TV Crime

DRAMA

GCSE
STUDENT
SUPPORT
BOOKLET 1
 Key Dates
14th May = Pre Released Material

Thursday 14th June pm = TV Crime Drama Exam 90 minutes

This booklet is designed to support you with the

examination for TV Crime Drama.

We are going to start by looking at the design of What is Preliminary

the examination.
Material?
This will help you see the kind of information, How does it help me
and preparation that you will need to do, in or-
der to get a good grade in the exam. prepare for the exam?

Preliminary Material
This is an imaginary ‘brief’ from a media company - the best way to understand this, is to look at the one that I have
made up below.

Dear Student,

At PCDR Productions we are dedicated to producing quality television crime dramas. Our series have been popular
with audiences due to their strong lead characters.

We are currently in the process of commissioning a new series which we hope to sell to a major broadcaster. We
would also like it to have an international appeal and are hoping to sell to American channels.

In the past we have specialised in traditional TV crime dramas targeted at an older audience. However, we are inter-
ested in reaching a younger target audience. Whilst we would like to keep some of the successful elements of crime
drama, we would also like to enliven this genre with some fresh ideas.

At the moment we would are looking at producing something for the pre watershed market, so it needs to be appropri-
ate for all the family.

Given the growth in digital media, we would also like to look at how we can utilise this growing sector of the market.

We would like you to pitch your ideas in four weeks time.

• Keep your responses short and focused
• Use diagrams/illustrations were appropriate
• Provide examples to support your ideas

We look forward to receiving your ideas

You will get 4 exam questions based on

the preliminary material, you will not see
them until you open the exam on 14th June.

2
Possible Questions
You should be prepared to answer questions that focus on the key ideas in Media:

Media Language - this includes all the codes and conventions of the genre, choosing the cor-
rect shot types and sound for your storyboard, making sure that you have a name for your TV
crime drama that is connotative of the genre that you are attempting to pitch.

You need major characters that are in keeping with the crime drama format. It also means that if
they ask you to draw a teaser trailer, an opening sequence, an extract from the series you know
the differences between these three.

Audience - You need to know why audiences enjoy watching crime dramas, how popular they are
and have a clear sense of how you address the target audience in your own production

Institution - You will need to have an understanding of the type of stars and actors that are in
Crime dramas, you will need to know about TV scheduling and should also have some research
into the audience figures for different dramas. It is really important that you understand how Crime
dramas promote themselves across a range of media in their attempt to win audiences.

Representation - You will need to be able to analyse the types of Representations on offer in TV
Crime dramas and be able to give specific examples. You will also need to have a clear idea of
the representations that are signified in your own TV Crime Drama

Here is some questions based on the brief:

Complete all tasks
You should spend 45minutes on Task 1 and 2 and 45minutes 3 and 4.

Task 1
Outline three key features of television crime and drama and provide examples to support your ideas. (15 Marks)

Task 2
Some critics of television crime drama claim that the genre is made up of tired old storylines that are constantly recy-
cled and reused. To what extent do you agree with this? Provide examples to support your views. (15 Marks)

Task 3
Outline your pitch for a television crime drama series. You need to talk about:
• Character
• Setting
• An appropriate title
• What will make it appealing to your target audience
(15 marks)

Task 4

We intend to make use of the internet to promote the commissioned series. Design the home page of a website for
your TV drama programme. You should use the A3 design sheet provided.
OR
The website will feature a short trailer for the series. Plot a 30 second trailer to the target audience.
You should use the 10-frame storyboard provided.
(15 marks)

For each question decide which key idea in Media

they focus on, sometimes it will be more than one .
3
Here are another set of questions for the same
brief. As you can see you need to be able to apply
your research and planning to the question asked.
Complete all tasks
You should spend 45 minutes on Task 1 and 2 and 45 minutes on 3 and 4.

Task 1
From the research that you have conducted, what would you say are the features of TV crime drama?
Provide evidence to support your ideas.
(15 marks)

Task 2
Some people argue that the crime drama genre relies on stereotypes dominated by ‘old men in trench coats’. What
have you discovered about the representations of men and women in television crime drama? What are the male and
female roles and suggest reasons for these, referring to storylines and audiences.
(15 marks)

Task 3
Present your pitch for scrutiny. Give us your ideas for:
• Main characters
• Setting
• How it will appeal to your target audience
(15 marks)

Task 4

Either
Design a one-page advert to run in a national newspaper promoting the series Scrutiny. Use the A3 design sheet
enclosed
Or
We plan to use the internet to promote the new series. A sequence of the show will appear on our website.
Storyboard a 30-second extract of the programme which introduces two main characters. You should use storyboard
sheets enclosed.
(15 marks)

I have started this booklet with exam questions

as I wanted to show you what you are aiming
to achieve and what the exam will look like.

The next section will

outline the mark
scheme.

It will also look at what

examiners are told to
reward.
4
 Advise to examiners - This is what AQA tell examiners
When you are marking your scripts your aim should be:

1. to identify and reward the achievement of all candidates

2. to ensure compatibility of assessment for all candidates, regardless of task or examiner.

Examiners should reward any of the following:

• in role response

• reference to the brief

• evidence of research and independent learning

• understanding of technological or sociological influences on the genre

• a range of examples

• originality of thought

The preparation period should be reflected in the candidates’ responses.

When we look at the mark scheme, you will see how important it is to prepare for
this examination, beyond what you do in lessons.

The highest grades are given for original ideas and independent research and
thought.

e n t objectives tha
sessm t yo
ua
a s re
e AO
th Th
is
3 te
e can test
s
res didat the a
st
r

ear es t b
ea

o d ility
ed

ch,
pla emo of
nni
Her

ng nstrat
o

and e
n

5
6
How do I get a C or above?
Write in role for example – As part of my research for the pitch I decided to look at TV Crime dramas that are
already popular with audiences. I found out the following:

They usually follow the solving of a crime by either ..................................

TV crime dramas are often whodunits that follow the ………….for example in Lewis ……………

Keep referring to the brief – If they have asked you to create a female detective for a prime time Sunday
schedule on a major channel – refer to this. Create what they want!

Know your key terminology – make sure that you know the terminology for all aspects of the exam.
Some examples follow just to get you thinking, I will put a glossary at the back of the book

* Words about visual style – pull focus, mise en scene, low key lighting, jump cut, parallel editing, connotation

* Words about genre – signifier, iconography, mise en scene, hybridization, star image, connotation

* Words about narrative – binary opposition, disequilibrium, protagonist, antagonist, enigma code, enclosed
narrative

* Words about audience – demographic, profiling, uses and gratifications, target audience, preferred reading,
dominant reading, viewing figures, prosumer, fragmentation, niche audience, star image, watershed

* Words about Institution – broadcaster, production company, scheduling, commissioning, branding, synergy,
unique selling point, inheritance factor, hammocking, marketing, franchise, spin off, watershed, public service
broadcaster

* Words about impact of technology and cross media promotion – interactivity, virtuality, augmented reality,
synergy, convergence, proliferation, QR code, high speed, stream, download, hyperlink, navigate user created
content, prosumer, fansite, dynamic content

* Words about representation – stereotype, atypical, subvert, dominant ideology, polysemic reading, patriarchy

Make sure that you have a range of examples to back up what you say-
* This may be examples of the narrative structure in a particular series/programme.
* Examples about characters/locations in a particular series and how they are represented.
* Examples of the popularity of different programmes with audiences, ratings for particular programmes.
* Examples of how a programme monetizes (makes money from) its franchise – think about Sherlock, CSI – and
its spin offs.
* Examples of how the audience has responded to a particular porgramme or episode.

7
 an g uage
ia L
ed!"#$%&'("&)*$+"$',*$%&*-&'("&."$/"012#'-*/30-*/3&
M

4*5&6*&7*8&9$*5&,'&,%&#&:/,3"&;/#3#&#$6&$*'&'("&$"5%<&
=(,%&,%&#22&#>*8'&2**9,$.&-*/&%,3,2#/,',"%&#$6&6,--"/"$)"%&&
?'#/'&>7&-,$6,$.&)*33*$&"2"3"$'%&*/&)*$+"$',*$%&&

Let’s start by dividing up conventions into the following:

• Narrative
• Characters
• Setting
• Visual Style
• Themes and Ideas

Narrative - you should learn the following narrative theories, then apply them to the texts that you
watch at school and at home.

Binary opposition - Levi - Strauss

This is the idea that we understand one idea or word through its opposite and that many narratives
are constructed around such oppositions. Levi Strauss thought that these oppositions kept narra-
tive moving forward and maintained the interest of the audience. He also pointed out that within any
binary opposition there is one that is perceived as having positive qualities.

