SERIES

TEACHING FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES

Teaching TV Drama
Jeremy Points

British Film Institute

Series Editor: Vivienne Clark

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Thinking about genre

Genre means a kind or type and is a way of categorising films and TV programmes. Before you start studying TV drama, a broad television genre, you need to think about the role genre plays in broadcasters and television producers thinking as well as in audiences viewing. This will help put into context your detailed work on the TV drama genre. Your television viewing G What are some of your favourite TV programmes? G Why do you like them? G Are you aware that you are looking at a programme in a particular genre? Look at extracts from at least three contrasting television genres. You might try watching one without sound and one with sound only. G Can you identify the genre you are watching/ listening to? G What features enable you to identify the genre? Look at examples of programmes and TV dramas which combine elements of different genres called hybrids. Examples include Big Brother, The Sopranos, Extras, Doctor Who, Sea of Souls. G Which elements of different genres can you identify in each programme? G Why do you think programmes like these are produced? G How would you label programmes like these? G How do broadcasters label them?

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What makes HBOs The Sopranos a hybrid, and why?

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Thinking about genre

G G G

Do you think that broadcasters and producers consider the different programmes they produce in terms of genre? How far are the generic features of a programme part of audiences viewing experience? In what ways? In what ways do you think a programmes genre affects the kind of programme which is produced?

Audiences ability to recognise the genre of a programme almost instantly means that they have assimilated the ingredients (conventions see Worksheet 2) of a genre without realising it. As you study TV drama, you should think about how far the genre affects the nature of the drama.

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TV Drama

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What is TV drama?
TV drama is a broad genre. At its simplest, it is fictionalised action in narrative form. It is important to gain some basic understanding of how and why TV drama splits into the different types broadcast today.
G G

List as many examples of TV drama as you can. (Use a website, like the BBCs, or a listings magazine to prompt you.) Find examples of TV dramas which appear to be both a TV drama and something else, eg, a TV drama and a crime series like Prime Suspect. What is the reason for this kind of combination? Name as many different kinds of TV drama as you can.

What you have been doing is uncovering the various subgenres (genres within genres) of TV drama.
G

Is Prime Suspect a TV drama or a crime drama or both? What is the significance of these differnt ways of categorising TV drama?

Genre means kind or type. (Think of the way biologists refer to genus to describe a type of plant or animal species.) A television genre thus refers to programmes which can be categorised by the things they have in common the conventions of a genre. Many genres break down into subgenres. Crime drama is a TV drama which has become a genre in its own right. TV drama has given rise to a number of subgenres. What started out as drama on television, single plays, quickly gave rise to different kinds of drama: costume dramas, childrens classic dramas, soap operas, crime dramas, hospital dramas, sci-fi dramas and historical adventures. This took place in the 1950s as the BBC was evolving and ITV first began broadcasting. Why do you think this happened? Why are there still so many different kinds of TV drama? (See the Timeline for further clues and examples of the first subgenres.)

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TV Drama

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TV drama conventions 1
The conventions of a genre are the ingredients which all examples of a genre share. They act a little like rules not necessarily rigid rules but rules you need to follow in order to create something which audiences will recognise as part of a particular genre. Like other conventions governing speech and behaviour, for example audiences seem to assimilate the conventions of genres unconsciously.

Establishing the conventions of TV drama

Choose three or four contrasting TV dramas and look at short extracts from them. Here are some suggestions: a single drama like Yasmin, a crime or medical series like The Shield or Green Wing, a US drama series like 24 (2001), Lost or Desperate Housewives, a drama serial like the classic literary adaptation Bleak House (2005), a sensational drama like Footballers Wives or a teen drama like The OC.

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What is different about the drama series 24? Did it establish a new trend?
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TV drama conventions 1

What do they have in common? You will find that TV dramas all have the following ingredients:
G G

G G G

Characters even particular kinds of characters: eg, at its most simple, good and bad characters. Stories they all tell stories, whether those stories involve adventure, crime or romance and they often, but not always, end happily. The stories are told against familiar backdrops: eg, homes, police stations and offices (for crime dramas), hospitals (for medical dramas) most of which are created in studios. However, most dramas also use outside locations to create particular effects. Camerawork particular kinds of shots are used: eg, sequences involving establishing shots followed by mid-shots of characters, shot/reverse shots to show character interaction and, in particular, close-ups to show the characters emotions. Stories use dialogue to tell the stories. Occasionally, monologues are built in (as voiceovers, a character telling a story). Music is used to punctuate the action, create effects (suspense, tension) and underline emotional moments. Particular subgenres tend to have items which make them immediately identifiable police cars, blue lights, operating theatres and scalpels, triage/reception areas in hospitals. Icons of the genre, they symbolise the (sub)genre.

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TV Drama

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TV drama conventions 2
The conventions of TV drama revolve around:
G G G G G G

Characters. Narrative both its overall structure and how it is constructed. Sets and settings locations against which the story unfolds and which frequently take on a symbolic significance. Camerawork particular kinds of camerawork are often associated with particular subgenres. Dialogue, sound and music sound and music create effects and often underline emotional content. Icons these tend to be associated with particular subgenres.

Watching extracts from a selection of TV dramas, fill in the attached table.

Six Feet Under: Character a key concept of TV drama

The key issue to identify is how these basic conventions are used in the TV dramas you are studying. In several extracts, institutional and audience issues will be raised. Aim to note these as well.

