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Isidingo

{{short description|South African TV soap opera (1998–2020)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Use South African English|date=February 2013}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Isidingo logo.jpg

| caption = Isidingo logo since 2011

| alt_name = Isidingo: The Need

| genre = Soap opera

| creator = Gray Hofmeyr

| developer =

| writer = Chinaka Iwenze
Nonzi Bogatsu
Clive Mathibe
Wayne Robins
Liesl Wolmarans
Fanyane Hlabangane
Thuso Sibisi
Precious Sithole

| director = Nthabi Tau
Michael Sebonego
Kekeletso Mputhi
Pumla Hopa
Motlatsi Mafatshe

| creative_director =

| presenter =

| starring =

| voices =

| narrated =

| theme_music_composer = Siva Devar

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = South Africa

| language = English (including a mix of various other South African languages)

| num_seasons = 22

| num_episodes = 5,414

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer = Pumla Hopa,Gray Hofmeyr

| producer = Pomegranate Media

| location =

| cinematography = Kobus Van Niekerk

| editor =

| camera = Multi-camera

| runtime = 30 minutes

| network = SABC 3

| first_aired = {{start date|df=y|1998|7|7}}{{cite web |url=http://www.tvsa.co.za/shows/viewshow.aspx?showid=2781 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206175522/http://www.tvsa.co.za/shows/viewshow.aspx?showid=2781 |title=Isidingo |publisher=The South African TV Authority |website=TVSA.co.za |access-date=6 December 2014 |archive-date=6 December 2014}}

| last_aired = {{end date|2020|3|12|df=y}}

| related = The Villagers

| company = Endemol Shine Africa
Pomegranate Media

}}

Isidingo was a South African soap opera, with dialogue mostly in English and isiXhosa.According to anonymous donor https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/868233340543713310/869745339035430964/image0.gif {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920234522/https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/868233340543713310/869745339035430964/image0.gif |date=20 September 2021 }} The series premiered on SABC 3 in July 1998 and was broadcast evenings on SABC 3 from Monday to Friday at 19:00. Until 2001 it was titled Isidingo: The Need.{{cite web|url=http://www.tonight.co.za/?fArticleId=3221917&fSectionId=368&fSetId=204|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020171758/http://www.tonight.co.za/?fArticleId=3221917&fSectionId=368&fSetId=204 |title=Isidingo's lustre will never fade while Barker remains his nasty self |work= tonight.co.za |date=28 April 2006 |access-date=6 December 2014 |archive-date=20 October 2008 |first=Guy |last=Willoughby |publisher=Independent News & Media }}

Created by Gray Hofmeyr, the story is loosely based on another popular soap opera created by Hofmeyr, The Villagers, that was broadcast during the apartheid era in South Africa.

Former series Head Writers include Neil McCarthy, Mitzi Booysen, Ilse van Hermert, Christian Blomkamp, Busisiwe Ntintili, Loyiso Maqoma, Liam J Stratton, Rosalind Butler, Rohan Dickson, Bongi Ndaba, and Duduzile Zamantungwa Mabaso.

On 29 November 2019, the SABC announced that the production had been cancelled,{{Cite web|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/final-episode-of-isidingo-to-air-on-sabc-3-in-march-2020-38200327|title=Final episode of Isidingo to air on SABC 3 in March 2020 {{!}} IOL News|website=iol.co.za|language=en|access-date=2019-11-29}} with the final broadcast being aired on 12 March 2020.

Premise

{{Update|section|date=January 2015}}

The main characters include the Haines family, the Matabanes, Vusi Moletsane the mine manager and the various residents of the boarding house owned by Maggie Webster. Barker Haines, owner of ON TV, is a high-living billionaire who often schemes his way into the lives of various people in and out of the mining town of Horizon Deep, notably his daughter Leone. The Matabanes are a close-knit family who comprise a stronghold, of sorts, in the populace of Horizon Deep, with Zebedee as the patriarch. Other central characters are Lolly De Klerk, Frank Xavier, Parsons Matibane, Georgie Zamdela and Calvin Xavier and the late Sello Motloung as Bazooka.

List of characters

{{Cast listing|

}}

=Former characters=

{{Cast listing|

}}

Major character exits

Actress Michelle Botes, who had played villainess Cherel De Villiers since Isidingo's 1998 debut, announced her imminent departure from the series in October 2006, a week after being "snubbed" by The South African Television Awards (though Isidingo had taken home the most awards).{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} Botes next portrayed Ingrid in the rival soap Binnelanders, which directly competed with Isidingo on the pay-channel M-Net.{{cite web |url=http://www.channel24.co.za/TV/Articles/Michelle-Botes-Elegant-and-charming-20091019 |title=Michelle Botes: Elegant and charming |website=Channel24.co.za |first=Gerda |last=Engelbrecht |date=19 October 2009 |access-date=6 December 2014}} She returned to Isidingo from 2010 to 2013.

Soon after winning the Best Actress Award at the South African Film and Television Awards for her portrayal of Leone "Lee" Haines, 32-year-old actress Ashley Callie died following a car accident in February 2008.{{cite web |url=http://mg.co.za/article/2008-02-15-isidingo-actress-ashley-callie-dies |title=Isidingo actress Ashley Callie dies |work=Mail & Guardian |date=15 February 2008 |access-date=6 December 2014}} The role was not recast, and the character was written out by having Lee gone missing as she didn't show up for work, and later revealed she had died in a deserted field without specifying her cause of death.{{cite web |url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2008/02/19/isidingo-won-t-replace-ashley |title=Isidingo won't replace Ashley |work=The Times |first=Nomfundo |last=Xulu |date=19 February 2008 |access-date=6 December 2014}}

Six months after Callie's death, the series killed off original character Letti Matabane (played by actress Lesego Motsepe) in a similar car accident, prompting a "nationwide outpouring of grief".{{cite web |url=http://www.financialmail.co.za/life/theatre/2014/01/23/obituary-lesego-motsepe |title=OBITUARY: Lesego Motsepe |work=Financial Mail |first=Christina |last=Kennedy |date=23 January 2014 |access-date=6 December 2014}}

Legacy

Isidingo was the first South African TV show to feature a gay kiss, which saw the characters Steve and Len kiss. It also made history when it screened the first gay wedding on South African television when the characters Steve and Luke wed. This episode was broadcast just days after same-sex marriage was legalised in South Africa in 2006. The show's executive producer Pumla Hopa explained how Isidingo was different from other soapies at the time: "The thing that sets us apart is that we deal with issues in society from homosexuality, xenophobia, mixed marriages and HIV-Aids. We introduced a different style of storytelling".{{Cite web|url=https://www.mambaonline.com/2013/07/18/gay-friendly-isidingo-celebrates-15-years/|title=Gay friendly Isidingo celebrates 15 years|website=Mamba Online|author=Staff writer|date=18 July 2013|access-date=15 April 2020}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{Official website|http://www.isidingo.tv/}}
  • {{IMDb title|0373543}}
  • [http://www.tvsa.co.za/mastershowinfo.asp?mastershowid=477 TVSA's Isidingo site]
  • [https://watch.demandafrica.com/page/isidingo Isidingo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830195058/https://watch.demandafrica.com/page/isidingo |date=30 August 2019 }} on [https://watch.demandafrica.com/ Demand Africa]

Category:1998 South African television series debuts

Category:2020 South African television series endings

Category:1990s South African television series

Category:2000s South African television series

Category:2010s South African television series

Category:2020s South African television series

Category:SABC 3 original programming

Category:South African television soap operas

Category:Xhosa language television shows