Here is a list of oppositions that can be seen in Crime drama

• Authority/society versus the criminal and their underworld - there is usually a tension in TV
crime drama between the enforcers of law and the criminals.
• Power versus vulnerability - often narratives explore those who are strong exploiting those that
are weaker.
• Criminal deviance versus decency - the criminal world is often portrayed as ‘other’ and a threat
to the stable world of decent citizens. In crime dramas that focus on the sociopathic killer or
criminal, the audience seem to get some pleasure out of trying to understand their deviant be-
haviour. In these types of crime drama the detectives or team of detectives may be in a ‘race
against time’ to stop the criminal from murdering again.
• Justice versus injustice - significantly this is not always based on what is legal, often detectives
in crime drama will make their own judgements about how to exact punishment even allowing
some criminals to walk free. They will also turn a blind eye to offences such as drug dealing in
order to catch a murderer.
8
 In some crime dramas the detective is set in
opposition to a nemesis who often has similar
characteristics to themselves, e.g. Moriarty in
Sherlock Holmes andAlice Morgan in Luther.

Roland Barthes came up with the idea that narratives interest us by giving us a series of codes that we enjoy
looking out for and ‘reading’.

The two that he saw as most significant were ENIGMA CODES and the ACTION CODES

?
Enigma Codes
!"#$%&'()*$+,-#$.#/#.0$1,$*&2$#3#)#&1$,/$1"#$01,.2$1"*1$'0$
&,1$/4332$#563*'&#-$*&-$"#&+#$7#+,)#0$*$)201#.2$1,$1"#$
*4-'#&+#8$$
$
9.')#$-.*)*$.#3'#0$,&$#&'()*0$1,$'&1#.#01$*&-$#&(*(#$1"#$
*4-'#&+#8$$:#$;'1&#00$*$)4.-#.$,.$+.')#$*&-$1"#$.#01$,/$1"#$
&*..*1'<#$'0$06#&1$1,$0,3<'&($1"#$=4#01',&0$*&-$64>>3#0$1"*1$
*.#$.*'0#-$'&$1"#$'&'1'*3$0+#&#0$?#56,0'1',&@$01*(#$,/$1"#$
&*..*1'<#8$$A&32$*1$1"#$#&-$*.#$*33$1"#$64>>3#0$0,3<#-8$

Action
Codes !"#$%&'(%)*+',-+%'./$-)'#*&+$%&0''1#'2*3*2+'#%',&4',"#$%&'%2'
*5*&#'#6,#'$&)$",#*+'#6,#'+%7*#6$&8'*-+*'$+'8%$&8'#%'6,99*&'
,&)'6*&"*'8*#+'#6*',/)$*&"*'8/*++$&8',+'#%':6,#':$--'6,99*&'
&*;#0''<6*'*&$87,',&)',"#$%&'"%)*+':%2=',+','9,$2'#%')*5*-%9'
#6*'+#%24>+'#*&+$%&+',&)'=**9'#6*',/)$*&"*'$&#*2*+#*)0'''
'
?%2'*;,79-*'+**','7/2)*2*2')2,:','=&$3*',&)':*':%&)*2'
:6,#'#6*'2*+/-#'%3'#6$+',"#$%&':$--'.*0''@*':,$#'#%'+**'$3'6*'
=$--+'#6*'5$"#$7'%2':6*#6*2'#6*'5$"#$7'$+'+,5*)'.4'#6*',"#$%&+'
%3'#6*'9%-$"*'%2')*#*"#$5*0'
9
 Todorov According to Todorov narratives move through five common stages:

Equilibrium - this means when everything in the narrative world is

normal and as it should be. In Crime Drama we may not see the equi-
librium at the beginning, although the ‘banter’ between the main char-
acters before they know that a crime has been commited fits in with
the idea of an equlibrium.

Stage 2 Disruption - A crime is committed. Sometimes this may be seen in a

pre title sequence, to hook in the audience - although this is now seen
as a bit hackneyed and overused. However, there will definitely be a
disruption to the equilibrium.

Stage 3 Recogntion - The investigator (s) become (s) aware of the crime and
sets out to solve it.

Stage 4 Attempt to repair - The major part of the narrative in crime drama -
this is were we watch the detective or crime team try and solve the
crime

Stage 5 New Equilibrium - the crime is solved and the criminal caught - this is
known as the denouement of a narrative

!"#$%&'(%%(")*$&)+$(,&"#("&(--./&"0&12&3%)4$&+%(4(&
&
!"#$%&'()"*++*,-.'&&5&3%)4$&+%(4(,&6,6(../&30'"()'&(&4/,"$%/&0%&4/,"$%)$,&
7#)3#&7)..&8$&%$,0.*$+&8/&"#$&$'+&09&"#$&-%0:%(44$;&&<"&")4$,&"#$/&4(/&"(=$&"#$&
90%4&09&"70&0%&"#%$$&-(%"&$>"$'+$+&$-),0+$,;&&<&'$7&*)$7$%&3('&7("3#&"#$&
-%0:%(44$&7)"#06"&-%)0%&='07.$+:$?&(,&"#$%$&7)..&8$&(&@%06'+&6-A&40'"(:$&09&
"#$&,"(%"&09&"#$&-%0:%(44$;&&10&(""%(3"&"#$&(6+)$'3$&"0&"#$&'$>"&-%0:%(44$&"#$/&
7)..&,#07&(&%06'+&6-&40'"(:$&09&7#("&7)..&#(--$'&'$>"&")4$;&
&
/'&,+-#,'()0*++*,-.'&)1)B"&),&('&$,,$'")(.&30+$&09&"#$&3%)4$&+%(4(&"#("&,04$&
)'90%4(")0'&),&7)"##$.+&9%04&"#$&(6+)$'3$&0%&@%$,"%)3"$+A;&&B9&"#$&'(%%(")*$&,"/.$&
7(,&304-.$"$./&04'),3)$'"&C(6+)$'3$&),&"0.+&('+&,#07'&$*$%/"#)':D&"#$'&-(%"&09&
"#$&-.$(,6%$&09&"#$&(6+)$'3$&)'&,0.*)':&"#$&3%)4$&706.+&8$&%6)'$+;&&E07$*$%?&"#$&
(6+)$'3$&7)..&09"$'&8$&,#07'&40%$&)'90%4(")0'&"#('&"#$&+$"$3")*$&0%&
)'*$,"):(")0'&"$(4?&"#),&),&='07'&(,&2+-.-$'3'()-"4%+5*,-%"6)7%+)'8*52$'),9')
*:(-'"#')5*;)&''),9')5:+('+)9*22'")1)%+)<')5*;)&'')*)4$*&9)=*#>)%4)
'.'",&)?@0@A!BCDCE6)
)
10
 Genre conventions of TV drama
Here is a list of TV drama conventions

Every time you watch a TV drama you need to refer to this list and make notes
about the conventions that it uses. You will need to give specific examples in
the examination to support what you say.

This is a mainstream genre that enjoys great popularity and ratings. There is hybridisation of the genre
e.g. sci– fi police procedural Life on Mars, legal drama – Law and Order, period drama Garrow’s
Law (legal, period crime drama) – however traditional crime dramas are still made. The scale of tone
and mood for crime drama ranges from comedy drama (Dirk Gently/New Tricks) to very dark e.g.
Whitechapel/ The Wire

Characters and relationships

• Eccentric or maverick (unconventional/eccentric) protagonists who often have non-standard
investigation techniques. E.g. Dirk Gently, Sherlock
• Flawed or brooding protagonists with personal and problems and dark pasts – e.g. Cracker,
Inspector Morse
• Conflict filled relationships between protagonist and authority e.g. Dirk Gently, Sherlock,
Luther
• Sometimes feature disposable secondary characters as well as transient characters
• Sidekicks who provide a stable ‘norm’ for comparison with the protagonist, often in a ‘buddy’
role.
• Actors who feature in TV Crime drama will often be ‘household names’, they may even be
famous in other genres of TV programme, for example David Jason is famous as Del Boy in
Only Fools and Horses (a sitcom) and Jack Frost in the crime drama A Touch of Frost
• Professions – many crime dramas feature police officers and are known as Police
Procedural. Some police procedurals will focus on one or two detectives, some will have an
ensemble cast and a whole team solving the crime. Other professions can be used e.g.
Lawyers (Garrow’s Law, Kavanagh QC), forensic pathologists (Waking the Dead, Silent
Witness, Bones) are also regularly seen. Crime Writers e.g. Murder She Wrote, Castle. Or
even more unusual professions e.g. magic show designer Jonathon Creek, criminal
psychologists – Cracker, Lie to Me. Of course the other popular profession is the Private
detective or investigator.

