out another gun, Nigel quickly tries to force the gun to Pete’s own head but Pete tries to do the same to Nigel.  In the end one gunshot rings out, but who did it hit?