Bedford Wives explores the drama behind the double doors as it takes viewers on a journey of opulence and greed, power wars and lavish lifestyles as a result of crime and murder…
“The show is set in Bedfordview, a suburb famous in South Africa for its mansions, private schools and many famous underworld residents – think Lolly Jackson, Radovan Krejcir and bulletproof cars. An affluent suburb where foreign gangsters, local gangsters and rich, upper middle-class families live together. There was no better place to set a story about a wife who takes over her husband’s criminal business,” remarks co-producer of the show, Rethabile Ramaphakela.
One of the most followed, headline-grabbing stories to have recently come out of the suburb of Bedfordview is that of former resident Radovan Krejcir.
The notorious, Czech-born Krejcir is currently serving 25 years in prison for drug-dealing and 35 years for kidnapping. More charges have been brought against him since 2013, with the most recent being the murder of Bedfordview businessman and drug trafficker, Sam Issa.
Investigative journalist Angelique Serrao has since published an exposé on this criminal mastermind titled Krejcir Business As Usual. The book’s publishing company, Jonathan Ball Publishers, has made reference to the manuscript as being “the first comprehensive exposé of the worst mafia boss this country has ever seen.”
Taking inspiration from such dramatic plots and twists of real-life crime events as well as from popular comedy-drama television series Desperate Housewives, Bedford Wives focuses on the women in these communities, at the centre of these crimes.
“Desperate Housewives was a major reference for the show as was Weeds and more recently Big Little Lies. I think at the heart of all of these shows is actually a show about women and what it means to be a woman. All of the shows we referenced played in dramatic and comedic spaces and that’s what we drew inspiration from,” says Ramaphakela.
The show introduces us to four women, Despina ‘Dee’ Giannopoulos, Gigi Giannopoulos, Paulina Salemane and Yvette De Villiers, as they navigate their complex lives. Their personal journeys and stories are played out in and set against the backdrop of the scandalous world that we know to be Bedfordview. The plot is centred on Despina ‘Dee’ Giannopoulos and her mishaps.
“The show is about a loyal Bedfordview trophy wife who suddenly has to take over the criminal business she was completely unaware of when her wealthy restauranteur husband is murdered, all while attending PTA meetings, ensuring that the kids’ homework is done and never missing yoga class.” However the former beauty queen has to put down her crown and toughen up if she wants to make it in the crime business, especially with her husband’s killer still at large. To add to her troubles, Dee’s late husband’s ex-wife, Gigi Giannopoulos, is out to ruin her and take over the family business.
“We always hear news stories coming out of Bedfordview about mobsters who live lavish lives and they are reportedly ‘good’ family men so we wanted to tell a story about the wives of these men but with a comedic twist,” tells Ramaphakela.
The series was shot at various locations in Johannesburg, with drones being used to capture establishing shots of the Bedfordview community. “We wanted a very glossy and high-end look to the series. Everything needed to look picturesque like the façade that these women keep up but soon we learn that nothing is as it seems,” explains the show’s line producer, Bruce Townsend.
Bedford Wives was shot on the Red Epic Dragon camera with 20 to 100MM Cooke lenses and a set of Nikon Primes. “The series required a high-end, picture perfect look to capture the world of our characters and the Red Epic was the perfect choice to achieve this,” Townsend says.
He says that additional technicians and assistants were enlisted to carry out special effects and CGI on the series: “We have explosions, gun shots and fight sequences, which all contribute to the high entertainment value of the series. We therefore needed an armorer, SFX Supervisor and fight coordinator to ensure the correct and most importantly, safe execution of these elements.”
Burnt Onion Productions handled all post-production duties in-house, while the final mix was done by On Key Sound.
“It’s the first of its kind in South Africa where we have an hour-long comedy drama. It has all the dramatic elements to keep you hooked whilst also making you laugh. Something that we can all sink our teeth into after a long day at work,” Townsend enthuses.
Bedford Wives commenced on 24 August 2017 with a 13-episode season. Catch the series every Thursday night at 19h30.
“We hope that the audience will appreciate the fact that the show is a comedy-drama. We are often used to only watching dark dramas and sitcoms in South Africa so with this show, we are hoping to switch things up by offering something different,” Ramaphakela concludes.
TECH CHECK
EQUIPMENT:
- Camera: Red Epic Dragon
“The series required a high-end, picture perfect look to capture the world of our characters and the Red Epic was the perfect choice to achieve this.” – Bruce Townsend
KEY CREW:
Producers: Rethabile Ramaphakela, Katleho Ramaphakela and Tshepo Ramaphakela
Directors: Krijay Govender and Catharine Cooke
DOP: Justus De Jager
Editors: Sandra Viera and Arti Gopal
Sound: Richard Mohlari
Music: Samukelo Mahlalela
Final Mix: On Key Sound