Narrative

• May be based on contemporary moral panics e.g. knife crime, date rape, paedophilia.
• Often feature a moral dimension or problem – e.g. Dirk Gently episode with Max the artificial
intelligence.
• Intricate and complex plotting is a feature – as one of the pleasures that the audience get from
the genre is trying to solve the crime.
• Many TV Crime Dramas are adaptions of literary works e.g. Miss Marple, Sherlock, Dirk
Gently, Midsummer Murders, Wallander – it is always worth checking whether a detective
series is an adaption of a novel. Clearly adapting a crime novel, particularly if it is popular
means that you already have an audience for the programme.
• Mystery centred narratives which usually contains an enigma or puzzle that needs solving
• May contain narratives around dangerous or taboo subjects.
• Usually enclosed narratives that are resolved at the end of the programme or series – when a
narrative runs across episodes there will be a round up montage at the beginning of each
episode to remind the audience what happened as well as making the series understandable to
a new viewer.
• Many crime dramas have ‘serial’ aspects that reward the loyal viewers. For example
Sherlock’s run ins with Moriarty, or DCI Luther’s ongoing battle/relationship with Alice
Morgan.
• Flashbacks, denouement (the final resolution of the plot, following the climax), confessions
and revelations feature heavily in the narrative structure.

11
Representation

Traditionally this is a patriarchal genre where men are shown to have power and are often the
protagonist. However there have been famous female detectives e.g. Miss Marple, Jane Tennison in
Silent Witness, Cagney and Lacey, Sandra Pullman in New Tricks.

• Often when women are the protagonists their gender will be part of the focus of the story,
particularly in Silent Witness were a key part of the narrative is Jane Tennison’s struggle to
succeed and be taken seriously in a male dominated profession. They may also be shown
struggling to maintain family relationships and balance this with their professional role.

• More recent moves towards diversity in the casting of the protagonist e.g. Luther and DS
Nicky Cole in 55 Degrees North.

• Often uses stereotypes as create a quick way into the story for the audience. However, will
sometimes subvert our expectation of a stereotype to create surprise for the audience. For
example a character that appears shifty or evil may not be the killer/criminal.

• In this way stereotypes may be used as a ‘Mc Guffin’ e.g. Using a negative stereotype could
make us think that the person is the criminal, this is then found out to be a ‘false lead’.

Setting
• Distinct regional and national settings – e.g. London, provincial cities, small country town or
village

• Locations within the drama may also be significant e.g. the police station in the bill, the
laboratory and autopsy room in Silent Witness CSI, 221B Baker Street in Sherlock Holmes

• These settings may tell us more about the detective protagonist e.g. 221B Baker Street which
is almost part of the narrative exposition (start of the story). Holmes and Watson are usually
relaxing in Baker Street when a caller to the house disrupts the equilibrium and sets the
narrative on its course ‘the games afoot’ as Holmes says.

• Dirk Gently’s detective offices, which are untidy, dilapidated and in need of some TLC –
what does this tell you about Dirk?

• Settings may also fetishes (obsess about) the whole process of crime fighting. For example in
Prime Suspect and CSI there will be many close ups of laboratory equipment used to solve
the crime. In programmes such as Whitechapel the police station looks strangely old
fashioned and intimidating, there is a focus on the research element of solving crime and the
library is featured heavily in this drama.

Visual Style and Sound – this includes mise en scene and lighting/shot types and angles/camera
movements/editing/sound/graphics and special effects

• Distinctive theme tunes set tone and hint at the atmosphere/sub genre/ setting

• Iconography of crime scene e.g. police tape, forensic team, crime board, in vehicle sequences

• Most traditional crime dramas use continuity editing, this is ‘seamless’ editing where we are
drawn into the reality on offer. It does not draw attention to the construction of the
programme.
• Some newer crime dramas use a more experimental style. E.g. Sherlock uses SFX and
graphics to suggest the mental processing of Sherlock’s mind as he solves the crime. Luther
uses jump cuts and focus pulls to disorientate the audience and create an edgy feel, which is
reflective of the character of Luther.

• Whip pans, focus pulls, steadicam shots could be said to attract a younger audience to a TV
crime drama, as they are more associated with dramas such as Skins. TV Crime dramas such
as Whitechapel create a film thriller feel through their lighting and mood enhancing fast cut
abstract shots that are placed throughout the narrative.

12
Media Language

Visual Style
TV crime dramas will often have their own visual style. However some will have
common features.

You need to be able to comment on:

• Mise en scene (what’s in shot), - this includes –

props/setting/costumes/gestures/lighting
• Cinematography – camera movements/framing and angles

• Editing – the pace of editing, how the story is put together e.g. you may see

cross cutting between the detectives racing to save the victim and the victim

dying.
• Sound – think about how this is used to create tension or accent chase sequences

etc

Lighting – Important in crime drama. Many crime dramas feature filming at night and
use spot lighting contrasted with shadow. Depending on the series, there may be use of
noir-influenced chiaroscuro (high contrast or low key lighting).

Positioning of actors within the frame can often be used to show power relationships,
particularly when used with certain angles – low or high – which can place characters in
dominant or submissive positions.

Dress codes – the quickest and most powerful way of quickly establishing character.
This is particularly true for transient characters (only in one episode as costume can
convey a lot of information quickly).

Props and Décor – may be used to convey important information and clues. Crime
scenes are significant in solving the crime. Important as one of the audience’s pleasures is
attempting to solve the crime. We subconsciously make judgments about the homes that
people live in and work, this helps to give us information about their possible
lifestyle/motive.

The locations were the detectives live/work can also be of significance – e.g Dirk
Gently’s offices look untidy and disorganised, similarly Luther’s flat has peeling
wallpaper and it seems that he has no interest in his surroundings. If you watch Sherlock
season 1 episode 1 – 221B Baker Street is shown to be messy and disorganised until
Watson sorts it out. Here it can be seen that setting and location are genre signifiers as
they are connoting that the detectives only care about solving crime, they are obsessive
and attach no importance to their living/working surroundings.

13
Iconography in crime dramas – the following could be seen as genre signifiers

Police tape, microscopes, sample bottles/bag for evidence, lab reports, crime scene suits
so that evidence is not contaminated, police cars and sirens, body bags, morgues,
computer research/location maps e.g. tracking devices, incident boards (those things with
all the clues on), guns, knives, ropes; improbably isolated places where tortures take place
– Silent Witness episode – paradise lost; prisons, mental hospitals etc etc
 
Remember that the location of the crime drama may also affect the choice of 
cinematography: 
 
A drama set on the city streets might use the following: 
 
• Shaky hand‐held camera work or steadicam to copy the movement of people 
walking or running in the streets, giving a documentary feel – can be used to 
make the audience feel that they are there, increasingly use whip pans and 
focus pulls.  This visual style also appeals to a younger more contemporary 
audience who are used to the stylistic qualities of Skins.  These techniques 
draw attention to the construction of the crime drama; this is taken a step 
further in shows such as Sherlock, which uses graphic overlay/special effects 
to mirror Sherlock’s thought processes. Whitechapel also features montage 
inserts, which usually show violent images along with scary noises.  
 
• Pace of editing ‐ fast – although steadicam/handheld shots may use long takes 
with few edits 
 
• Slick dialogue using street jargon and slang 
 
• Urgent ‐ up beat contemporary music – however if crime drama set in the 
past – the music will reflect this period. 
 
• Grey colours and low‐key lighting to reflect the grim city life. Good examples 
would be Hill Street Blues, Homicide, The Wire, Luther, WhitechapelA rural 
drama could have: 
 
A rural drama could have: 
 
• Panning shots to show the beauty of the landscape and pretty rural locations 
• Slow editing 
• Rich colours and warm lighting 
• Polite dialogue of the middle‐class village dwellers 
• Orchestral music. 
• More likely to consistently use a continuity form of editing – this is invisible 
and seamless to the audience and does not draw attention to the construction 
of the crime drama 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

14
Special Effects 
 
As the crime drama genre has progressed, the use of SFX and make‐up has become 
increasingly important. From realistic injuries of victims to the almost horror film 
gore of CSI autopsies, crime dramas try to give an authentic view of the results of 
murder and bodily harm. 
 
Cinematography and editing  
 
• Mainstream crime dramas usually use continuity editing 
 
• Selective focus and pull focus used to draw the audiences’ eyes to important 
details. 
 
• Lingering reaction shots – are used so that the audience can read the 
expressions on suspects’ faces 
 
• Action sequences will feature faster cuts and greater use of sound effects 
 
• Some contemporary crime dramas deliberately draw attention to their visual 
style e.g. Luther with its accelerated and decelerated sections, which heighten 
the drama and emphasise the power and emotional volatility  (explosive 
nature) of Luther. It also uses jump cuts (edits that cuts two shots together 
that are less than 30 degrees apart – you can recognise them as they seem to 
jump) They are usually used to show disorientation or madness. 
 
• Garrow’s Law, which is set in the 19th century uses sepia tones and vignettes 
(circles around an image that blur it – like an old photo).  It also uses images 
of handwritten documents in old script. 
 
