Young people and police series: A multicultural television audience study

Abstract

Police series are a main genre of popular television drama in the Netherlands. This article analyses interviews with young people from a range of ethnic backgrounds about the Dutch police series Baantjer and Spangen. Very little audience research has been carried out internationally into crime drama and this study aims to develop insight into how viewers watch and interpret police series. The informants interpreted Dutch police series in two different ways. First, they watched police series with friends or family to play the game of 'whodunit’, drawing on the hermeneutic narrative code. Second, they used the cultural narrative code to talk about experiences regarding crime, the police, racism and cultural difference at school and in the city. Due to their diverse representations Dutch police series offer viewers opportunities to discuss salient themes within Dutch multicultural society.