Regional identity refers to the specific identities of different regions within a country, often considering regional dialect, accents and culture. Three key examples of regional identity being represented within television is through reality television shows. I will be specifically focusing on The Only Way Is Essex, Made in Chelsea, and Geordie Shore and the title credits for the series.

Geordie Shore revolves around the lives of a cast of people from Newcastle; "Geordies". The introduction of Geordie Shore season one sees the main cast portray themselves with short sentences that they feel describe them. Some of which include: "I could talk the back legs off a donkey", "The hardest graft I've ever done is doing my hair" and "I would never kiss anyone without a six pack".

Already, the first quote is presenting the cast of Geordie Shore, and therefore the people of Newcastle, as loud and talkative, which is further supported by the amount that the cast talk within the twenty-four second introduction and the volume and energy that they have in delivering what they are saying.

The busyness of the graphics further connote the energetic personalities of the cast, representing the residents of Newcastle in a similar way as they are associated with the cast. The costume featured also further connotes the lack of a professional image that the Geordie's possess: the majority of the men are seen to wear tight low-cut t-shirts and the girls are presented as wearing a considerable amount of make-up with unnaturally styled hair, which is far from professional business dress.

The second quote "The hardest graft I've ever done is doing my hair" also represents the cast as lazy and without work ethic and "I would never kiss anyone without a six pack", especially in consideration to the costume and appearance of the cast, presents those from Newcastle as vain and obsessed with appearances.

Overall, the introduction portrays a negative representation of the residents of Newcastle.

Within the opening sequence for The Only Way Is Essex, the graphics are an important aspect in representing the cast and the residents of Essex. The shiny, metallic-like graphics and garish colour scheme connote the concept of new money: money that has recently been delivered to a person, rather than their family being wealthy for a long period of time.

It is interesting to note that, unlike the cast of Geordie Shore, the cast of The Only Way Is Essex do not speak at all within the opening sequence, only pose. The surrounding graphics and the illusion of bright lights all connote fame, suggesting that that is the ulterior motive of the cast. This portrays those from Essex as materialistic, especially with the added imagery of cars and close-ups of the women's jewellery.


The final case study, the opening sequence for British reality television show Made in Chelsea, also connotes and explores wealth like The Only Way is Essex but, rather than new money, it has a more evident emphasis on old money. In terms of imagery, the clean cinematography connotes class, as does the iconography of expensive cars and locations. Likewise, the narration also solidifies these connotations:

"You may have heard rumours that Chelsea is an exclusive world of Royals, aristocrats and playboys; that the gossip is as startling as the prices. Well, it's all true."

Other dialogue features things such as "Let's go to Cannes, this weekend" and "Where abouts do you shop? Paris, London, Milan" which highlights the spontaneous and expensive nature of those that live in Chelsea, just because they can afford to do so. It is likely that the audience of a show such as Made in Chelsea will be those who aspire to live like the cast and an oppositional reading may be one of jealous and spite; that the cast are irresponsible with their money and snobby. Likewise, the narration "You might say we have it all, but having everything you want makes choosing all that more tricky" is likely to also leave a sour taste in the audience's mouths, especially if they come from a more underprivileged background.