It is worth analysing the visual style of any crime drama that you are going 
to refer to in the examination.  It is also something that you need to think 
about when designing your own crime drama. 
 
Sound  
 
Signature tune creates a brand identity and alerts the audience to the fact that 
the programme is about to start – they are known as aural signifiers 
 
Hyper real sounds – which amplify sounds such as crying, breathing etc are 
often used to create tension  
 
Sound effects  ­ may be accents or pads – accents are cut with a visual edit often 
in chase sequences or violent scenes – pads are the menacing sounds that you 
can hear underneath the diegetic sound – these are used to make a shot such as 
opening a door tense and frightening for the audience. 
 
Incidental music and motifs – music may be used during the drama to make a 
scene tense, sad – or suggest loneliness etc. A music motif may be used to 
signify the presence of the detective, criminal or danger – see if you can 
spot any of these uses of sound in the crime dramas that you watch. 
 

15
  
  Audiences 
 
 
• Crime dramas make up about 20% of prime time programming
• Audiences seem to have an endless appetite for TV crime drama 
• Key question why are they so popular?
 
  When we investigate audiences in media we are looking at  
   
  1. Who is the audience?  
  2. How are they targeted? 
  3. Why do they enjoy the text – in this case TV crime drama? 
  4. Where and when do they view the TV crime drama? 
  5. Are they affected negatively or positively by TV crime 
  drama? 
   
   
 
We will start with why we enjoy watching TV crime drama.   
 
There is a theory in Media Studies called Uses and Gratifications that suggests 
that audiences enjoy media texts based on what they can do with it and/or the 
type of feeling or gratification they get from the text.  These are  
 
• Diversion – getting rid of boredom 
• Personal relationships – the audience becomes familiar with certain 
characters  
• Social relationships – we like to view programmes with family and friends 
or discuss them with friends and colleagues – think how this is further 
developed by the use of hash tags in Twitter. 
• Surveillance – Audiences often use TV as a way of getting information. 
 
This is a theory from the 1970s formulated by theorists Mc Quail, Brown, Blumer 
and Katz. 
 
There is another more recent theory (1994) called Dyer’s Utopian Solutions 
that is a development of Uses and Gratifications. Utopian Solutions suggests 
that audiences consume media products to make up for five things that might be 
missing from their daily lives.  
 
Transparency – the desire to see thinks made clear for us – this is definitely 
true of crime drama as it allows us to see the process of catching the criminal. 
 
Energy – Our everyday lives are tiring and consist of routines, by using media 
texts we can live more interesting lives vicariously, when we watch TV Crime 
drama we have heightened feelings of fear and excitement, they move us away 
from the hum drum. 
 

16
Community – many people live lives where they feel a long way from their 
community, family or where they grew up.  Many people don’t know the people 
who live around them.  Watching a TV programme can give people this sense of 
community as they usually have regular characters who the audience builds up a 
relationship with. 
 
Intensity – the majority of people living in a stable country may only 
experience the extreme highs and lows of life occasionally.  Crime Drama is all 
about the extremes of existence and often will give us heightened feelings of 
tension and fear as well as relief when the criminal is caught. 
 
Abundance – this is the desire for consumption of material wealth beyond our 
own means, it is probably more applicable to shows such as MTV Cribs, however 
it may be present in some TV crime dramas where criminals are enjoying great 
wealth, or the location of the series is exotic. Some TV crime drama always 
feature wealthy people and places e.g. Agatha Christie. 
 
If they ask you about why audiences enjoy TV drama in the examination the list 
below if you also give examples form TV dramas that you have seen – will help. 
An A/A* response might also link these reasons to the theories above.  
 
Some reasons why audiences may enjoy TV crime drama are: ­ LEARN 
THESE – CAN YOU GIVE EXAMPLES FROM CRIME DRAMAS WHICH FIT THE 
PLEASURES LISTED. 
 
1. They like to try and solve the crime – they enjoy 
the enigmas – this is called cognitive pleasure. 
 
2. To see villains in action  
 
3. To explore taboo subjects such as drugs, prostitution, incest – many of 
these are not discussed in society  
 
4. Our fear of crime is explored in a fictional setting.  This allows us to 
explore our fears of real crime safely. 
 
5. We are reassured by the criminal being caught and order being restored 
at the end of the series or episode. 
 
6. We enjoy the voyeurism of the drama – looking into the seedier aspects of 
human existence 
 
7. We are familiar with or like the main character or the actor playing 
them.  Think here about the cult status of Sherlock Holmes and the 
audience reaction to the latest adaption with the cult like status of 
Benedict Cumberbatch with fans. 
 
8. We enjoy watching the flawed but loveable and familiar characters that 
are dedicated to preserving law and order and making the world safe 

17
 
9. Crime drama can often contain an escapist element – the very fact that all 
the crimes are solved is remarkable in itself as this is not reflected in the 
real world. 
 
 
Both of the above theories presume that the audience is active in 
its response to media texts.   
 
The next theories suggest the audience is passive, and that they 
can be deeply affected in a negative way by TV Crime Drama. 
 
The Effects debate 
Some theorists think that there is a direct causal link 
between violence in the media and violence in the real world. 
 
They believe that watching violence desensitises the 
audience to violence 
 
Hypodermic syringe – this is an early idea – it said that the audience 
passively took in what ever the Media offered them.  It suggested that the 
audience could be easily influenced and affected by what they saw and heard on 
the Media  
 
Social Learning theory ‐ This is a development of the hypodermic 
syringe model, it says that repeated exposure to violent behaviours or acts 
encourages a copy cat effect where people – especially those considered 
vulnerable –(children) may seek to emulate (copy) violence or other offences 
seen on TV 
 
Cultivation Theory ­ Repeated exposure to violence in mass media leads 
to ‘desensitisation’. We see it so often we become immune to it in real life. 
Crime drama clearly open to the accusations of influencing us as features 
sometimes horrific violent crime, fear/suffering of the victim, troubling for the 
audience, graphic scenes of violence 
 
Effects debate and TV crime drama 
 
• Some crime dramas do have disturbing narratives with lingering shots of 
violence and dead bodies. 
• This is part of the appeal of the text – as it allows the audience to explore 
some of our darkest fears. 
• However, there are fears about the increasing levels of violence that are 
seen as acceptable to portray on TV. 

18
 What arguments 
could be put against 
these theories?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• If it affected us in this way – why isn’t everyone affected and going out 
committing crime? 
 
• Crime Dramas are often highly moral – the perpetrators of crime are caught 
and punished 
 
• Crime  (as shown in tv crime dramas) never pays in the long term 
 
• Crimes are contextualised and shown to be wrong 
 
• Gruesome sequences are meant to repulse viewer – they are apparently not 
shown for sadistic pleasure 
 
• There are other social factors that can turn people into murderers 
 
 
 
 
Use the Internet to research the murders that have 
been attributed to fictional killing on film and TV.  
Natural Born Killers (Film) has been cited as causing 
many copycat killings. 
 
What do you think  ‐ do violent 
Media products have this effect?  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

19
 Now we will look at points 1 and 2  
 
1. Who is the audience?  
2. How are they targeted? 
 

Attracting an audience is extremely important for any television programme. 
 

 
1. PSB (public service) broadcasters such as the BBC need to attract audiences 
to justify the license fee and fund future programming. 
 
2. Independent broadcasters e.g. ITV need to attract audiences so that they 
can sell advertising space to companies – this may be in the form of an advert 
in the ad break, sponsorship idents before the show starts or product 
placement within the show itself. 
 
3. Successful series can also be sold to US channels, as well as the international 
market, or reworked for these markets.  (needs improvement) 
 
4. If a series has a loyal audience base it will often be broadcast on cable 
channels such as Alibi, which specialise in showing repeats to a niche 
audience who seek out TV crime drama. 
 
5. There is also a market for DVD sales and pay for download from stores such 
as itunes.  I have noticed that current popular crime series such as Luther or 
Sherlock are not available on YouTube – apart from endorsed videos such as 
trailers, excerpts etc.  The older the series – the less likely they are to be 
removed from YouTube.  This indicates that broadcasters are keen to protect 
their interests within the first two years of broadcast, so that they can 
capitalize on the popularity of the programme and make money from it. 
 
6. Series may also be available on streaming websites such as Netflix. 
 
 
TV CRIME DRAMA IS EXPENSIVE TO PRODUCE – ESPECIALLY SERIES SUCH AS 
SHERLOCK, LUTHER, WHITECHAPEL WHICH HAVE HIGH PRODUCTION 
VALUES/COSTS –  
 
IT IS THEREFORE ESSENTIAL THAT BROADCASTERS AND PRODUCTION 
COMPANIES RECOUP THEIR INVESTMENT (MAKE MONEY !!!) 
 
