The HENLEY College

The Official Title:

The reason for picking Dying Morals as the title is because of how much it relates
to what happens throughout the story. Morality is the personal or cultural values
within a society, this isnt exactly what is right or wrong; but rather what is
considered right or wrong. The morality of the main character is tested and pushed
to the limit as they embark on a mental journey that may permanently damage the
way they see the world. As they commit crime after crime, their morality fades and
this is how the title links in.

Blurb: Once youre in the game, you have to play.

Character Biographies/Profiles:
Lou
Lou is a teenage girl whos lived in Brixton most of her life.
When she was five years old, her parents separated forcing
her mother to move them (Lou and her older Brother Joe)
from the familiar streets of Covent Garden to the grungy area
of Brixton. Her first few years living there was hell for her,
she didnt know anyone and had nowhere to go to escape her
mother who had turned to alcohol. She was surrounded by
strangers that glanced at her from under grey hoods, leering
and jostling about one another.
Shed lay awake at night listening to the shouting on the
street and the loud music blaring out of cars as they passed
by. By the time she was thirteen, Lou had mastered the skill of blending in with the
crowd; she no longer wore clothes that were too feminine and colourful. She also
started skipping school and hanging out with shady individuals, her life wasnt
exactly on track. And when things seemed like they couldnt get any worse, Lou
came home one afternoon to find a police car parked outside her house. After
sprinting through her front door, she found a solemn-faced policewoman
attempting to comfort her mother who was weeping uncontrollably. As she stood
there not knowing what to do, the policewoman carefully approached her and told
her something that would destroy what was left of her happiness.
Three years after her brother had been stabbed to death, Lou had practically given
up with her life. Her mothers alcoholism had worsened and this repelled Lou from
staying home, she stopped attending school and turned to stealing in order to
provide her with some money for food and cigarettes. At first, it was small things
like pound coins, then she started upgrading to wallets and purses. And before she
even realised it, she had stolen items directly from shops.

Then one day, Lou had just stolen a few things from a corner shop, she calmly
strolled out of the shop with the goods stuffed up her jacket constantly peering
behind her. But she wasnt looking where she was going and she walked straight
into another girl, the impact caused all the stolen items to fall out from under her
jacket. The girl (who was dressed in tracksuit bottoms and was wearing a Pauls
Boutique jacket over a strappy top) was aggressive at first shoving Lou backwards
and threatening to beat her. But when she saw the numerous packets strewn on
the ground, she instantly knew they were stolen and seemed almost impressed with
Lous desperate handiwork. Lou seemed taken aback that someone was
congratulating her on doing something that was obviously wrong. But didnt
hesitate to agree to join the girl (Who had introduced herself as Knitt) when she
asked her to join her gang. And from that point on, Lou became officially part of the
game that would change her mind-set and kill her morality.
Knitt
Knitt as a character is quite controlling and likes to
intimidate and push people past their limits (in a bad
way), being one of the few females in the gang shes based
in, she feels she should be respected and anyone below
her should do as she says. Knitt adopts the role as an
organiser within the gang and sees whos worthy of being
there (despite no one else really paying much attention to
what she does). Knitt is a character that some people may
see as a stereotype, she dresses in Nike tracksuit bottoms,
walks around in trainers and hoodies. Being a girl in a well-known gang, she has
slightly more leeway when it comes to wearing make-up, her hair is dyed the colour
of worn tyres and she struts around with a handbag hanging from her arm.
Knitt wasnt always like this though, before she adopted her nickname, Knitt was
known as Kayleigh-Anne Bishop. When she was eleven, Kayleigh-Anne started in
secondary school and had plenty of friends that she could talk to and hang out
with. Even though she didnt have the best of grades, shed always try her best at
completing work despite arguing with the teachers occasionally. However, this
began to change as the years went by. She lost interest in her school work and
started to challenge her teachers whenever she got told to do something. It didnt
help that she had backup from other class rebels who were even worse than her,
she loved the feeling of being the centre of attention and making someone else feel
weaker than herself.
She had been suspended countless times from year nine to year eleven and was
expelled before she even finished school. Not that she cared much anyway, she was
too busy smoking and getting tipsy with her friends. On being expelled, KayleighAnnes mother had had enough and sent her off to live with her uncle who was very
strict. After only a week, she ran away to a friends house. Whilst staying there, her
friend threw a house party and invited plenty of people who Kayleigh-Anne didnt

know. A rugged man approached her and asked her what her name was, unwilling
to say it, she glanced around frantically and her eyes fell on a tattered magazine
that had an image of a woman knitting something. Kayleigh-Anne had lied to the
man, telling him her name was Knitt. This didnt seem to bother him, as he started
talking about her being a part of their so-called gang and how hed been told about
her reputation. Knitt liked the idea of being part of a gang and she agreed. And of
course the rest is history.

Policewoman
Chief Inspector Jennette Kings, has been working at Brixton Police station for
years. Shes a single mother of two and is known by many locals as a lovely lady.
However, her relaxed manner gets her into serious trouble as she is ambushed by
none other than Knitts gang. She is then beaten and dragged into a dark alley,
where Knitt nudges Lou forward. Jennette then witnesses a knife being pulled out
and being placed in Lous trembling hand, which means her fate is decided from
that point on.