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TV drama conventions 2

Name of drama Broadcaster/ scheduling details Writer/director/producer Conventions Characters

Narrative

Mise en scne (particularly locations, sets, lighting and costume)

Sound: key dialogue, sound effects, music

Icons

Industry G Production, broadcast channel, scheduling, sponsorship, marketing and promotion, other available platforms etc. G Do you think any of the elements you have listed have shaped the drama?

Audiences G Main target audience, male/female, different ways different audiences might respond to the drama, encouraging fandom etc. G Do you think the drama will shape audiences points of view about people, issues or events?

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TV Drama

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Working with characters

Characters (and the narratives which flow from them) are at the centre of audiences enthusiasm for TV drama. They are also key to influencing audiences, how they think of people and groups of people, or particular issues. It is therefore important to ask how audiences relate to characters in a drama. Look at extracts from three or four contrasting dramas like Charmed, Pride and Prejudice, Footballers Wives or House.
G G G G G

What kinds of characters appear in the dramas? Are there similarities between characters in different dramas? Do you respond emotionally to some characters? In what ways and why? What do you understand by identifying with a character? Do you think all audiences respond in the same way to characters? Are the producers, writers and/or directors of dramas trying to get you to respond in a particular way to characters? How?

You have probably already realised that many TV drama narratives feature characters who are the opposite of one another, and that they are frequently set up in conflict. The most obvious conflict is between the good and bad characters. This simple idea appears to underlie many narratives and is generally described as binary opposition, after the French writer Claude Lvi-Strauss (who used it in his explorations of myths). Look at extracts from two or three dramas to explore how these character oppositions work. Again, choose contrasting dramas like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Desperate Housewives, Blackpool or Spooks. Identify the good and bad characters.
G G G G

How do you know which is which? Are we as audiences being encouraged to sympathise with the good characters and be antagonistic to the bad? How is this process underlined by editing and camerawork, mise en scne (like locations, settings, lighting and costume)? Do the good characters succeed and the bad fail? Why is this? What effect does this have on audiences?

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TV Drama

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TV drama conventions 3
In order for television producers to keep audiences interested, they frequently make slight variations on the standard conventions of the genre. This is often noticeable in the way mise en scne, camerawork and sound/music is used. These elements are also used to underline issues raised by the drama.

Mise en scne
Choose extracts from three contrasting dramas such as Lost, Doctor Who, Funland, Rebus and Tipping the Velvet. The opening of an episode is frequently revealing.
G G

What are the connotations of the mise en scne? Does the mise en scne underline any particular issues which the drama might be raising?

Choose dramas which you consider are slightly unconventional examples of a particular TV drama subgenre (like medical dramas). In what ways is the mise en scne different from the conventional kind of mise en scne used in that subgenre. Here is an example based on medical dramas. Conventional mise en scne? Casualty, Holby City and ER G Do you think these dramas have a conventional mise en scne? What makes it conventional? Unconventional mise en scne? Bodies and House G How far is the mise en scne in Bodies and House unconventional? Give reasons for any variations on the conventional.

Camerawork
Explore the way camerawork is used in three contrasting dramas. Some innovative examples from the 1990s are: NYPD Blue, This Life and Cops. Interesting contemporary examples include: Messiah 4, Ghost Squad, Bleak House and 24.
G

What kinds of camerawork are used and why?

Sound and music

Sound and music have taken an increasingly prominent role in TV drama, although they have always been significant. The most obvious role sound plays in particular, but not exclusively, music is in underlining emotional response and thus positioning audiences. In exploring this, play scenes without sound to highlight what you think sound will contribute and play sound without vision to explore what the sound suggests.
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TV Drama

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TV drama conventions 3

For example (in key dramas from the past):

G G G G

What role does the non-diegetic sound play at the end of a typical ER episode? What role does the title music play inthe 2005 US drama Rome? What kind of soundtrack is used in the different CSI series? Take one example and explore how and why it is used. At the moment when Darcy and Elizabeth first exchange glances of love in Episode 5 of Andrew Daviess Pride and Prejudice, the volume of the non-diegetic music increases. This is a common technique to position audiences and is frequently used in romantic dramas. Look for your own examples. In a classic drama from 1982, Yossers Story from Alan Bleasdales Boys from the Blackstuff, a repeated harpsichord phrase is used throughout the drama to underline Yossers psychological isolation and imbalance. Look for another example of where music underlines a psychological effect.

Music is sometimes used in an ironic way to counterpoint the action. Martin Scorsese exploits music ironically in many of his films. In Six Feet Under, Series 1/Episode 2, a character dies following a diving accident in his own swimming pool (accompanied by Dean Martins Aint That a Kick in the Head.)
G

Explore how sound and/or music is used ironically in drama. Good examples can be found in the opening of the recent adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing, Blackpool, Doctor Who or (from the past) Dennis Potters The Singing Detective and David Lynchs Twin Peaks.

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TV Drama

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Genre Open to change

Genre variations
Genres are always open to change.
G

Producers aim to vary the standard conventions to maintain audience interest without departing from them so much that they alienate audiences. Audiences do not want slavish imitations but subtle variations on the expected. They are attracted to the slight variation but gain pleasure from the genres expectations being fulfilled.

Explore variations in the crime genre. Look, for example, at the different kinds of investigators in crime dramas. Find out about the ones you are unfamiliar with. Extracts from several are available on www.screenonline.co.uk. For example: Dixon of Dock Green, Z Cars, The Sweeney, Cagney and Lacey, Starsky and Hutch, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, Homicide, Cracker, Prime Suspect, Linda Lee, Murder in Suburbia, CSI, Silent Witness, Waking the Dead, New Tricks, Ghost Squad, Murphys Law.
G

Name other variations used in crime drama. Consider, for example, narrative and mise en scne.