 
 
 

20
 
Marketing/Advertising  – getting the audience to watch 
 
• What can appear a ‘mass’ audience is often different niche audiences who 
desire and will watch/listen to or buy different products. 
 
• By recognising this broadcasters can produce a range of programming that 
will appeal to different groups. 
 
• Audiences are often divided in the following ways 

21
Psychographic Segmentation/Profiling 
 
Increasingly audiences are targeted through lifestyle‐based approaches – this is 
known as psychographics. 
 
• Activities 
• Interests 
• Opinions 
• Attitudes 
• Values 
 

 
Behavioural segmentation  
 
This is based on actual customer behaviour towards products.  
Some behavioural variables include: 
 
• Benefits sought 
• Usage rate 
• Brand loyalty 
• User status: potential, first‐time, regular, etc. 
• Readiness to buy 
• Occasions: holidays and events that stimulate purchases 

22
How will this help in the examination? 
As part of your pitch you will probably have to say how you target your 
audience.  This will be based on the brief – e.g. do they ask you to target a 
specific age group? Or is it meant to target the whole family?  
 
Demographics could be applied in terms the target income and education 
bracket you are aiming for.  For example Wallander and other Scandinavian 
crime dramas are more likely to be viewed by A and B groups as they require the 
audience to read subtitles and have complex plotting. 
 
You can see that behavioural segmentation could be applied in terms of when 
you release your show (schedule).  E.g. Christmas holidays, Halloween, Spring 
etc. You may try to identify your drama with another popular series so that the 
audience recognise the style and brand, or choose a popular actor to play the 
lead – so that you have capitalise on brand loyalty. 
 
In terms of psychographics a traditional crime drama e.g. Inspector Morse is 
more likely to appeal to Mainstreamers than The Wire – which is more likely to 
appeal to Aspirers, Reformers and Explorers  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

23
Institution – Key questions to ask 
 
1. Who made the Crime Drama – 
PSB/independent director/production company? 
2. Does it feature ‘stars’ from other TV programmes or films? 
3. Where will I see the Crime Drama – what channel? 
4. When will it be shown? – This is known as scheduling 
5. How is the crime drama marketed? 
 
TV Crime dramas make are a reliable, tried and tested genre – they are popular with 
audiences. 
 
Usually a production company will be commissioned to produce a one off ‘pilot’ – 
this is used to evaluate ratings before commissioning a multi – episode series. 
Many crime dramas are based on popular bestselling novels, with a pre – existing 
audience and a proven track record in the fiction market e.g. Sherlock, Wallander, 
Dirk Gently. Many of these crime novels have a global appeal – this widens the 
market for the crime drama itself. 
 
This makes them highly suitable for mainstream scheduling.  
 
Scheduling  
You need to know the following key terms, so that when you investigate crime dramas you can 
analyse how they are being marketed through their scheduling, or how they are used to promote less 
popular programming.  
Knowing about scheduling will also help you to tell the examiner when your crime drama will be 
shown. 
 
Hammocking  
Is a technique used in Broadcast programming whereby an unpopular television programme is 
scheduled between two popular ones in the hope that viewers will watch it. Public broadcasting use 
this as a way of promoting serious but valuable content. For example a popular show will be followed 
by a weak show, which then is followed by a less popular show. This is especially used for new shows. 
Hammocking may lead to situations where even if programs remain weak, audience rating will be 
high. 
 
Hotswitching  
A hot switch or hotswitching is where the ending of one television show leads directly into the start of 
the show in the next time slot without a television commercial break. The concept is used to reduce 
the chances that people will switch to another TV network during the commercial break and allow the 
cold open of the new show to attract viewers; sometimes however, this will cause a commercial break 
right after the opening credits. It can also be called "seamless" broadcasting. 
 
Block Programming 
Block programming occurs when the television network schedules similar programs back‐to‐back. The 
concept is to provide similar programming to retain viewership. 
 
 
 

24
Stacking 
Stacking is a technique used to develop audience flow by grouping together 
programs with similar appeals to "Sweep" the viewer along from one program to the 
next  
 
Stripping 
Stripping is running a syndicated television series every day of the week. It is 
commonly restricted to describing the airing of shows which were weekly in their 
first run; The West Wing could be stripped, but not Jeopardy!, as the latter is already 
a daily show. Shows that are syndicated in this way generally have to have run for 
several seasons (the rule of thumb is usually 100 episodes) in order to have enough 
episodes to run without significant repeats. 
 
Tentpoling ‐ Tent pole programming 
In tent pole programming the programmers bank on a well‐known series having so 
much audience appeal that they can place two unknown series on either side, and it 
is the strength of the central program that will bring the others along to victory. The 
opposite of hammocking. 
 
Theming  
Having special theming days (such as for a holiday), or theme weeks such as 
Discovery Channel's Shark Week. 
 
Counterprogramming 
Counterprogramming is used when a time period is filled with a program whose 
appeal is different from the opponent program because it is a different genre or 
appeals to a different demographic. Often major channels are seen as being in 
‘battle’ to gain audience share. If a highly popular series such as Sherlock is airing – 
the opposing channels may look at how they can offer a similarly popular show that 
has a slightly different audience demographic. 
 
 
Dayparting 
Dayparting is the practice of dividing the day into several parts, during each of which 
a different type of television programming appropriate for the time that it is aired. 
Daytime television programs are most often geared toward a particular 
demographic, and what the target audience typically engages in at that time. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

25
 
 
 
 
 
 
Daypart (Weekday) UK (GMT)

Early morning 7:00 AM – 9:30 AM

Daytime 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Late morning 9.30 PM – 1:00 PM

Lunchtime news 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Early afternoon 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Late afternoon 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Early evening 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Evening news 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

National prime time – note this is split into pre watershed and post-
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
watershed

Late news 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Late night 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM

Postnight fringe/graveyard slot 1:00 AM – 3:30 AM

Closedown 3:30 AM – 6:00 AM

 
 
Pre watershed and post watershed 
In a way this links to the audience effects debate as it is an attempt to control what 
is suitable for children to watch. Pre watershed programmes need to be suitable for 
all the family – this means that violence, profanity (swearing), disturbing storylines 
and sexual content are minimal as it needs to be suitable for family viewing. 
Increasingly crime dramas are shown during primetime post‐ watershed, this reflects 
the inclusion of increasingly graphic scenes of violence and its aftermath 
 
Activities around Institution  
Your teacher will have shown you how to use BARB – for each TV crime drama that 
you are going to discuss in the examination – make sure that you know what its 
viewing figures are. 
Go to the Alibi channel website (they broadcast to a niche audience of TV crime 
lovers), look at their scheduling for a day. Which programmes do they show during 
primetime? They recently purchased Castle from  
 

26
 Representation 
 
In the examination you may get a question where the focus is Representation.  
This is a key idea in Media Studies and I have tried to define it below. 
 
Representation 
 
Representation refers to the construction in all media forms of aspects of ‘reality’ 
such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract 
concepts e.g. law, love, evil. 
 
Analysis of representation will often focus on how gender (male/female), class, 
age, ethnicity, sexuality, ability/disability are portrayed by a text. 
 
This is because these are seen as areas of portrayal that are contested (argued 
about) and that they are most likely to be represented in a hegemonic way. 
 
What is hegemony?   
 
This is not just a media term; you will come across it in all social sciences. 
 
In Media Studies it is the idea that society works by controlling us into thinking in 
certain ways – this is known as hegemony or you can call it dominant ideologies.  
One of the ways that we are controlled is by the way the Media construct or 
comment on reality. 
 
These dominant ideologies are often taken for granted and they seem ‘invisible’ 
unless we analyse them. 
 
In Media studies today, people look at how the media support power structures 
such as government, capitalism/corporations, and patriarchy. For example: 

• A news report that shows strong support for a controversial foreign policy 
decision can be said to hegemonically support the government. 
 
• A game show that shows scantily‐clad women passively standing still until 
the host tells her to "open the case" can be seen as hegemonically promoting 
patriarchy. 
 
Sometimes Media texts can also be seen as being counter­ hegemonic. An episode of 
TV crime drama that questions traditional women's roles, for example, might be 
seen as counter‐hegemonic. So might a documentary that questions the 
government's involvement in a war. 

 
 

27
Representation made EASY  
 
The Simplest way to analyse Representation is to imagine that you have travelled from a 
distant planet and have no idea about what life on planet earth is like. 
 
After watching, listening or looking at a media text what would you think about? 
 
Men, women, religion, different ethnic groups, the city, the countryside, middle class 
people, the working class, single mothers, hoodies, teenagers, the government, London etc 
etc ‐ the list is endless. 

 
If you noticed that men in a TV show or film were often shown as heroic, strong, 
risk takers who couldn’t control their sexual desires and found showing their 
feelings difficult – then the representation would be STEREOTYPICAL. 
 
