'Ripples': 30 Years Later

 Dejumo Lewis brought hope back to Nigerian Television by reviving  his opus, The New Village Headmaster. Even though it’s now shot in location rather than the original studio, viewers were more than psyched to return back to Oja community and see the remaining original cast members.

Now, ace producer/director Zeb Ejiro  has taken a leaf out of Mr Lewis’ book, by bringing back his soap, Ripples! The soap- which ran from 1988 to 1993-  centred around the Dehinde- Phillips family; who faced an upheaval after the sudden death of the only son Melvin (Patrick Doyle), leaving his grieving mother Leslie, his  widow Mimi (Bimbo Odekunle), his daughter and younger sister Bukky to cope with the huge loss. Bukky’s boyfriend (later husband) Nnamdi’s (Sola Fosudo) investigation turned to the very nasty  Talab Abass (Alex Usifo) but despite more than one arrest, it was never really proven he had a hand in Melvin’s death. There were also sub plots, the more memorable being the romance between Daphne (Barbara Soky) and Captain Hasssan (Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey Inyang), who somehow managed to make it to the aisle, despite their many trials.

Ripples : The New Generation- set 30 years after the original- brings back several  old and new characters. In the centre is Melvin and Mimi’s daughter Doris Dehinde-Phillips (Tope Olowoniyan), who we are yet to know if she will have a loving or hateful relationship with her half brother Elo (Ian Wordi), the son Marvin had with his old flame Onome. In the original show, Marvin changed his will prior to his death, leaving a  huge bulk of his fortune to Elo and his mother. Doris didn’t have much of  a storyline, but she did voice her willingness to know Elo, much to Mimi’s dismay. Elo on the other hand, got kidnapped but returned after Onome paid a huge ransom. However, it was heavily implied Abass (under the guise of aiding Onome), was behind the crime as well. Towards the end of the soap, Bukky and Nnamdi finally got married after a turbulent courtship. However, infidelity, a sudden appearance of a daughter Bukky didn’t know existed threatened to ruin their marriage, and Ripples was eventually  cancelled before there was an actual resolution.

Now, after a 30 year absence, what should we expect? Are Bukky and Nnamdi still married? Do they have a kid of their own now? Are Daphne and Hasssan (now Admiral) still together? And what does Talab Abass have up his sleeve this time, now that Doris is the new heiress of the family’s company?

This is another great development for Nigerian T.V. First we got The New Village Headmaster back, now a revival of this old favourite. What other soaps should be revived? That will feature in a another  post.

Meanwhile, the revival was unveiled at a watch party at the Filmhouse Cinema in V.I and will officially hit African Magic on the 21^st of June.

Thank you Zeb Ejiro!