Hybrids
Another way of varying and extending a genre is by creating hybrids. It may be that hybrids are not a new phenomenon, as is sometimes claimed, but something broadcasters and film producers have always employed.
G

In what ways do you think the following dramas are hybrids? List the genres which are blended to create the hybrid. The Singing Detective Blackpool Sea of Souls Murder Prevention Buffy the Vampire Slayer Charmed Doctor Who Footballers Wives Mayo

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Why do you think broadcasting organisations commission and produce hybrid dramas? Do audiences see these dramas as hybrids? Do you think audiences gain more pleasure from viewing hybrid genres?

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Challenging dramas
At its simplest, an ideology is the way people think and feel the views and attitudes people hold which influence the way they see the world. Questioning the way the majority of people think at any one time is therefore challenging a dominant ideology. Most TV dramas either reinforce dominant ideologies (encouraging people to think like the majority) or challenge them.
G

G G G

Do you think it is important for TV dramas to make people think about contemporary social and cultural issues like gender, ethnic differences, sex trafficking, unemployment or social class? How do TV dramas raise these issues? What do you understand by challenging the dominant ideology? In what ways, if at all, do you think any three of the following challenge dominant ideologies? Queer as Folk and Six Feet Under (sexual orientation) Footballers Wives (gender, sexual orientation, ethnic difference) Yasmin (ethnic difference) Sex Traffic (prostitution and sex trafficking) Boys from the Blackstuff (unemployment) The Sopranos (gender and masculinity in particular) Shameless (social class, gender, sexual orientation, families and communities)

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Yasmin: a challenging drama raising important issues about muslim people in Britian today, or just white-oriented stereotyping?
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Narrative construction
Television narratives are created by placing images next to one another. The nature of the narrative what it suggests to audiences is affected by editing, camerawork and mise en scne. Select any short sequence from a TV drama to explore this. Here is an example from Lost, Series 1/Episode 4:

Constructing a narrative shot by shot: Lost, Series 1/Episode 4 10:3311:36

Denotation: What is the story (in one sentence)? Connotation: What does the story suggest? What is suggested by: Camerawork Mise en scne (setting/location, lighting and costume) Editing?

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Lost: Series 1, Episode 4: 10.3311.36: a story of two cultures ...

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Narrative construction

Conventions of a complete narrative

Here is the start of a simple narrative: a couple wake up and go downstairs to breakfast. They do not realise that they are being watched by terrorists. G What happens next? Create a narrative in no more than five sentences. G Which standard narrative conventions have you used? You might have come up with the following narrative conventions: G Beginning, middle and ending; G Characters some good, some bad; G Probably a happy ending. Why do most stories end happily? Look at approximately the first five minutes of Series 3/Episode 10 of Spooks (which starts as outlined above). Which conventions are used? Prompts G This feels like the beginning of a narrative. Why? G What starts as an ordinary, everyday morning, is suddenly threatened a standard way of beginning a narrative. Why? G Audience involvement through the danger that is set up. We are automatically being encouraged to take sides. Binary opposition? G Are any other binary oppositions established?

Exploring narrative structures

What are the different narrative structures associated with the following TV drama forms? Do they conform to Todorovs and LviStrausss outlines of narrative structures, which both have a fundamentally ideological significance?
G G G G G G G

Single drama/film: Yasmin; Two-nighter: Sex Traffic; Soap (continuing drama): EastEnders; Serial: Bleak House; Anthology series (self-contained episodes, each based on different characters): The Street; Long-form series drama: Lost; Long-form series drama with some narrative experimentation: 24.

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Explore the beginnings and the conclusions of episodes from these dramas. What can you say about their narrative structure?
G G G G

ER West Wing Clocking Off State of Play

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The conventions of realism

Dramas do not provide windows on reality, but offer audiences versions of reality using codes and conventions designed to convince them of this. Realism is constructed and is essentially an effect. To explore this, choose two contrasting hospital-based medical dramas (like ER, House and Bodies). How do they convey the sense of the reality of a hospital? Think about the following:
G

What kinds of characters appear and what are they wearing? What is the narrative about? How is it constructed? What are the most significant features of the mise en scne? What kind of camerawork is used? Do you notice anything particular about the editing? What sort of dialogue is used (any dialogue that you particularly associate with hospitals)? What other sound is used? Ambient (natural) sound? Music? Effects of any kind?

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House: A stage managed, promotional pose. How far are all dramas constructed?
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The conventions of realism

ER: Creating the effect of reality? For what reasons?

ERs hard-wall, closed-ceiling emergency room sets [as opposed to traditional open-ceiling and three-wall stage sets to allow for cameras and lighting] add another intrinsic element to the shows realism It is much harder to move around on these stages because of the ceilings that dont move but thats what makes you feel like you are really in the ER. The sets provide more interesting possibilities for us to choreograph scenes the way we do. We can shoot low and aim the camera up and see the great ceilings and architecture or wind around the multilayered hallways. You feel a sense of reality and immediacy ... I think its a very subconscious thing, but I think its one of the keys to the show. Director, Mimi Leder, quoted in Pourroy, 1996, pp 334
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What does this extract tell you about the role of mise en scne and camerawork in creating the effect of the real?

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Different kinds of realism

There are different ways to create a sense of reality. The codes of realism vary in different kinds of drama. Perhaps we should talk of realisms rather than realism. Realism perhaps reflects points of view about reality sometimes the producers and sometimes audiences. Choose three contrasting dramas which use different kinds of camerawork and editing to attract different audiences, such as Greys Anatomy (2005), Bodies (20036) and Casualty. Each conveys a sense of reality but in a different way.
G G

Which different codes of realism are used in each drama? Do you think that Greys Anatomy shows hospitals from a younger persons point of view, while Casualty adopts a slightly more mature perspective? Why is that? Do you think that Bodies shows a particular point of view about the reality of hospitals in Britain today? Whose point of view is that?