The Format of the radio drama:

The radio drama will be a single drama because it will only be broadcasted once.
This means that there are no other episodes aired because the whole story (the
beginning, middle and end) is told in one broadcast; listeners wont have to wait for
more episodes in order to know what happens. Single dramas are almost always
based off of real events, these can be events that have occurred in the past or
events that are still occurring today. Dying Morals is based off of real events that
occur in Brixton, located within the south London district, Brixton is one of the
most undesirable places to live because of the amount of crime and gangs. They
were even involved in the 2011 London riots, where shops were looted and gangs of
youths smashed windows and taunted the police. The Brixton lifestyle will be
mentioned throughout this radio drama as the characters experience it from
different POVs.
Outline:
The genre of Dying Morals is Crime, the reason for this is; the story is based
around teenagers committing crimes on the streets of Brixton and theres a
policewoman involved later on who actually ends up being a victim. Most Crime
Dramas include the police investigating crimes, researching and so on; but this
radio drama breaks the rules slightly. Instead of focusing on the people on the
Laws side, this will follow a character whos the criminal. It doesnt side with the
criminals, but it does provide a different perspective in terms of why they are this
way and why they choose to do what they do.

A few years after moving to Brixton with her mother and brother, Lou
becomes aware that in order to blend in with everyone else around her, she
has to behave like one of them. The sudden death of her older brother, forces
her towards the streets away from the pain and sorrow that emanated from
her home. Lost and desperate, Lou turned to stealing in order to provide her
with the little things she needed and this lead her into encountering Knitt;
she is then pushed into doing things that she wouldnt have done before.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009z4c6 - Crime Radio Drama, single
Drama.
Radio drama Poirot has the same format and genre as my radio drama. However,
Poirot follows the traditional style of a Crime drama; theres the main character
who investigates and solves crimes and there are the culprits. Dying Morals
explores what the culprits are up to rather than what the people fighting crime are
doing (The police). Poirot is probably targeted at an older audience because of the
language used and also the time that it is set in; although some younger folks may
take interest in this type of drama, the majority of listeners would be older than 21.
Narrative structure:
http://thecinematheque.ca/education/wpcontent/uploads/2012/02/LanguageofFilm01.pdf
Story:
The story is set in Brixton, which is located in south London and is known to be
one of the most undesirable places to live. This is due to the amount of crime and
gangs there. It starts off with the main character (Lou) walking alongside Knitt (the
other main character) discussing what theyre about to do (steal). The gang (which
includes Lou and Knitt) constantly face obstacles like the police, who are always on
their tails trying to catch them when theyre up to no good. The police being around
slows down what they want to do, but gives Lou time to think about whether its
right or wrong; but as the story goes on she cares less and less. Overall, Lou
becomes used to thinking that committing crimes is okay and when a policewoman
is ambushed by the gang, she is forced to make a serious decision.
Plot:
The setup of the plot makes sure that every event that occurs within the story leads
up to the final conflict. This means that every crime committed by Lou and Knitt
gets more serious, until the final event takes place (which is Lou deciding whether
or not to kill the policewoman). They start off with stealing from a corner shop, they
then break into someones home and then they beat up and decide whether theyd
kill or not. Killing is by far the most serious and shocking of crimes which is why
its going to be at the end.
Budget:

The budget per hour is 20,000 and the radio drama is about 5 minutes long, this
would mean my budget would be quite cheap.
Sounds/Sound effects:
The types of sounds that Im going to be using in the drama are street noises,
crowds shouting, screaming, police sirens, cars, footsteps etc. Ill be recording some
of these sounds myself (like doors closing, footsteps), the rest will be taken from
freesound.org; these are free noises so this wont add to the budget.
Actors/Actresses:

Georgia Scannell - Lou

Jessica-Megan Collins Knitt
Me - Policewoman

http://www.thevoicerealm.co.uk/voice-over-rates.php
According to the website above, the cost of hiring a voice actor/actress [For a
Broadcast] is 1001. This covers up to 60 minutes for a broadcast and for the
number of actors/actresses needed (3) the overall cost would be 3003.
Target Audience:
This radio drama is targeted towards a young yet mature audience, so the age
group would probably be 17 21. The reason for this is the issues involved in the
story, shop-lifting and underage smoking is a common theme throughout the story;
as well as knife crime. This would not be suitable for a younger age group as the
violence and crime could potentially harm them or maybe even influence them
(although thats highly unlikely). Since all the main specified characters are female,
this would mean the target audience will more likely be female too; this allows the
audience to relate and connect to the story. Despite being about Brixton folk and
gang life, this does not mean the target audience are going to be people who live
just like the characters. In fact, the types of people this radio drama will be
targeting are those who have no idea what its like on the streets of Brixton. Its a
way of showing others how tough life can be in the shoes of the characters and real
people in that position.
Where it will be aired:
My radio drama will be aired on BBC Radio 4, at a similar time that Poirot would
be aired at. Poirot airs on Sundays at 04:00, this is late in the afternoon so most
people are at home relaxing and enjoying the last day of the weekend (unless
theyre working, which is possible for the target group since most 16 21 year olds
probably have a job/part-time job).