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Henrie's Recipes
BBC series translated into Sotho
Staff reporter
Posted Thu, 20 Jan 2005
For the first time ever a BBC series will get a local version in an African language. An adaptation in Sotho with South African actors will be made of the popular BBC sitcom "Keeping Up Appearances" for broadcast on SABC2 called "Mponeng".
Kefoe Mohobane, Commissioning Editor for SABC2 said: "We were looking for strong sitcom ideas and this was one that was not only very funny but also an idea that we felt would adapt particularly well for South African audiences."
Mohobane said SABC2 was the first channel in South Africa to produce an adaptation of this kind.
"Keeping Up Appearances" is one of the BBC’s most successful and long-running programmes. It features the terrible Hyacinth Bucket (she pronounces it "Boo-kay") who is constantly trying to impress people with her airs and graces and who is blind to the fact that they obviously find her completely ridiculous and extremely annoying –a view shared by her poor hen-pecked husband, Richard, whom she forces to do things like mow the lawn in a jacket and tie.
Her long-suffering neighbours are reduced to trying to slink in and out of their house without being seen — which they usually fail to do. A major problem that Hyacinth has in her quest to be thought of as occupying a similar social standing to the queen, is that she has a sister and brother-in-law who live in squalour.
The Sotho version – entitled "Mponeng" (roughly translated as "look at me") - uses the original plot lines from the UK series and about sixty percent of the script is fairly direct translation.
Hyacinth becomes Mrs Pontso Seboko — a surname that has a similar play on words. If pronounced one way, it means a tribal chief, if pronounced another, it means "worm".
Mrs Seboko (played by Lilian Dube) and her down-trodden husband (who is also called Richard and played by Moshoeshoe Chiabeli) have decided to move from Soweto to Linden, a predominantly white suburb and she is intent on proving that she of a higher class than the rest of her neighbourhood.
Her neighbours, who are also black, don’t have the same agenda and, just as in the British version, avoid her like the plague. Her sister and brother-in-law are still back in the township so they pose a similar threat to her journey up in the world.
Breaking down walls
Johannesburg based production company Word of Mouth was commissioned by BBC Worldwide to produce the series and making sure the Sotho series hits the mark has been a big project.
"It has taken a year just to finalise the scripts," says producer Vesko Mrdjen of Word of Mouth.
"It’s not just about translating the words, we had to create characters that truly worked in a South African context, that were recognisable stereotypes. Even finding the right locations has been a challenge — where in Johannesburg can you find two houses that aren’t separated by a wall?!
"The original programme is very funny. I think we’ve captured that while creating something truly South African. People are really going to enjoy the end result."
Monisha Shah, BBC Worldwide Head of Africa and South Asia said: "We are extremely pleased that SABC 2 has taken up the challenge and achieved this world first... I think Mponeng is going to be extremely popular. Perhaps one day we’ll introduce Hyacinth and Pontso to each other!"
"Mponeng" will be broadcast at 9.30pm on a Wednesday evenings on SABC2 and is scheduled to begin its 26 part series on February 9th.
