Witnesses S1 E1

episode 1

Summary: In northern France, graves are desecrated, and dead bodies have been dug up and left in show homes. Around the bodies are family photos, one of Paul Maisonneuve, a legend of the northern France police force, who will be forced to return to duty.

French Public Service Broadcaster: France 2

Distributed in the US, Australia, and Europe

UK viewing figures: 1.01 million

Director: Hervé Hadmar

The Missing S2 E1

"Come Home"

Summary: In 2003 Alice Webster is abducted in Germany, where her father is stationed on a British Army base. In 2014, just before Christmas, a barefoot and traumatised Alice re-appears in the same town, suffering from acute appendicitis. She claims that she was held captive with a French girl, Sophie Giroux, who went missing around the same time. Retired French detective Julien Baptiste, an expert on the Giroux case, investigates. He suspects that she may not be Alice.

UK viewing figures: 9.20

Director: Ben Chanan

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second series has earned a “Certified Fresh” score of 100%, with an average rating of 8.55/10 out of 15 reviews.

Language

Media form – TV

Moving Image

Genre / Type – Crime Drama

Steve Neale ‘Corpus’ ‘repertoire’ + elements

Similarities + differences

Levi – Strauss

‘Enigma’ – Bartes

Todorov / Freytag pyramid

Audiences

Exposition

End – cliff hanger

Propp

• Victim
• Princess
• Hero

Production

David Hesmondhalgh states that media is a ‘risky business, so to reduce risk The Missing and Witnesses use well-known plot devices and tropes which appeal to a wide audience.