M-Net's upcoming new weekday soap The Wild that starts on 4 April at 18:00 - from the initial footage that I've seen of it yesterday - roars with flavour.
Yesterday South African TV critics were shown a one minute clip with some preliminary footage already shot of the new show, produced by M-Net themselves, that is set on a game farm. M-Net pointed out that some of the actors seen in the clip will not actually be a part of the show and haven't or won't be signed, and that it's a rough first look.
Although The Wild starring Connie Ferguson and her real-life husband Shona Ferguson will be premiered to the press later next month before the show starts, M-Net confirmed that filming has started and said the press is for the moment being kept away so that the production and cast can find their feet. No publicity photos have been taken of the cast besides Connie and Shona and according to an M-Netter who spoke of the crew and cast ''it's already as if they're all living in their own little world.''
Here's a first rush review based on the one minute of footage of The Wild I saw yesterday. Somewhat unrealistic, but probably needed for a soap is a lot of people walking around in glamorous clothes - glam frocks and designer shirts - oddly out of place for a luxury game farm. It would work if you're a guest, but viewers will know these people are permanent residents and workers there.
The Wild teased with a soap slutty bedroom scene. There is clearly a bush graveyard tombstone secret (did someone in one family kill someone in another family and both are dead and buried next to each other in a case of dramatic irony leaving squabbling families in their wake?). A black and a white character meet up next to two juxtaposed tombstones to both grief... Can Connie Ferguson play someone else than Karabo in Genrations? Clearly yes. Veteran actor Ian Roberts looks great. Tumisho Masha looks a tad bit too Top Billing/ Miami Vice 1980's clothes wise.
The Wild will not just be English. It will be subtitled because other indigenous African languages are spoken. ''This is a place where rules are broken,'' says the voiceover, ''a place where nature rules, and where old wounds do not heal''.
ALSO READ: Your exclusive first look of Connie Ferguson, Ian Roberts, James Alexander and Tumisho Masha in M-Net's new soap The Wild.