The edge of television realism

Research several classic, and to some extent, experimental TV dramas from the past like Alan Clarkes Carousel, Dennis Potters The Singing Detective or David Lynchs Twin Peaks.
G

How far and in what way do you think each of these dramas uses the codes and conventions of realism? Do they convey a sense of the real? In what ways do they stretch the conventions of realism? And why?

Exploring with your own experimental narratives

Take a scene from any drama you know.
G

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British Film Institute 2007 An iconic image from David Lynchs surreal Twin Peaks.

What have the director, director of photography and writer done in order to create a sense of the real? Storyboard the scene as an alternative drama that stretches the conventions of realism. Why do you think realism dominates television today?
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Contemporary representations of gender

It is often claimed that women are represented as sexual subjects rather than sexual objects and that men are no longer represented in terms of power and force. The way gender is represented in the media seems to affect all audiences it shapes peoples sense of themselves. Choose contrasting TV dramas and explore how women and men are represented. How are women and men represented in the following: Desperate Housewives or Footballers Wives Wire in the Blood or Ultimate Force Green Wing or Extras Doctor Who The OC or Totally Frank

Desperate Housewives: Sexual subjects or sexual objects?

G G G

Do you think all audiences will respond in the same way to the representations? What role does camerawork, lighting, editing and costume in particular play in underlining these representations? How typical do you think that these representations are of (a) TV drama in general and (b) other forms of media you experience?

Take one female and one male character from a TV drama who is represented in what, for you, are typical ways. Play the following roles:
G

As broadcaster: Justify why these characters should be in your TV drama and why this particular sequence/storyline should be included? If you had to change it, how would you do that? As writer: Take a female character represented mainly in terms of sexuality and a male character represented as insensitive, self-oriented and potentially violent. Create an alternative character for your drama and the storyline she/he will be involved in. How do they challenge dominant representations? Why challenge dominant representations of gender?

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Positioning audiences
Dramas tend to encourage the majority of their viewers to take up a particular point of view to the characters and issues. This process is called positioning. Storyboard an alternative opening sequence to Spooks which just focuses on Fiona and Adam. In ten shots, try to encourage the audience to do one of the following:
G G G G

Characters and binary oppositions: How are audiences positioned to identify with Fiona and Adam and be antagonistic to Ahmed?

Like both Fiona and Adam Like Fiona and not Adam Like Adam and not Fiona Dislike both Fiona and Adam

Concentrate on how you will achieve this in visual terms, using minimal dialogue.
G G G G G

What kind of setting/location will you use? What do the characters wear? What lighting is used? Will you use any particular camerawork? What will be the key features of the editing? In what order do the shots come? What length of shot will you use?

This exercise demonstrates how mise en scne, camerawork and editing, and their role in narrative construction, can position audiences. Looking back on your own sequence, explain what would be an oppositional and negotiated interpretation of it. Give reasons for those interpretations. Reading/reasons why audiences might interpret the sequences in this way
Oppositional Negotiated

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TV drama Its role for broadcasters

It is important to ask what role TV drama plays for broadcasters. Is it still a flagship genre? Does it still anchor terrestrial schedules? With more and more platforms for viewing TV drama becoming available, are we moving from broadcasting to narrowcasting? What role is TV drama playing in that possible shift? Do all these industry issues affect the nature and kinds of TV drama audiences see? What do the following reveal about the importance of TV drama for terrestrial broadcasters in Britain?
G G G G

BBC trailers like The One for Drama (now The One to Watch) Promotion of autumn schedules Radio Times marketing Sponsorship on ITV Sainsburys and Leerdammer

Look at the websites for each of the major terrestrial broadcasters.

G G G

How do the different broadcasters use their websites to market TV drama? What differences are there between the major terrestrial broadcasters? What does each website reveal about the significance of TV drama for terrestrial broadcasters?

Choose three contrasting channels.

G

How far does TV drama contribute to the identity and brand image of each of the major broadcasters and their channels?

Read the following extracts from an Observer article, 25 November 2005:

On the BBC and TV drama the sparkling array of new work on BBC1 coincides with the corporations charter renewal. Having Poliakoff alongside Shakespeare Retold and Bleak House on your flagship channel ticks that public service box rather better than Groundforce. On family drama: the Doctor Who effect [Doctor Who showed that] drama can trump both light entertainment and reality pap in the ratings ITV are going to compete with Doctor Who. They have commissioned a sci-fi drama Primaeval. Dan Chambers: Reality TV probably peaked last year and what will fill the gap is drama.

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What do these comments suggest about the significance of TV drama to broadcasters?

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TV drama Its role for broadcasters

Websites
Explore the homepages from the BBCs websites for Spooks and Doctor Who. What do you think they are aiming to achieve? Consider, for example:
G G G G G G

The design of the homepage (image and typography) and its connotations; BBC logos; The links (including to other programmes); The language used; The purposes of Your reviews and the Messageboard; Other ways, such as games and screensavers, in which audiences are encouraged to get involved, interactively or otherwise.

The homepage puts across three basic points:

G G G

It is likely to appeal to a younger, internet-oriented audience; It is encouraging audiences particularly younger audiences - to become more actively involved and develop into (loyal) fans; It is therefore promoting the BBC, hoping to provide a more dynamic image, which would appeal to younger audiences, who might be tempted to feel that they are part of it (and prepared, therefore, to pay a licence fee).

