The television crime drama has been a constant of the television
landscape since it first migrated from film and radio onto the small
screen in the 1950s. Since then, from Dixon of Dock Green to The Wire,
from Minder to The Sopranos or Cracker to Dexter, the crime drama has
continued to attract large audiences even as the depiction of the crime,
the perpetrators and the investigators has changed. This book provides
an historical analysis of the TV crime series as a genre by paying close
attention not only to the nature of TV dramas themselves, but also to
the context of production and reception. Rather than simply providing an
overview, this book offers a series of case studies to illuminate key
issues in the trajectory of the genre. Particular attention will be paid
to the transnational career of the television crime drama, including the
British and American product, as well as attention to crime drama series
produced in other national contexts such as Europe and Australia. In
terms of reception, this book includes original research on how the TV
crime drama is perceived by audiences within the particular national
context of Australia where American, British and European crime dramas
vie for attention in the TV schedule alongside the local product.
Finally, the future of the TV crime series is canvassed in a discussion
of the changing television landscape and the shift to other forms of TV
consumption enabled by new digital technologies.