Isidingo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Isidingo
Also known as Isidingo: The Need
Genre Soap opera
Written by Greig Coetzee (Head writer)
Directed by Raymond Sargeant
Johnny Barbuzano
Krijay Govender
Sthembiso Mathenjwa
Starring Keketso Semoko
Robert Whitehead
Michelle Botes
Kevin Smith
Darlington Micheals
Grethe Fox
Chris Beasley
Ashley Callie
Lesego Motsepe
Kim Engelbrecht
Karin Van Der Laag
Hlubi Mboya
Jo da Silva
Tshepo Maseko
Carl Beukes
Jack Devnarain
S'thandiwe Kgoroge
Judy Ditchfield
Emmanuel Castis
Nathan Ro
Meshack Mavuso
Don Mlangeni
Theme music composer Siva Devar
Country of origin  South Africa
Language(s) English (Including a mix of various other South African languages)
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 2 561 (as of March 20, 2009) [1]
Production
Executive producer(s) Gray Hofmeyr
Producer(s) Pumla Hopa
Cinematography Kobus Van Niekerk
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time approx. 22–26 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel SABC 3
Picture format PAL
Audio format Monaural
Original run 1998-07-07 – Present
Chronology
Preceded by The Villagers
External links
Official website

Isidingo: The Need is a South African soap opera, with dialogue mostly in English. Isidingo premiered on SABC 3 in July 1998 and is broadcast evenings on SABC 3 from Monday to Friday. It now uses the title Isidingo, dropping "The Need" in 2001.[2]

The story follows vaguely from a popular soap opera during apartheid South Africa named The Villagers, although none of the current actors are from the older series.

Several famous actors and actresses appeared on Isidingo, including Michelle Botes, who left the show in 2007.

Locations are divided between the fictional ON TV studios in Johannesburg and the mining town of Horizon Deep. The main characters include the Haines family, the Matabanes, the mine manager, Vusi Moletsane, and the various residents of the boarding house now owned by Maggie Wilson. Barker Haines is the character everyone loves to hate. Billionare in the living, he often schemes his way into the lives of various people in and out of Horizon Deep, notably his daughter Leone Haines who used to run ON TV (which Barker happens to own), along with Rajesh Kumar. Leone now owns and runs a hotel called The Duncan in Horizon Deep, in memory of her dead brother, Duncan.

The Matabanes are a stronghold in the make up of Horizon Deep, with Zebedi as the patriarch of the closely-knit family. Vusi, the mine manager is married to the Matabane daughter and lives with them in their family house. Other characters central to this family are Nandipa, wife to the Matabane son, and is currently living with HIV, but has a somewhat celebrity status as she is a presenter at ON TV where she presents a current news programme along with Lolly and Len Cooper

In 2008, Leone Haines was found dead, after leaving home to go on a walking trip, trying to clear her head after her mother's death. In reality, Ashley Callie (the actress playing Lee)had recently been killed in a car accident. Ashley was one of South Africa's best loved actresses and the funeral on Isidingo was complete with real tears from the cast members.

Contents

[edit] Noticeable Major Character Exits

  • Throughout Isidingo's run there have been noticeable major character exits from the soap. Perhaps the most famous is the departure of long-running original villainess, Cherel De Villiers who was played by Michelle Botes. Michelle Botes announced her departure from the soap in October 2006, a week after being snubbed by The South African Television Awards (Isidingo had taken home the most awards, however Michelle Botes was snubbed from an award). Writers wrote Botes out the soap and Cherel's character left the soap. Botes now stars in rival soap Binnelanders which directly competes with Isidingo on pay-channel, M-Net.
  • Other controversial exits included Lesego Motsepe's exit from the soap in 2008. Lesego played Letti Matabane, an original character of the soap since its inception. However her character wasn't a fan favourite with viewers.[who?] Lesego's character, however, was written out dramatically and killed in a car accident similar to the events which killed former Isidngo actress Ashley Callie only six months previously, making it a controversial exit to the series.
  • After being killed from injuries sustained in a car accident in February 2008, Isidingo actress Ashley Callie died. Callie however still went onto winning numerous awards as "Best Actress" in Drama Series as was publicly praised for her acting talents. Isidingo Producer, Pumla Hopa announced that Callie's character Lee Haines would not be recast in respect to Callie. Isidingo continued airing previously filmed episodes that Callie appeared in until her death, but off-screen killed her character when her character went searching for her mother.

[edit] List of Characters (past and present)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.tvsa.co.za/default.asp?blogname=isidingoteasers&ArticleID=10899
  2. ^ "Isidingo's lustre will never fade while Barker remains his nasty self". www.tonight.co.za. http://www.tonight.co.za/?fArticleId=3221917&fSectionId=368&fSetId=204. Retrieved 2008-01-12. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isidingo"