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Broadcasters websites involving audiences or indirect promotion?

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Programme supply and digital rights

Downloading, on-demand viewing and podcasting
Read the following extracts from Emily Bells article for the Media Guardian, 9 January 2006. It deals with just one aspect of the way television viewing is changing. What are some of the other ways in which viewers will be able to watch TV drama in future?

Microsoft and Sky [have] agree[d] last week to a historic union which will allow viewers to download Sky programmes on to their PCs. The scary union of Bill Gates and Rupert Murdoch is just the latest reflection of how broadcasters are increasingly making their programmes available over platforms other than television. Whilst in many parts of the country many still struggle to get a clear signal for Five, the industry is charging ahead with a future which involves receiving your audiovisual entertainment through a number of household devices. The strong rumours are that Steve Jobs, head of Apple, is about to announce a hang-it-on-your-wall high definition television with a computer built into it a kind of giant iPod Nano dangling above the fireplace which will accelerate the process of watching what were once TV programmes as computer downloads. But behind the scenes this amazing vision of a new world is a knotty problem for the regulators at the moment you are allowed to sell programmes but retain the other rights [which include making money from other forms of distribution, including electronic]. If you sell to the BBC, which has a website it is proud of, it has the electronic rights for seven days but then they revert to you.

This is a model which has emerged after major interventions in the programme supply market to correct the power of broadcasters over teeny independents. Now these independents have made millions out of stock market floats and broadcasters are wondering where their next centime is coming from, the picture looks slightly different. Indeed, the fight between broadcasters and independents over what happens to rights is not a dead issue but the most pressing concern in the industry today. Lucky Ofcom, the regulator, is producing its own thoughts on the issue of programme supply and digital rights tomorrow. On the one hand you have Gates and Murdoch and the BBC, claiming that it is uneconomic to commission programmes unless this includes the opportunity for the exploitation of electronic rights, and on the other hand you have the independent producers worried that having finally garnered some power they are potentially about to lose it to muscular mega corporations. Then you have Channel 4, which owns no original production facilities, because that is how it is configured, and which faces a fairly miserable future without some retention of residual and electronic rights. Who owns a programme and for how long is the pressing question to be answered.

G G G

What are the main sources of income for (a) the BBC (b) ITV and (c) independent producers of TV drama? Set out the main ways in which downloading will affect (a) broadcasters like the BBC and ITV and (b) independent producers of TV drama like Kudos. Why do you think downloading TV drama might pose more of a threat than recording TV drama off-air? What are the main commercial ways in which broadcasters are hoping to benefit from downloading and podcasting? Who owns a programme and for how long?
TV Drama

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TV crime drama: Broadcasters approach to genre

The popularity of crime drama on TV
Crime drama is probably the most popular drama subgenre on television outside soap opera. The following should give you a rapid overview its popularity. Look at a listings magazine and count roughly how many TV dramas are shown in one week, and how many of these are crime dramas. Exclude soaps and sitcoms.
G

During the week of 208 October 2005, 15 out of 27 TV dramas, excluding soaps, were crime dramas around 55%. If one includes the five soaps, the percentage is just below 50%.

Look at the table of a September weeks Top 10 drama, based on BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) figures and reprinted in Broadcasts weekly look at ratings (Week ending: 25 September 2005, Broadcast, 14 October 2005).

Top 10 Drama Title 1 2 3 4

Scruffy police detective Jack Frost in A Touch of Frost.

Day Sun Thu Sat Mon Wed Tue Thu Fri Sat Sun

Start 20.25 20.00 20.20 21.00 20.00 20.00 21.00 21.00 21.10 21.00

Viewers (millions) 10.28 8.19 7.57 7.56 7.50 6.93 6.50 6.35 6.00 5.96

Channel ITV1 ITV1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV1 BBC1 BBC1 ITV1 ITV1 BBC1

Last week 8 2 6 3 4 10 1

A Touch of Frost The Bill Casualty Waking the Dead The Bill Holby City Spooks Taggart Afterlife Waking the Dead

5 6 7 8 9 10

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G G

What does this table tell you about the popularity of crime drama on television? Are there any similarities in the scheduling of these crime dramas? What role does scheduling play in the popularity of a TV crime drama?

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TV crime drama: Broadcasters approach to genre

The industrys approach to genre

Below is a selection of crime dramas commissioned in Britain within the last few years. Each newly commissioned drama or drama series seems to display slight variations on the standard conventions of crime drama. In the right column of the table, identify the key features of each drama.

Drama

Broadcaster details

Key features

Marple

ITV

Murder in Suburbia

ITV

Donovan

ITV

New Tricks

BBC1

Waking the Dead

BBC1

The Long Firm

BBC2

55 Degrees North

BBC1

Ghost Squad

Channel 4

Life on Mars
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BBC1

Conviction

BBC3 and then BBC2

Murder Prevention

Five

Blackpool

BBC1

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TV crime drama: Broadcasters approach to genre

G G G

What is the unique twist (Tom Toumazis) for these dramas, or the unique selling point for audiences? Why do producers want this unique twist? Why do audiences want some, but not too much, variation on the familiar? Only a relatively small proportion of US crime drama reaches British television audiences. Why do you think the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 acquired the following? BBC1: The Medium BBC2: 24 Channel 4: The Closer, The Sopranos Five: CSI (in its various forms), Columbo (series from the 1970s now shown during the daytime), The Shield

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Why do you think Channel 5 acquired the US crime drama The Shield?
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Representation of the police

Endings and police procedures
The endings of crime dramas are very revealing. They generally provide audiences with a satisfying conclusion where criminals are captured and crimes are solved.
G G

Do you know, for example, what percentage of crimes, including murders, are solved in Britain today? What view of the police and the legal system do most crime dramas provide?