If you were shown men at home caring for their children, sharing their feelings and 
crying over a film then the representation would be ATYPICAL. Or it could be said 
to subvert our expectations. 
 
Why are these police officers stereotypes? 
 
Media texts will often use stereotypes as a short 
hand for the audience so that they can get lots of 
information over quickly.  These kind of 
characters are known as ‘stock characters’ 
 
An example of a stereotype in a crime drama 
would be the white working class girl with a 
conscience, who is protecting her hardhearted criminal boyfriend and ends 
up dead. 
 
Representation in TV Crime DRAMA 
Gender  
 
• In the past majority of investigators men – still the case today despite the 
presence of more female characters. 
 
• Female detectives have existed for along time however their gender usually 
makes them a curiosity e.g. Miss Marple, or ‘eye candy’ for the male viewer 
e.g. Dr Temperance in Bones, Allison Dubois in Medium and Jane 
Tennison in Silent Witness  
 
• Female investigators will often be shown to exploit their femininity in 
dealing with suspects or gaining access to information.  They may flirt with 
suspects or other colleagues in order to gain privileges. This also 
stereotypes men as being stupid enough to be taken in if sex is involved. 
 

28
 • Sexist and chauvinist behaviour towards female detectives is shown to be 
normal or ‘institutionalised’ and most female characters deal with this with 
dignity. However are the programmes ‘normalising’ such behavior and 
showing that it is something that just has to be got on with. 
 
• They may be shown as acting on ‘female intuition’ or be more aware of the 
emotional aspects of the case. 
 
• They may struggle to balance work and personal /family life – although this 
us usually true of male detectives as well. 
 
• Other roles for women in TV Crime drama are  
 
o Prostitutes, mothers, wives, virginal teens – they are often shown as 
being incapable of defending themselves against male aggressors or 
think their way out of a situation 
o When they are criminals they are deviant and dangerous and often 
use their sexuality to manipulate men against their will. 
 
Ethnicity  
 
• Most lead detectives are white men. 
 
• Some change with series such as Luther and 55 Degrees North. 
 
• US Crime dramas with bigger casts usually show greater ethnic diversity. 
 
• In the UK it could be argued that the genre is quite conservative and 
mainstream, meaning that representations are often stereotypical and 
changes in representation may be slow. 
 
Notable examples of crime dramas that have had a non white lead detective  
• Luther  ‐ 2010 – present – features John Luther a talented, sometimes 
violent CID officer with a troubled personal life. 
 
• The Chinese Detective – 1981‐ 3 on the BBC featured UK actor John 
Yip as DC John Ho – the series also dealt with the racist behaviour of 
the police and UK society at the time. 
 
• Chopratown – one off BBC comedy crime drama broadcast in 2005 
featured actor comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar as private detective Vik 
Chopra.  Written as a pilot – the series was not commissioned. 
 
• 55 Degrees North ‐ 55 Degrees North is a BBC television drama series 
starring Don Gilet as DS Nicky Cole, a London detective relocated to 
Newcastle upon Tyne after exposing police corruption. Dervla 
Kirwan co‐stars as Claire Maxwell, an ambitious solicitor. 
 

29
 • The No1 Ladies Detective Agency is taken from a famous series of 
novels and set in Botswana.  The series starred Jill Scott (famous 
American actress/singer poet) as Mama Precious Ramotswe the first 
female detective in Botswana.  Shown on the BBC and in America. 
 
 
Region and Era 
 
Most crime dramas will be set in a particular district or region, city, town or even 
village. 
 
The people who live there will often be represented in a particular way – often 
using stereotypes that the audience can relate to quickly and easily. 
 
The setting will often dictate the types of crimes and the role of the investigator for 
example:  
 
• Morse’s cases are in Oxford and often revolve around upper 
class students or academics 
 
• Wycliffe – set in Cornwall often deals with fishermen and second 
home owners 
 
• Scotland has been popular as a location with –Rebus, Taggart 
and Hamish Macbeth  
 
• London is popular in crime drama probably because it is seen as 
being a place where many crimes take place.  Whitechapel 
represents London almost as a quasi­Edwardian nightmare.  It 
draws heavily on the idea of Jack the Ripper and although it is 
set in modern London, the feel is almost timeless as if criminal 
activity is eternal and always present.  This is achieved for the 
cinematography – focus pulls, low key lighting and sepia/rich 
browns of the filters that have been applied. 
 
There are also examples of crime dramas set in different time periods.  These are 
often used to add interest to the format. Variations like this prevent it from 
becoming stale. 
 
These programmes can also seek to show how much better policing/human rights 
are in the modern age and how much better off we are than in the past 
 
Examples are: 
 
• Foyles War – set in world war 2 Foyle fights crime as the war rages in 
Europe  
 
• Cadfael – set in the medieval times where there is no formal policing the 
solving of crimes is carried out by the clever monk Brother Cadfael. 

30
 
• Garrow’s Law (2009 – present) Set in the  early 19th century, Garrow is a 
lawyer who seems to have a knack of taking on cases that champion 
inequalities of the time: the rights of slaves, poor people, women and 
homosexuals.   
 
• Life on Mars – (2006‐7) really popular series in which Sam Tyler is a time 
traveling coma victim sent back to police the Manchester of the 1970s. 
 
 
Disability and Mental Illness  
 
 
• Disability or mental illness given negative connotations in crime 
dramas  
 
• Sometimes it will be linked to a motive for the crime.  E.g. jealousy, 
impaired thinking, lack of morality, bitterness caused by the disability 
 
• The Representation of disability has historically been linked with 
deviance from the norm and criminality ­ sadly this is still reflected in 
crime drama. 
 
•  It is rare for the main character to have a disability ­  Ironside, Monk 
and Mike Longstreet in Longstreet are notable exceptions – it seems 
that it is more acceptable for them to disabilities inflicted in the line of 
duty, this is sometimes shown to give them special powers and the 
criminals underestimate them. 
 
 
 
Some questions to ask when analysing a TV crime drama 
for Representation 
 
1. What is being represented? 
 
2. How is it represented? Using what codes?  
 
3. How is the representation made to seem 'true', 'commonsense' or 
'natural'? 
 
4. What is foregrounded and what is backgrounded? Are there any 
notable absences? 
 
5. Whose representation is it?  
 
6. Whose interests does it reflect? How do you know? 
 

31
 7. At whom is this representation targeted? How do you know? 
 
8. What does the representation mean to you?  
 
9. What does the representation mean to others?  
 
10. How do you account for the differences? 

In 2011 there was a huge

debate around the

comments by Brian True

May about why he thought

that there shouldn’t be any

ethnic minorities featured

in Midsomer Murders.

Here is a copy of an article

from the Guardian. It is interesting to note that no one had really noticed that

there were no other ethnic groups until he said so. Also it is interesting that it is

unpopular series with ethnic minorities, which links to questions 4, 7, 8 and 9

above

Midsomer Murders producer suspended over 
diversity remarks – John Plunkett Tuesday 15th 
March 2011 
Co­creator Brian True­May said ITV crime drama 'wouldn't be English village' 
if it featured minority groups. Midsomer is 'the last bastion of Englishness' 
and 'wouldn't work' if ethnic minorities were involved, said Brian True­May.  
 
The producer of one of ITV1's best‐known crime dramas, Midsomer Murders, has 
been suspended from his job after he suggested in an interview that there was no 
place in the programme for ethnic minorities and it was the "last bastion of 
Englishness". 

Brian True‐May, the co‐creator of the show, which began on ITV in 1997, said the 
series "wouldn't work" if there was any racial diversity portrayed in the sleepy 
village life of the fictional county of Midsomer. 

32
Production company All3Media has suspended True‐May while it conducts an 
inquiry and an ITV spokesman said the broadcaster was "shocked and appalled" by 
his comments. 

"We just don't have ethnic minorities involved. Because it wouldn't be the English 
village with them," True‐May said in an interview with the Radio Times. "It just 
wouldn't work. Suddenly we might be in Slough ... We're the last bastion of 
Englishness and I want to keep it that way." 

An ITV spokesman said: "We are shocked and appalled at these personal comments 
by Brian True‐May which are absolutely not shared by anyone at ITV. 

"We are in urgent discussions with All3Media, the producer of Midsomer Murders, 
who have informed us that they have launched an immediate investigation into the 
matter and have suspended Mr True‐May pending the outcome." 

True‐May was speaking to the Radio Times in advance of the new series of the 
drama, which returns to ITV1 next week. Originally based on the books by Caroline 
Graham, Midsomer Murders has so far featured 251 deaths, 222 of which were 
murder. 

The show's original star, John Nettles, previously best‐known for his title role in 
another long‐running crime drama, BBC1's Bergerac, appeared in the last of his 82 
episodes last month. He will be replaced in the leading role by Neil Dudgeon 
playing John Barnaby, the cousin of Nettles' original inspector Tom Barnaby. 

