Regional identity in TV drama - Our Friends

By: Nathan on 10:19

Analysis
Regional identity is represented in various ways through the 4 areas of representation in this clip from our friends.
The first shot is an over the shoulder shot this shows one of the male characters, he enters in  a rush type fashion, this could be a representation that he has not been educated on how to behave in such scenarios (posh restaurants). The next scene, is also an over the shoulder shot, this time however focusing on the other characters, another male and a lady, as soon as she says "hello" we can instantly tell she has a different regional identity to the rest of the characters, she appears to be from London or another "posh" area. On the other hand they appear to be from Newcastle, this is represented through diegetic sound when she speaks, the way she says "hi" we can instantly tell that she is of a "posher" regional identity.

Further more in the scene where she starts to read the menu and asks whether anyone has had the gamberoni, all the other characters appear confused, this instantly gives the viewer the impression that she is of a higher class region then the others. When the male character hesitates and then suddenly exclaims "prawns" it backs up our initial impression that he is less educated due to being from a socially perceived "lesser" region.
As far a mise-en-scene is concerned for this scene, the "posher" woman is clearly more used to wearing the upmarket clothes.

Helen then asks about the prawns, which is diegetic sound, the male from Newcastle then replies by describing the prawns. The characters from Newcastle laugh but Helen clearly doesn't find it funny, this represents that her sense of humor is different to theirs. Which could portray that she is from a more highly perceived regional identity. 
Subsequently there is a mid-shot of Tosker which shows him attempting to eat the spaghetti. He tries to eat some of the spaghetti from his fork. However, he largely fails as all of the spaghetti falls off his fork and back onto the plate before he places the food in his mouth. This could be trying to represent how Geordies may be perceived to not have very good table manners and are not be used to situations like eating in posh restaurants. 

When Mary and Helen are having a conversation (which is diegetic sound) Tosker interrupts. Helen replies to this interruption by stating "I'm sorry I was talking to Mary".  This could represent that Helen is not familiar with people interrupting into a conversation and she is used to talking to one person at a time. This may further suggest how people from Newcastle have little manners and talking over people is included in this, Tosker appeared to have no problem in interrupting. It may also show that people from London like Helen, have better manners and are not afraid to say what and how they are feeling as she appears to tell him right away that she was in fact, talking to Mary and that she does not wish for him to join the conversation.

The intelligence of Geordies is then touched upon by way of Tosker saying to Helen "whats one of them" (referring to the job she has said). This represents both that the types of jobs available in Newcastle aren't as "high end" as their London counterparts, and that Geordies aren't as educated as they fail to construct a proper sentence.

Eventually the focus turns to region based financial stereotypes, which links to the previous issue of the job, this comes about due to the fact that Helen doesn't respond to Tosker when he asked about what her job is, yet she choses to respond when the question is about money, this would be arguably a representation that people from London and other "higher" status regions are likely to have more money, it also portrays them as liking to show off their wages. This financial stereotyping continues when Tosker asks how much the deserts are, which could imply that people from Newcastle are tighter with money as they don't earn as much. The waiter laughs the question off (takes it as a joke). This is the stereotype that again, higher class people (which largely come from places like London), don't have much care over money as they earn more. 

Once that scene is finished, we move on to a series of close ups when Helen and Tosker start arguing, this is used to make us able (as viewers) to feel their emotions and establish their feelings more easily. In relation to regional identity though, this effect could be used to establish the representation that at this particular given moment there is no authority, as Tosker's less jokey and more serious side is revealed. This could portray the fact that in certain areas people are equal no matter what their regional background is.
When Helen realises this she quickly starts to laugh, and as Tosker doesn't know how to deal with this, she regains authority in the situation. This further backs up the point that people from London are stereotypically cleverer and thus are able to plan ahead better. It also could represent the stereotype that Londoners are rude.