Look at the conclusions of three crime dramas you are familiar with. Test out what you know about Todorov and Lvi-Strauss.
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Do you see a restoration of equilibrium (Todorov) and a resolution of conflict between good and bad (Lvi-Strauss)? What does this suggest about the ideologies being conveyed to the audience. Do they conform to dominant ideologies about the police and criminality or challenge them?

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Quentin Tarantinos grave ending: Is the audiences confidence in forensic science and law and order being maintained?
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Literary adaptations: Reaching new audiences

Labelling the classic literary adaptation
The way the classic literary adaptation has been described by broadcasters has changed considerably. Currently, several terms are used and most of them are employed interchangeably by reviewers, commentators and academic writers.
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What are the connotations of the following labels used by broadcasters for the classic literary adaptation? What do they suggest about the way broadcasters are trying to appeal to audiences? The classic serial (used particularly in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s) the BBC used a curtain-raising ident with classical music (a Schumann symphony) for this in 1970s Historical drama used in 1980s Costume drama used in 1990s Period drama used more recently Literary adaptation used mainly by academic writers.

Treatments, stars and audience identification

Bleak House was notable for the way it used popular television actors not usually associated with classic drama. Think, for example, about: Johnny Vegas (Krook) the comedian, Gillian Anderson (Lady Dedlock) from The X-Files, Liza Tarbuck (Mrs Jellaby) from Linda Green, Warren Clarke (Boythorn) from Dalziel and Pascoe
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What do these actors bring to the roles? Do you think they bring new audiences?

Compare Bleak House with the more conventionally filmed TV series Pride and Prejudice. Start with the openings of each drama, where the major characters are introduced.
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List the features of Pride and Prejudice which you think make it conventional, and would appeal to the traditional, classic drama audience. List the ways in which Bleak House attempts to reach new audiences.

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Literary adaptations: Reaching new audiences

Preparing a treatment
Choose a synopsis from a well-known classic novel. Prepare a treatment for Jane Tranter, Head of Drama at the BBC, with ideas on how to reach a new audience for your adaptation. In your treatment you should consider:
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Whether to update/set the novel in a contemporary context and if so how; Visual style (camerawork/editing); Mise en scne (key locations/sets/lighting/costume); Stars/key actors, with reasons for your choice; Length of each episode, scheduling, channel and reasons for your choice; Ideas for possible interactive features (website/red button).

You could find a synopsis of a novel like Wuthering Heights, Silas Marner, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations or Tess of the DUrbervilles, all of which have been the subjects of films or TV dramatisations in the last ten years.

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Representations in Bleak House

How far is Bleak House relevant to society today? Explore how some of the issues it raises are represented. How far do you think audiences relate these issues to society today? For each topic, some suggested extracts are listed to help navigate your way around this 15-part drama.

Social class
Look at the following extracts.
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What are the dominant views of society and social class conveyed by each extract? How is the audience positioned to adopt that dominant point of view? Consider dialogue and mise en scne.

Ep 6: 04.40 Sir Leicester Dedlock, Lady Dedlock and Mr Rouncewell Ep 1: 44.08 Mrs Pardiggles, Esther, Ada and Richard visit bricklaying family Ep 4: 17.50 Mr Bucket seeks out Jo Ep 6: 14.51 Mrs Woodcourt visits Bleak House Ep 6: 17:26 Jo ill, Tulkinghorn protecting the interests of a great family, Lady D and Guppy
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What view of society do the representations suggest? In what ways do they suggest that these images are competing for audience attention? How far do you think they are similar to society today? Do you think audiences of the recent series made such connections? What are the implications of that?

Law
Look at the first and last view of the court: Ep 1: 1.30 and Ep 15: 18.1020.13 (the final judgment); Ep 9: 11.24 Vholes
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What image of law and the legal system is suggested by the drama?

Tulkinghorn (notably the power he displays over Lady Dedlock) Ep 1: 1.30 Court scene where we are first introduced to his power and reptilian appearance Ep 2: 18.38 Where he is shown to respond manipulatively to what he senses is some hidden secret which might damage Sir Leicester Ep 2: 24:03 Scene which ends with cross-cutting between Tulkinghorn and Lady Dedlock suggesting menace and power Ep 9: 24.46 Now fully aware of Lady Dedlocks secret, Tulkinghorn displays complete power and control over her
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Representations in Bleak House

The power of the gaze: What do the characters of Tulkinghorn and Lady Dedlock suggest about the representation of social class and gender in Bleak House?
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What do you think Tulkinghorns character suggests? What does his character suggest about the law? How far do you think he is merely a functional bad character one who is exploitative, manipulative and ruthless?

Women and society

Look at the following scene between Lady Dedlock and Esther, Ep 8: 17
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Lady Dedlocks secret is exposed approximately halfway through the drama. It is signalled to audiences early in the narrative. What does that suggest about audience interest? Do audiences watch to have their (narrative) expectations fulfilled/confirmed? Are audiences more interested in seeing how the drama unfolds rather than what happens next? Is a critical point being made about a society in which position and what people say and think is more important than what people feel? Is this an exposure of a class-bound society in which women are tainted whereas men are not? Is this still the case in todays society?

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An interesting contrast is with the representation of shame in Paul Abbotts Shameless.