Perhaps anticipating criticism of his comments, True‐May admitted: "Maybe I'm 
not politically correct ... I'm trying to make something that appeals to a certain 
audience, which seems to succeed. And I don't want to change it." 

The race equality think‐tank the Runnymede Trust said True‐May's comments 
were out of date and no longer reflected English society. 

"Clearly, as a fictional work, the producers of Midsomer Murders are entitled to 
their flights of fancy, but to claim that the English village is purely white is no 
longer true and not a fair reflection of our society, particularly to this show's large 
international audience," said the trust's director Rob Berkeley. "It is not a major 
surprise that ethnic minority people choose not to watch a show that excludes 
them." 

True‐May has also banned swearing, graphic violence and sex scenes from the 
show, but his idyllic formula does not stop challenging storylines or other elements 
of diversity, which do not involve ethnicity. 

"If it's incest, blackmail, lesbianism, homosexuality ... terrific, put it in, because 
people can believe that people can murder for any of those reasons," he said. 

Not all of the programme's cast appeared to agree with the programme's producer. 
Actor Jason Hughes, who plays sidekick DS Jones and starred as Warren in BBC2's 
This Life, said: "This isn't an urban drama and it isn't about multiculturalism. That's 
not to say that there isn't a place for multiculturalism in the show. 

33
"But that's really not up to me to decide. I don't think that we would all suddenly 
go, 'a black gardener in Midsomer? You can't have that'. I think we'd all go, 'great, 
fantastic'. 

     
The following article also outlines how there is a 
change in the Representation of women in series 
such as Scott and Bailey. 
 
 
Women on the case: the new winning formula for 
primetime TV drama 
Series like Call the Midwife and Scott & Bailey are 
attracting record audiences with a mix of strong 
female characters 
Maggie Brown 
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 25 February 2012 13.51 GMT 
  

 
 
Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp as the detective constables in Scott & Bailey. 
Call the Midwife has been crowned as the BBC's most successful new drama of 
the past decade, thanks to its mix of strong female characters and a realistic 
portrayal of childbirth. Now ITV is poised to strike back, with a female 
detective series also entirely shaped by women. 
 

34
Industry figures believe these programmes represent a tipping point, with 
women now producing, writing, directing and acting in more television 
drama than ever before – and their efforts are proving hugely successful. 
 
Pippa Harris, executive producer of Call the Midwife, said: "It is an interesting 
moment. We have always had women producers and drama executives, but 
now we are seeing women directors and writers taking centre stage. It does 
make a tonal difference and it is leading to a shift in the dramas we are 
seeing." 
 
It was Heidi Thomas who adapted Jennifer Worth's book, Call the Midwife, for 
television. But, Harris said, the director Philippa Lowthorpe "was 
instrumental in setting that mixture of grit and warmth from the first 
episode. It could have been a different show if directed by a man. I was a big, 
big fan of Scott & Bailey last year because it was so well written and has such 
wonderful, strong female characters." 
 
The first episode of Scott & Bailey, starring Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp as 
detectives, slipped into ITV's schedules a year ago without anyone paying it 
much attention. It sprang a surprise by becoming the most highly rated new 
drama of the year, with 9.4 million viewers. It returns next week for an 
extended eight­part run. 
 
Paula Milne, whose new BBC2 epic, White Heat – about sexual politics and 
feminism, starring Claire Foy, Juliet Stevenson and Sam Claflin – also starts 
next week, said: "It is much better mainly because there are more women 
writers. It is so different from the 1970s, when I wrote Angels for BBC1. Our 
default position as women writers is that we give women equal weight to 
men. I think we also write male characters differently, as husbands, lovers, 
sons. I disagree, though, about the influence of women directors. Directors 
tend to come to productions late and do not influence the content as much as 
they could." 
 
One of the distinguishing features of Scott & Bailey, which can be tracked 
back to the composition of its female team, is that, while based in a fictional 
downbeat police station in Oldham, it deliberately avoids graphic depictions 
of murder and depicts the humdrum reality of policewomen's lives. In last 
year's opening episode, a shot of a hanged woman lasted just two seconds. 
This is because the key influence on the show's tone and plot is its co­creator, 
a retired detective inspector of 30 years' experience, Diana Taylor, who is 
resolutely opposed to showing, and lingering on, graphic details. 
 
The detective constables are portrayed by the writer, Sally Wainwright – best 
known for the comedy drama At Home with the Braithwaites – as women 
doing their jobs conscientiously and well, but also juggling personal lives. She 
said: "I have never written a crime series before, and I find it distasteful 
making a drama out of crime. I tell myself it's about interesting women." 
 
Nonetheless, Scott and Bailey are put on the toughest cases. The new series 
opens with three murders where people are tortured to death by a team of 

35
down­and­outs: one killing is sparked by a debt of £5 over a dog. But while 
you see shots of feet stabbed by a screwdriver, a burned body and a bloodied 
victim, the detail of suffering, such as anal rape and the loss of teeth, is 
relayed by words. 
 
Unlike the typical portrayal of detectives as lone and damaged people – such 
as Helen Mirren's Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect – Sharp's character, DC 
Janet Scott, goes home to two schoolchildren wanting attention and packed 
lunches, a disgruntled husband and a visiting elderly mother. 
 
Taylor said: "Detectives on TV tend to be abnormal. But to police the 
community you have to be normal. There have been times I was queueing in 
Tesco after being at a postmortem for six hours, and I'd think as I looked at 
the other women in the queue, 'If you only knew'." 
 
Peter Fincham, ITV's director of television, said he was proud of being able to 
follow the success of Downton Abbey with a contemporary detective series 
that is so completely different. 
 
"The pitch for this series was not the most exciting in the world. It is not the 
stylised world of the police. It is in the wrong bit of Manchester, not the 
centre everyone knows. And it sets out to do the hardest thing, a drama set in 
the real world. But it is all in the execution. I like the fact that you expect the 
two detectives to report back to a boss who is a man. But the boss in Scott & 
Bailey is awoman!" 
 
Taylor says writers such as Wainwright do not need to rely on gore to suggest 
the horror of murder. "When TV producers want to show a disembowelled 
body, they go to the butcher's and get a pig's innards. I personally don't think 
it is necessary. If someone is battered to death, the public don't need to see it, 
especially if children might be around watching. 
 
"People think showing gore, exploding organs, relays the horror. But I know 
from my work that the real horror is for parents being told you will never see 
your son or daughter again. They think of all the things they wish they had 
said, not being able to touch them again." There is an emphasis on the way 
the detective constables break bad news to the families or partners affected 
and on how easy it is to get it wrong. 
 
Taylor hates watching most TV crime series, dubbing them "eye candy for 
weirdos". She added: "Yes, being a woman, part of a team of women, does 
have a cumulative effect." 
 
Suranne Jones came up with the idea for Scott & Bailey with Sally Lindsay, 
one of its guest stars, because they wanted to create better roles for women, 
and writer Wainwright was introduced to Taylor. The producer is Nicola 
Shindler, who runs the Red Production Company in Manchester. Two of the 
three directors are women. 
 

36
Fincham, however, believes that television drama is a broad church and 
cautions: "It never all trends in one direction. Gore is a feature of detective 
dramas. We are also running Whitechapel – crime meets horror in a very 
stylised manner." 
 
Veteran Ted Childs, producer of The Sweeney and the creative force behind 
Inspector Morse, added: "It all depends on how good the script is, and 
characterisation, so you don't have to depict dismembered bodies. But there 
is, on the other hand, a cultural change that seems to demand you depict 
more and more." 
 
  
© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All 
rights reserved. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

37
10 - Easy tips for success

1. Watch crime dramas and note down episode etc

2. Does the narrative follow any of the theories that you have looked at

3. Do you think the episode has too much violence – effects theory

4. How does it Represent people and places

5. Learn names of main characters – otherwise how will you talk about

it in the exam?

6. Research the audience for the crime drama on the web and BARB

7. Look at their trailer and posters

8. What is the dramas visual style – does it use genre signifiers etc/ is it
traditional or contemporary?
9. What Institution makes the TV drama and where can I view it?

10. Who do you think the target audience is – how do you know (type
adverts in between programmes, time shown, type of narrative or
visual style, amount of violence etc) – look at the section on
audiences – can you match the crime drama to a demographic or
psychographic profile?
 

38
Glossary

ABOVE THE FOLD The proportion of a website which appears on opening a website, without
necessitating use of scroll bar

ACCELERATED MOTION The speeding up of a sequence to lend an artificial sense of pace.

