It may be the end of the road for M-Net’s The Wild on Thursday, but the soap is finishing on a praiseworthy high. Aside from its second winning streak at the seventh annual South African Film and Television Awards this year, head writer Rohan Dickson says they have decided to |go with a telenovela approach for the climax. Debashine Thangevelo got the lowdown on the wrap up…
ONE of the greatest tragedies on the small screen is the axing of M-Net’s The Wild.
This laudable soap, which boasts some of South Africa’s finest acting talent, was groundbreaking in its approach to the format, which is usually shot in multi-cam and on a set. Ironically enough, these elements proved to be its Achilles’s heel from a financial perspective.
On Thursday, in a special one- hour episode, fans will bid the award-winning soap a very sad farewell. More so as it has, for the second year, beat other leading soaps by bagging several honours at the seventh annual South African Film and Television Awards just over a week ago. The Wild took best director on a soap, best editor of a TV soap, best art direction on a TV soap and best DOP/ cinematographer of a TV soap.
Head writer Rohan Dickson says when they learnt a few months ago of the plug being pulled on the soap, they decided “to end it a bit like a telenovela so that it comes to a satisfying conclusion”.
He continues: “We had a plan that would include all the major story threads and climax them in a satisfying way.
“We certainly put in a lot of effort to make sure we have given viewers what they want, not necessarily how they expect it to play out. Whether we achieved that, well…”
To expand on the above comment, he says it was borne out of people who have been watching the show for a long time and become familiar with the rhythm and the characters.
He explains: “What they were predicting is in the ball park, but never accurate. What that makes me realise is that we have been able to surprise the audience and give them what they want.”
Without giving away too much of the storyline, he reveals how they went about plotting the end.
“We had three major narratives that were in play. The first one was the Maxine (Khabonina Qubeka), Itumeleng (Shona Ferguson) and Marang (Connie Ferguson) love triangle. That took prominence and is the primary narrative that leads us to the conclusion. It was very active a couple of months ago. We thought we needed to do it justice, also because of the calibre of actors – certainly with Itumeleng as the backbone of the show.
“The second major storyline was the Van Reenen arc, where we introduced Uncle Charles. His storyline was about three months long and is concluding now. It is basically about how the Van Reenen family is able to unite in the face of a major traumatic event.”
Keeping the third one under wraps, he expands on the subplot involving Jack (Tyrone Keogh) and Angie (Hayley Owen).
Dickson says: “We played that out from the first time they met. It was always of a question of, will they or won’t they? Now we play out that playful and quite sexy storyline.
“At the same time, there is Modise (Tumisho Masha) and Lelo’s (Gail Nkoane) romance that has been going since the first episode. She ended up marrying Tiro and he was killed and she went into mourning. She came out of that and started dating other guys. The whole time Modise’s jealousy was in upheaval. In the end of the series, he wins her over by becoming the ward councillor of the area and facing rape allegations that he dealt with heroically. He wins her over as she sees he is her future and Tiro is her past. The series ends with them being the future king and queen of this world.”
At the moment, Ashwin’s (Keenan Arrison) heartbreak at Amita’s (Zakeeya Patel) mysterious disappearance has left viewers on tenterhooks.
The head writer hints: “Maxine faked her own death and Ashwin goes on the theory that something is up and does his own investigation to find Amita. What we learn is that Maxine wasn’t in the car that went down the cliff. Ashwin goes after Maxine and finds her in a remote area of the bush, which is where she holds him hostage. And that propels the final episode where Maxine goes to Itumeleng and Marang’s wedding and chaos ensues.”
While Dickson’s writing creativity shifts to SABC3’s exciting new drama High Rollers, he remains very grateful for the opportunity to have worked on this stellar production.
“M-Net has given me the opportunity to work at the highest level as a writer and creator. I don’t think I would have gotten that far anywhere else in the country. I have certainly had my creative muscles tested.
“It is an expensive show and has a talented cast. These things come with expectations. All of this added pressure. But working on location, with amazing technology, cameras, cast and crew, each day felt like I was working on an international production.
“As a writer and creative person, I couldn’t have asked for more. I learnt a great deal and it has set me up going forward. I feel I can handle the stress and high-level corporate needs,” he shares.
And so the revolving door to Dickson’s writing prowess continues to turn as the head writer embarks on his next journey.
• The final episode of The Wild ends in a one-hour special on Thursday on M-Net (DStv channel 101) at 7pm.