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Industry and genre

Spooks provides a simple case study about the way the industry approaches genre. Use the following questions as a prompt.
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Why do you think an independent producer, like Stephen Garrett, wanted to develop a TV drama in a different genre from crime and hospital-based dramas? Why choose a more modern approach to the world of espionage? What does this say about the espionage genre? Why do you think the BBC producer wanted more of an intelligent action drama? How do you think Spooks would have differed if it had been produced for Channel 4? How did Kudos attempt to make television that would stop people renting videos?

Look at the way the BBC has scheduled programmes in 2003/4 and 2005 on Saturday nights.

November 2004 6.30 Strictly Come Dancing 7.35 National Lottery 8.15 Strictly Come Dancing 8.40 Casualty 9.30 Billy Connollys World Tour of New Zealand 10.10 News 10.30 Match of the Day 12.00 Film March 2005 5.55 Strictly Dance Fever 7.00 Doctor Who 7.45 National Lottery 8.20 Casualty 9.10 Strictly Dance Fever 9.40 Out-take TV 10.10 News 10.30 Match of the Day 12.00 Film

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How is the BBC trying to win back audiences from the video/DVD rental market to television on Saturday nights? Why does the BBC need to do that? What is the role of TV drama in that competitive strategy?

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Narrative resolution

Examine the concluding sequence of Spooks.

Scene 40

Description of scene Adam and Khatera in Mansion House reception room

Notes

41

Ahmed in room where Fiona is held

42

Adam and Khatera, dissuading Khatera from acting and pleading with her to reveal whereabouts of his wife Ahmed and other terrorist with Fiona petrol being poured over Fiona as she screams camera being set up to film it Helicopter shots

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43

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Narrative resolution

Scene 45

Description of scene About to set Fiona alight shooting of terrorist and of Ahmed

Notes

46

Helicopter Adam running to meet Fiona embrace

47

Harry Pearce, Ruth and Dannys dead body

48

Final shot of Adam embracing Fiona

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How is equilibrium being restored? What techniques are used to position audiences? Consider the role of camerawork, editing and narrative sequencing, sound, dialogue and music. How are the binary oppositions resolved? What reassurances is this resolution attempting to give and how is that achieved?

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Representation of terrorism and ethnicity in Spooks

Once you have seen the whole episode of Spooks (Series 3/Episode 10) used in this case study, ask yourself what view of terrorism is conveyed to audiences? Refer to key scenes which influence your attitudes. One key scene in the drama is where Ahmed holds Fiona and Danny hostage and phones Fionas husband, Adam, to force him to decide which of the two will be murdered. Danny provokes Ahmed into killing him (scenes 31 and 32).
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Ahmed is represented in a negative way, Fiona and Danny positively. How are those binary opposites conveyed to audiences? What role do mise en scne, camerawork and editing play in underlining those representations? What techniques are used to involve audiences emotionally? How does that position audiences? What view of terrorism emerges from these scenes?

Representation of Ahmed and Khatera

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What do you understand by Arab, Islamic, Muslim, Middle-Eastern? What are the equivalent categories for describing British people? Since Britain is an ethnically diverse society, are there equivalents? What does this suggest about using these categories, which are widespread in the mainstream media? What do you know about Al Qaeda? Try to find three contrasting representations of Iraqi people from the internet, newspapers, magazines, films. What conclusions can you draw from these representations? Look back at the representation of Ahmed and Khatera in this episode of Spooks. How far does the drama position audiences to equate Muslim (from whatever national context) with terrorism? Think of other characters from British ethnic minorities in the drama. What is their significance?

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Doctor Who and fans: Doing your own survey

Different audiences respond to TV dramas in different ways. Very often it is a question of emphasis. Using a focus group, when extracts are shown to a group of fans or enthusiasts, is a good way of exploring how different audiences respond to dramas. Below are some suggested episodes and/or extracts, with ideas about the kinds of questions to ask (based on the issues raised in Case Study 4). Aim to construct your own focus-group questions.

Role of CGI effects

Doctor Who and The End of the World sequence (Series 1/Episode 2)
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What do you think of this as the concluding sequence of an episode? What do you think of the special effects? Are they deliberately intended to be realistic special effects? How do you think audiences respond to the special effects in the drama?

Tone
Look at the opening of Bad Wolf (Series 1/Episode 12), with its parodies of Big Brother, The Weakest Link and Trinny and Susanna.
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What is being parodied here? Are there any serious issues underlining this send-up about media ownership or audiences, for example? How seriously do audiences take these issues?

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Doctor Who and fans: Doing your own survey

Characters and power

Watch the end of Series 1/Episode 1, where Rose is deciding whether or not to join the Doctor.
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Why does Rose decide to join the Doctor? Do audiences see any particular significance in her decision to join the Doctor?

Look at key moments from The Long Game (Series 1/Episode 7), where Cathica is being persuaded by the Doctor and Rose to rebel.
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What is the significance of the decisions Cathica makes? Do you think it is significant that Cathica is female? What is meant by the term empowering? How might ideas about empowerment, putting people in the position to help themselves, relate to these representations of characters? Do you think these are familiar ideas to audiences today? How does that knowledge affect reactions to the representation of these female characters?

Look at the role of Doctor Who in The Unquiet Dead (Series 1/ Episode 3)
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How is he represented and why?

Different audiences, different responses?

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Do you think children, young people, parents, students, fans respond differently to Doctor Who? If possible, use the same extracts as above and carry out an interview with at least two contrasting kinds of audience.