ACTION CODES Roland Barthes’ description of small units of ‘action’ within a sequence from a
narrative, which keep the audience watching

ANALEPSIS Another word for disturbance to narrative by depiction of a past event-a ‘flashback’

ANCHORAGE In semiotics, usually words which ‘anchor’ meaning in a still image, such as caption,
slogan or tagline

AURAL SIGNIFIER In semiotics, a sound which conveys a particular meaning or evokes a particular
impression

BINARY OPPOSITIONS Claude Levi-Strauss’ means of understanding narrative tensions in a text

CHIAROSCURO High contrast lighting with dramatic use of light and shadow

CINEMATOGRAPHY Anything relating to the way in which a series has been filmed, particularly its
visual style

COLOUR CODES In semiotics, the meanings attached to individual colours and combinations of
colours

CONNOTATIONS In semiotics, the meaning intended by or attached to a sign

CONTINUITY EDITING Dominant Western style of editing which appears ‘seamless’ to the audience
and does not attract special attention

COP SHOW Crime drama featuring ensemble cast and multiple storylines with a serial element based
in a police district

CONVERGENCE The increasing trend of media technologies to support more than one media form
e.g. smartphones, tablet computers

CORPUS ‘Body’ of texts within a particular genre

CULTURAL REGIME OF VERSIMILITUDE Comparisons drawn by the audience between aspects of

texts and the real world

DECELERATED MOTION The slowing down of a sequence to lend particular significance to the action
within it

DIEGESIS The ‘story world’ – the enclosed world of the show

DIEGETIC SOUND Sound supposedly generated by events, objects or people on-screen (within the
diegesis)

DIRECT ADDRESS The common practice in TV publicity materials of having the actor look into the
lens to establish a connection with audience

DRESS CODE In semiotics, the conscious choosing of particular clothes to signify something about a
character
DYNAMIC CONTENT Content on a web-page which is interactive or regularly updated

ENCLOSED NOTICE A narrative which has complete resolution, usually within a single episode

ENIGMA CODES Roland Barthes – questions raised by the text the audience hope to have answered
by the end

ENSEMBLE CAST A cast with multiple secondary or primary characters, who share narrative
significance across episodes of a series

EXPECTATIONS AND HYPOTHESES The pre-existing knowledge an audience have of a genre which
allows them to make predictions about a new text

EYE-LINE MATCH Two shots edited together which allows them to make predictions about a new
text

FANSITE An amateur website produced and maintained by enthusiast of a particular TV series

FLAGSHIP PROGRAMME A programme which occupies an important scheduling slot and may also
have a high proportion of a channel/networks budget

FORMULA General Term describing the common narrative shape of a particular media text, whether
fiction or non-fiction genre

GENERIC REGIME OF VERISIMILITUDE Comparisons drawn by the audience between a new text in a
genre and their previous experience of the corpus

GRAVEYARD SLOT Early hours of the morning in a channel’s TV schedule

HEGEMONIC FUNCTION Describes the possible role according to Marxist theorists such as Gramsci
of mass media texts in maintaining the status quo

HIGHBROW A cultural product which targets primarily a middle class or educated audience

HOMEPAGE The first page of a website, from which all others may be accessed via ‘breadcrumbs’ or
links

HOUSE STYLE The combination of typographical codes to formulate a recognisable branding within
or across print media products

HYBRIDSATION The process by which genres intersect one another and cross-fertilise

HYPER-REAL COLOURS OR SOUNDS Colours or sounds which have been artificially emphasised in a
text in an obvious ways through digital manipulation or lens filters

HYPODERMIC SYRINGE MODEL Passive model of audience consumption which suggests an audience
are ‘injected’ with single readings of a media texts

ICONIC SIGNIFIER In semiotics, a signifier which has strong connotations of a particular time, culture
or place, etc.

ICONGRAPHY The study of the content of images and their meanings; repeated images which
become associated with a media form

INCIDENTAL MUSIC Non-diegetic music which contributes to the atmosphere of a scene unheard by
characters
JUMP CUT An ugly cut caused by the juxtapositioning of two shots which are less than 30 degrees
apart

JUMPING THE SHARK Point where a TV series surpasses believability and declines in popularity

LOW BROW Accessible media text which does not require much education to consume

MacGuffin Plot device designed to engage the viewer but which is actually inconsequential to the
story

MEDIATION Conveying a representation in a particular way; the process by which media texts
communicate with their audience

MISE-EN-SCENE The analysis of different aspects of the composition of a particular shot or the
filming of a scene

MONTAGE The selection of a number of diverse shots which may compress time and create
atmosphere without strict chronology

NARRATIVE RESOLUTION The completion of a single storyline within a text

NARRATIVE CONCEIT Device deployed within a narrative which adds interest for the audience, e.g.
vignettes, subversions of well-known narratives

NICHE BROADCASTER/CHANEL Broadcaster/channel which has a comparatively small audience

share compared with the major channels

NON-DIEGETIC SOUND Sound which is external to the diegesis, e.g. voiceover or signature tune

NON-VERBAL CODES/COMMUNICATION In semiotics, refers to body language and facial expressions

or characters, or non-verbal interactions between them

PATRIARCHY A society where most power is held by men from governance through to the domestic
realm

PILOTS Single episodes of a TV programme made to assess ratings potential

POLICE PROCEDURAL Crime drama featuring a detective investigator

POLYSEMIC READING The acknowledgment that media audiences may interpret texts in different
ways due to factors such as lifestyle and social class

PRIMETIME Peak viewing time in the evening – varies in meaning between US and UK

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTER A broadcaster which has certain conditions of public duty attached
to its license

PULL FOCUS Change in focus within a single shot to draw attention to foreground instead of
background or vice versa

PULL QUOTE In typography, a quote selected from the main body of an interview and enlarged to
draw the attention of the reader

QUALITATIVE REPRESENTATION The nature of a representation of a particular social group in

society in a specific media text or across a range
QUANTITATIVE REPRESENTATION The amount of depictions of a particular social group within a text
or series, or across a genre for example

RATINGS The empirical measurements of television viewings based on a monitored ‘representative’

sample of viewers

REACTION SHOT A shot which conveys meaning to the audience by directing their attention to
character response to events or other people

RESTRICTED NARRATION Narrative style in which some aspects of the plot are withheld from the
audience to maintain dramatic tension

SCENE ACTION In screenplay writing sets the scene by giving directions about location character, etc.

SCENE HEADING In screenplay writing, establishes time of day and location

SCHEDULING The decisions taken by channels as to the sequence and order in which programmes
are broadcast

SELECTIVE FOCUS The focusing of the lens on a particular area of the frame to create a particular
effect

SELECTIVE SOUND The exaggeration of a particular sound in the mix from dramatic effort, such as a
heartbeat or other naturally quiet sound

SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS Structural approach to media analysis pioneered by Swiss linguist Ferdinand
Saussure; the study of signs

SHOOTING SCRIPT A television screenplay annotated or written to direct a technical crew

SHOT-REVERSE SHOT Sequence of three shots which form a basic unit of editing logic

SIGNATURE TUNE Sometimes known as a theme tune; familiar tune signifying the start of the
programme to the audience

SLUG Line beneath a headline which hooks the reader into magazine article

SOUNDSCAPE Background sound design; convinces an audience unobtrusively of the verisimilitude

STAR IMAGE The complex sum of an audience’s perception of a famous actor in film or television

STORYBOARD The shot-by-shot visualisation and sequencing of a moving image text

STRAIGHT CUT Most common straight transition between two shots without, for example, fade or
dissolve

SUB-GENRE A smaller group of texts within a genre which have certain shared characteristics not
seen in others

SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF The willing process by which audiences immerse themselves in a fictional
narrative

SYNERGY The simultaneous co-ordination of marketing campaigns by inter-connected companies

TAGLINE Marketing slogan used in advertising campaigns, designed to arouse interest in the series

TILT Movement of the camera on the y axis either sweeping upwards or downwards
TRACKING SHOT Movement of the camera along a track to follow action. Similar to a dolly shot in
effect

TRANSIENT CHARACTERS Characters who appear only in a single outing in a programme whose
significance is restricted to that narrative

TYPOGRAPHICAL CODES In semiotics, refers to the contribution of layouts, fonts etc. to the meaning
of a text

UNRELIABLE NARRATOR A narrator whose interest in particular accounts of events means that their
version cannot be trusted

USES AND GRATIFICATION An active theory of audience used to encounter hypodermic syringe
theory by Blumler, Katz, McQuail and Brown

UTOPIAN SOLUTUTIONS An active theory of audience which examines how media texts can make up
for the deficiencies of real life in the modern world

VIGNETTE A micro-narrative, quick scene or sketch, often used to elucidate a character trait but
discreet from the main narrative or sub-plots, or a video filter that puts a blurred oval around an
image

VISUAL LITERACY Accurate interpretation or competent recreation of visual information such as the
elements of design of camera shots

WATERSHED Post -9pm broadcasting considered less suitable for a young audience; a voluntary
programming policy in the UK and US

WHIP PAN Fast pan used to give the illusion of extremely fast unfolding of events or action or panic