Truth or Dare is the story of the first great love,
a friendship that means more than anything else,
obsessions that must be kept secret and the strive for popularity.
The realistic drama series is about self-acceptance among pre-teens and attempts them to master challenges that life throws at them – whether it is about identity, love, friendship, family or school. The series about best friends Sanne and Tara aims to reduce the fear many young people have of being not good enough, and thereby hopes to strengthen the viewers’ self-esteem.
The first season is told mainly from the character Sanne, who is a vulnerable and somewhat insecure girl who struggles with OCD. Sanne is terrified of being unsupported as the „weird one“ and is willing to do anything to keep her best friend Tara. When Sanne fails Tara one day, Tara breaks the friendship and Sanne is left alone. She feels guilt and shame, and the obsessive-compulsive disorder escalates so much that it becomes difficult to function normally in everyday life.
The second season is told mainly from the character Tara, who is looking forward to starting secondary school. Her joy does however turn to horror when she discovers that none of her friends will be starting in the same class. In the first year of secondary school, it’s all about friends, love and how much you are willing to sacrifice to become – and stay – popular.
Format:
Season 1: 7 x 20′
Season 2: 6 x 20′
Genre / Subgenre:
Junior / Live Action
Target Audience:
Tween / Teen 10+
Key Words:
Friendship, self-acceptance, popularity
Focus / Themes / Tonality:
The series is about a friendship that means more than anything else, the first great love, obsessions that must be kept secret and the strive for popularity.
When Sanne feels accepted for who she is, as she does when she is with her best friend Tara, she is relaxed and happy like any girl her age.
But at school, she often gets overwhelmed by social anxiety, and even though she tries her very best to appear carefree, happy and as “normal” as possible, she sometimes can´t help suppress her anxiety with compulsive acts (OCD). Which only makes everything worse, since her worst nightmare is that her classmates discovers her compulsions.
Sanne wants to be like “everyone else”.
Sanne is afraid of being “weird”, not “normal” and losing Tara as a friend.
“Everybody” likes Tara and thinks she`s fun to hang out with! She is outgoing, spontaneous and carefree- and loves attention, especially from boys.
Being overlooked, or even worse, loosing social status brings out the worst in her.
She can then throw out old principles without any hesitation if she finds new ones that suit her better. She likes to confide in Sanne, who she believes is wiser than herself.
Tara wants to enjoy and explore the exciting teenage life.
Tara is afraid of not getting a boyfriend.
Daniel is a relatively mature and thoughtful boy. Even though he doesn´t seek much attention, he is one of the most popular boys in class. He is looked up to by many, not only because of his good looks, but also because he is confident and dares to “go his own way”. Daniel has started to take an interest in girls, especially in Sanne…
Daniel wants to get attention from Sanne.
Daniel is afraid of being rejected by girls.
Michelle is a smart and seemingly invulnerable girl. She is honest – sometimes brutally honest. She loves being together with Tara, not only because she is the most popular girl in class, but also because she is one of the few who copes with her direct and honest manner. Even though Michelle and Sanne have the same fear of not being loved for who they are, they deal with this fear very differently. For Sanne it comes out as self-hatred, but for Michelle it comes out as aggression towards others.
Michelle wants to be accepted and become Tara’s best friend.
Michelle is afraid of being “invisible” and not loved for who she is.
Jonas is one year older than Tara. He loves to show off and be admired for his confidence and courage. Since he is afraid to seam weak, he has ended up pretending he is good at “death diving”, which is very far from the truth. The truth is, he is afraid of heights, but tries to hide it as best he can.
Jonas likes to be admired, especially by Tara.
Jonas is afraid of being exposed as weak and fragile.
Mina is smart, but has a strong need for control. She likes to be in control of both her own and other people’s emotions and prefers to have everything go exactly as she had envisioned, or else she gets stressed and anxious. Mina has a high social status and knows exactly how people should be, look like and act in order to be accepted.
Mina likes to have control of everything; both herself and others.
Mina is afraid of letting her real emotions show.
Producer:
Ida Bettvik
Executive Producers:
Gisle Halvorsen
Directors:
Solveig Wedøe and Silje Steine
Produced by:
NRK Super
© NRK Super 2021
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