Narrative, Television

Television CSP – Revision

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Key Words/Ideas:

  • PSB
  • Horizontal/Vertical Integration
  • Identity (Constructed, Collective, Fluid) David Gauntlett
  • Preferred Reading
  • Encoding and Decoding
  • Diversity
  • Jurgan Habermas – Transformation of the Public Sphere
  • Personal Needs (Escapism) – Uses and Gratifications, Bloomer and Katz
  • BBC
  • Marginalisation

No Offence

  • No Offence was produced by ‘AbbotVision’ and created by Paul Abbot.
  •  The show was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 2015. It acquired over 2.5 million viewers. This was Channel 4’s biggest launch of a mid-week drama in over 3 years. It ran for 3 series, finishing in 2018.
  • Channel 4 is publicly owned (owned by the state) and commercially funded (funded through advertisements).
  • From Channel 4’s website; “Channel 4 was created to be a disruptive, innovative force in UK broadcasting.” “We have a unique public service remit to represent unheard voices.”
  • No Offence was broadcast on ‘France2’, the public service broadcaster. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group. The show was first broadcast in February 2016, with 5.46 million viewers.
  • The shows creator ‘Paul Abbott’ said, in a 2017 guardian article, said that his previous project Shameless “Became too hysterical. I was glad to see it off”.
  • (Steve Neale) No Offence uses the same genre conventions of Shameless, being a ‘skittish’ show which provides its comedy elements through ‘profane anecdotes’ and ‘rat-a-tat laughter’. Linking to how creatives stick to the same or similar conventions as a way of building up a loyal fan base who will continue to watch and consume
  • Contains all of the codes and conventions of a police drama —> Caution tape, missing people, sirens.
  • Many different narrative strands that help move the main plot line along. Example: The elderly woman accusing her grandson, Down syndrome man talking about his relationship.
  • Perhaps the appeal to an international audience is a deliberate strategy. Not only representing the working class British area of Manchester, the programme represents the polish community in the UK through the female protagonist being from a Polish background and also the use of the language. These identities are also used as a selling point internationally through the appeal of difference.
  • Social Realist films = Films that emphasise the link between location and identity.
  • National style but is also popular in Europe

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