Sub genres of Drama

When considering the drama genre, there is many different categories it's able to be divided into.

Firstly the soap drama, including television series such as Coronation Street and EastEnders. Key features of this type of drama involve; Multiple plots and characters, often having story lines interwoven as well as moving in-between different characters and plots. Characters are normally stereotyped. Also, the story lines have a moral nature. This means that the audience can get involved by making judgements. Plots therefore, usually revolve around family and personal relationships. Next, soap operas have social and domestic settings such as shops, pubs, homes etc. Finally a soap drama will often have cliffhangers, a narrative device aimed at retaining audiences.

Youth dramas will often revolve around social issues of concern. These are normally popular amongst teenagers, including pregnancy, rape, alcohol, drugs, crime, sex and relationships. Teenagers are also presented as how they are stereotyped in the real world. This is done so that the audience are easily able to relate to the characters and possibly find the drama more entertaining. Unlike soap operas, youth dramas are usually set within a school. This is so, that the audience is able to easily connect to their everyday setting. Finally domestic issues are common, helping the audience to relate and realise that problems at home aren't unfamiliar. This can also help and aid teenagers with their issues.

Another sub-genre of drama is medical. Key features of this include; a range of different characters such as doctors, nurses, police, patients etc. Also, these included hopital/ clinic settings as well as domestic settings such as homes or public places where the accidents may occur. Like soap operas, both these sub-genres involve story lines of a moral decisions, meaning that the audience is able to connect through the element of judgement, maybe having been in the same situation as placed upon screen. 

Crime dramas, have the theme of  a murder or serial killing. The purpose of this is to create anxiety among the audience. The anxiety is increased also, by a numerous amount of sub-plots, helping the audience to be more sustained and hooked on the current scenario. Common within crime drama is gender representation, having many series featuring a male detective. Although, female detectives are sometimes cast so that female power is represented in a male dominated culture. Not many characters are involved within the crime drama though, casting the police is essential.

Fantasy dramas are popular due to the wide range of character types. Mythical creatures are the base of fantasy dramas, allowing the imagination of the audience to be captured.Creatures include unicorns,dragons and aliens. Good vs Evil is the key theme within the fantasy sub genre, running through the majority of narratives. Superhumans also feature frequently, because they give an unrealistic hope to the audience that they could possibly have super powers.

The final sub-genre of drama is issue based. These contain a wide range of topics and audiences. Firstly, controversy and political issues are included due to the nature of the drama trying to tackle the current affairs relating to the adult audience. This genre also interlinks with youth dramas, tackling issues such as rape, sex, alcohol and pregnancy. Stereotypical characters are common as well as showing social class differentiation. Britain has both areas of poverty and wealth, with dramas showing the social class divisions in numerous ways.