The Popularisation of Dutch TV Drama and the Rise of Multicultural Police Series

Abstract

The Dutch police series is a new TV drama genre in the Netherlands. During the last five years, several broadcasters have aired new domestic police series, leading the sub-genre to gain a stable position in the prime-time television schedules. This paper analyses the major transitions that have led to the prevalence of Dutch police series: the shift from a public to a dual system of broadcasting in the Netherlands; the transition from broadcasters each producing their own drama to participation of independent producers; the change from the single play as the main genre of Dutch TV drama to the expansion of popular drama genres such as soaps, police series and sitcoms; and, most importantly, an alteration in the identities that are represented in the storylines of Dutch TV drama. A close look at these transitions shows how the Dutch police series became a remarkably ‘multicultural’ drama form.