BBC plans new online teen-orientated soap.

The BBC is planning to launch a new soap, aimed at teenagers, under their BBC Switch brand. The soap would be online but also have a weekly omnibus on BBC Two.

The BBC is planning to launch a new long-running soap on the internet which would be aimed at teenagers and young adults under the banner of its BBC Switch brand. BBC Switch is the strand of programming aimed at teenagers and young adults after BBC children’s programming effectively abandoned them when they dumbed down and lowered their target audience ages. To counter this BBC launched the Switch brand of programming.

The planned new soap will be called The Cut and will run online. The new soap will start with two five minute episodes per week but this will be extended overtime until the soap runs for five 5 minute episodes over the week. Once the soap is running fully across the week a weekly omnibus on BBC Two, on Saturday afternoons with other BBC Switch programming, will be launched.

The new teen soap will try to capture the gritty days of Grange Hill, before it too dumbed-down, but also appeal to teenagers who have become hooked on teen dramas such as One Tree Hill, The O.C and Gossip Girl.

“It’s like the two families in Romeo and Juliet, with a few free radicals from elsewhere to spice things up a bit. We want it to feel as aspirational as possible – but also relevant and reactive.” – Geoff Gordon, head of BBC Switch

Working on the new soap will be a team of writers and directors who are very familiar with the codes and conventions of the genre. EastEnders writer Al Smith and Hollyoaks director Sarah Walker are amongst the team developing the new soap. Filming will only be a few weeks ahead of transmission in order to allow writers to put in references relevant to what’s going on in the wider world. Viewers will also be able to give feedback on the producers blog and suggest future storylines and characters.