You’re Nicked: Investigating British Television Police Series

“One could not hope for a more comprehensive treatment of the subject” – British Journal of Criminology

With wit, humour and insight, the author of the first dedicated study of one of British television’s most popular genres conducts a forensic investigation of British television police series from 1955 to the present.

In just one hour Ben Lamb analyses the genre, ranging from Dixon of Dock Green to Happy Valley via The Sweeney, The Bill, and Cracker. He outlines how this home-grown genre has evolved and how different production technologies have affected its thematic development. He also looks at how police series have commented on criminological issues and intervened in sociological debates concerning class and gender identities.

Over the years British police series have borrowed elements from social realism, melodrama, the soap opera, sci-fi, and action series to probe the social disintegration of British society following the end of the Second World War. Ben explores how the representation of the police station, domestic scenes of criminals and the private lives of police officials can unearth the complex ideology underpinning each series and determine how the genre has developed alongside modern British society.

His talk will appeal to scholars and students of British history, television, culture, sociology, and criminology. Mostly though, it will appeal to TV crime-drama addicts and enthusiasts the world over.

The event will include video clips of Police TV series past and present, discussing content and a Q&A with the audience.

Dr Ben Lamb is Senior Lecturer in English Studies at Teesside University.