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Representation of Rose
As Rose appeared in every episode of Doctor Who (in 2005 and 2006), studying her is a good way of exploring how women are currently represented in the media. The issues surrounding this representation remain open to debate. (For example, does sexuality still shape women's identity? Are they in control or exploited?). Choose what you consider to be key moments featuring Rose. Suggested extracts are listed below. Conclusion of Series 1/Episode 1 Roses exchange with Gwyneth (The Unquiet Dead, Series 1/ Episode 3) Rose finding out about her father (Fathers Day, Series 1/Episode 8) The way Rose and the Doctor act (choose any episode)
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What for you are typical representations of women today? Give three contrasting examples. What do the examples suggest about womens sexuality and power? Do you agree that women today are often portrayed as sexual subjects, in control of their sexuality, rather than the sexual objects of mens desires and fantasies? What image of young women is being conveyed in these sequences? Is Rose portrayed primarily in terms of sexuality? Suggest three other representations of women you think are similar to Rose. Do you think different audiences (eg, female and male) react in the same way to the representation of her character?

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Title sequences: Shameless and Six Feet Under

Title sequences are designed to attract (target?) audiences, set the tone and establish a brand image for TV dramas. They are generally produced by specialist companies (like Digital Kitchen who produced Six Feet Unders title sequence). Studying title sequences is therefore a good way to explore dramas. Shameless and Six Feet Under are in varying degrees alternative and unconventional. You would expect that image to be established by the title sequences.
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What features of the title sequences for Shameless and Six Feet Under create their alternative image (think about camerawork, editing, images, music/sound)? Play each title sequence with sound only. How does the soundtrack set up expectations of an alternative drama? Play each title sequence without sound. What are the connotations of the images? Shameless: How does Franks voiceover anchor, and thus position, audiences? (Take the example of the burning of the car at the close of the sequence, for example.) Six Feet Under: Do you think the images of the title sequence create a narrative? What is being suggested by that narrative? Alan Poul, one of the producers of Six Feet Under, says of the title sequence that it sets the tone for the drama and establishes a brand image. What is the importance of a brand image for TV dramas?

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Representation of gay sexuality

Shameless, Series 1/Episode 1
One of the alternative features of Shameless is the way it represents sexual orientation and gay sexuality. It seems to position audiences to accept it as just one way in which people express their sexuality.
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Why do you think Paul Abbott chose to include a gay character as one of the Gallagher family? What does this suggest about a dramatists writing methods? What other images of gay sexuality do you know about on television? Is this representation similar or different from them? In what way? You might think about Will & Grace, Six Feet Under or the film Beautiful Thing (UK, 1996).

Look at the following extracts from Episode 1 to show how gay sexuality is built into the narrative at the beginning of the series: Lip finds Ians folder of male pornographic images: 04:22 Lip reveals to Ian that he knows Ian is gay: 07:22 Ian catches sight of Kevin naked next door: 21:2222:01 Lip and Ians argument over Kash Ian stands up for himself: 27:54 Lip and Ian in van: 44:05
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How far and in what ways do you think the representation of gay sexuality in this episode is challenging? Explore how humour is used to shape audience attitudes to the issue.

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Shameless: Just an ordinary family?

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Representation of gay sexuality

Six Feet Under, Series 1

Look at some (or all) of the following sequences from different episodes of Series 1: Episode 2: 3:405:10 (Davids fantasy about waking up with Keith and being quizzed by his dead father) Episode 10: 54:5955:08 (where Angela comments that she has never known anyone so hung up about being gay) Episode 12 which features several revealing scenes raising issues about gay sexuality: 1:403:10 (the homophobic murder which opens the episode) 17:2518:55 (fantasy sequence conflict between Davids gay sexuality and his religious beliefs) 37:2240:07 (Ricos homophobic reactions to David) 46:2049:37 (funeral with anti-homosexual demonstrations) Episode 13: 46:2048:35 (Davids reading in church, a coded coming out)
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Six Feet Under: What do you see? A police officer and an undertaker or a gay couple?

How is gay sexuality represented in each extract? How does this representation compare and contrast with other representations of gay sexuality? How do the representations position audiences? How far do they shape audience attitudes to gay sexuality?

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Challenging alternatives?
Shameless builds a broad range of challenging issues into its narratives (family, community and social class are all represented in surprising and challenging ways). The narratives of each episode are structured to position audiences to accept alternative points of view about the issues. Six Feet Under uses fantasy sequences to explore the psychological reasons why characters are repressed. This has the effect of taking audiences with the characters to accept what might be considered alternative or challenging points of view. In different ways, therefore, both dramas position audiences to accept challenging points of view.

Shameless
Explore how family and community are represented in any episode. (Series 3/Episodes 1 and 4, or the 2004 Christmas Special episode are particularly good examples.)
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How does the narrative structure position audiences? Why do you think Paul Abbott and the other writers in the series continually position audiences to suspend conventional moral codes and accept the way of life of people on the Chatsworth estate? How alternative and challenging do you think Shameless is? Why? Compare the representation of social class and community in Shameless with dramas like Coronation Street, The Simpsons and Life Begins.

Six Feet Under and its fantasy sequences

Choose three contrasting examples of the many fantasy sequences which are integral to the narrative structure of Six Feet Under. Here are some examples: Nate: Series 1/Episode 1, 24:0025:40 Davids fantasy sequences: Series 1/Episodes 10, 12 and 13 Ruth: Series 1/Episode 9: 40:1040:47 and 42:5646:24
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How experimental do you think the incorporation of these sequences into the narrative of a TV drama is? To what extent do these fantasy sequences use surreal and dream-like features? Why? What do each of the sequences suggest about the characters? Are audiences being positioned to accept what each character is trying to come to terms with?

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