The soap: Eastenders
The sitcom: Friday Night Dinner

Friday Night Dinner has extra emphasis on the ‘geek’ character played by Simon Bird (Adam) who is the elder sibling but with a hopeless love life. In the episode I analysed Adam is set up on a date with a family friend’s daughter who shares a meal with the family. Eventually, having survived a bloody nose, wet trousers and an embarrassing father who comments on the girls bottom, Adam’s date ends up making love with his younger brother which is seen by the whole family leaving Adam as the joke of the family. This reinforces that Adam is the ‘joke’ of the family and emphasising the stereotypes that ‘geeks’ cannot find themselves a girlfriend.

In Eastenders Ben, the son of notorious Phil Mitchell is a known convict who has just been released from youth offenders. His stereotype would indicate that he is like his father, conniving, heartless and a ruthless bully. Challenging the stereotype, Eastenders shows him to be bullied and emphasises on the fact that he is actually scared, as his victims would be. He is left with no option but to accept that he will be the unwilling victim of abuse for his school life. The scene ends with him distressed and both physically and mentally hurt.