CONTEXT

• No Offence is a British television procedural drama about the Police. It was first shown on on Channel 4, and created by Paul Abbott,the acclaimed creator of The Shameless TV series. 
• HYBRID GENRE

  It is a Hybrid Genre mixing the different genres of:-

  POLICE PROCEDURAL CRIME DRAMA

  SOCIAL REALISM

  DARK ABSURDIST HUMOUR

  The series was created by Paul Abbott for Channel Four
• PRODUCER

  CHANNEL 4 TV

  INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR

  FREEMANTLE MEDIA

  FRENCH TV CHANNEL 

  FRANCE 2

  AMERICAN STREAMING CHANNEL

  ACORN
• THE CITY OF MANCHESTER          

  It follows a team of detectives from Friday Street police station, a division of the Manchester Metropolitan Police which is a fictional version of the Greater Manchester Police. The series were filmed on location in the UK in the multicultural city of Manchester.
• WOMEN,ETHNIC MINORITIES AND THE DISABLED.

  The Manchester police force is used as a microcosm of society through which to examine changing gender roles with a high ranking woman police officer and women police officers from ethnic minorities.  

  DOWN'S SYNDROME

  The focus of the criminal case features children and adults with Down’s Syndrome and this examines the position of people with disabilities in the wider society. 
• VIV DEERING 

  The series stars actress Joanna Scanlan as the main protagonist, Detective Inspector Viv Deering of the Manchester Police. Viv Deering is represented as a strong female character who can behave in a masculine way when dealing with male police officers such as acting aggressively and using crude language.
• The first episode of the first series focuses on the police team's investigation into the serial murders of young girls with Down's Syndrome.
• 2.5 MILLION VIEWERS

  In the UK, the first episode of No Offence launched with 2.5 million viewers, Channel 4's biggest midweek drama launch for more than three years. 
• REPETITION: Steave Neale's Repetiton and Difference Theory.

  Police Procedure

  Detective Work

  Night time

  Murder

  Violence 

  Female Victims

  Serial Killer

  Mystery

  Clues

  Suspects 
• DIFFERENCE: Steave Neale's Repetiton and Difference Theory.

  DIFFERENCE

  Female Police Detectives

  Diverse Representations 

  eg

  Downs Syndrome

  Race

  Manchester Location  

  Drinking Culture

  (excessive use of alcohol after work )

  Social Realism eg

  Crude Language/Explicit Themes

  Dark Absurdist Humour
• SOCIAL & CULTURAL CONTEXTS

  MANCHESTER 2015

  All media production is conditioned by the dominant ideology,the value system and perceptions of reality in that society at the time the media production was created. The writers and producers will encode their message and ideology in to the media production eg No Offence. The location chosen is also relevant with its depiction of woman, ethnicity, disability, social services and the police being reflective of the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of modern day Manchester in 2015 with its multicultural diversity.
• Social and cultural contexts of 2015 Manchester can be illustrated in No Offence with characters in the series being affected by real world events in 2015 such as the corruption in the Police force,sexism and violence against women as well as the consequences drinking of alcohol socially and the treatment of people with disabilities like Down's Syndrome.
• The representation of the police force in No Offence is female dominant to a greater extent than in actual reality, constructing a feminist position around

  equality. The obvious diversity of character roles with reference to age, ethnicity, race,disability and appearance, reinforces the writers and producers ideological position on equality and diversity.
• Paul Abbott is promoting a modern day ideology based partly on the dominant ideology based on the social and cultural contexts of Manchester in 2015 but also on the series writers ideology of a possible aspirational near future with a strong capable female and racially diverse police force working to change the dominant white patriarchy. Viv Deering and her diverse female colleagues can therefore be seen as aspirational role models for women and ethnic minorities in modern society
• RECEPTION THEORY

  STUART HALL

  Stuart Hall said that active audiences choose how they respond to a programme.

  PREFERRED READING

  The writers and producers ideology is encoded in the programme. so a preferred reading is when audiences enjoy and are completely entertained by every aspect of the show.

  NEGOTIATED READING

  Some audiences may enjoy some parts of the show but do not agree with other aspects eg the violence against women and people with disibilties.
• Reception Theory Stuart Hall:

  REJECTED / OPPOSITIONAL READING

  It could be argued however that this is an exaggerated and therefore unrealistic depiction of the police force as the dominant ideology and social and cultural contexts would indicate that there are very few women and even less women from an ethnic background in positions of power in any actual police force including Manchester in the UK today. 
• No Offence is produced by Abbot Vision, the independent producer of Shameless – which was successfully remade in the US – suggesting that the appeal to an international audience is a deliberate strategy.

  No Offence was distributed internationally by the media distribution company Fremantle Media to the French TV channel France 2. 

  No Offence represents British national culture to a British audience – but this identity is also used as a selling point internationally particularly in Europe which shares a similar multicultural diversity as that depicted in Manchester.
• No Offence also uses the appeal of differences in genre(Steve Neale) to appeal to European audiences such as subverting the standard female stereotype into a strong female protagonist and depicting representations of disability such as Down’s Syndrome. It also exhibits difference through a social realist aesthetic using dark often absurdist humour which is a recognisable British style but is also popular in Europe (evidenced in the popularity of social realist films in Europe).
• CONVERGENCE

  The No Offence TV series can be accessed in different ways as a result of convergence on digital media platforms where they can be watched on smartphones, iPads and laptops :-

  Channel 4

  More 4 Website,

  Amazon

  HMV Online. 

  It can also be bought on DVD and Blu Ray as well as the new streaming service BritBox
• The Rights EXchange

  Channel 4 invested in a new organisation that specialised in international TV distribution called T R X which is the name of The Rights Exchange. This is a new global online deal-making tool that enables TV rights buyers and sellers from around the world to connect and complete licensing deals entirely online. It enables distributors to reach buyers in new international markets, who in turn gain access to British, American and other TV rights that would previously have been difficult to secure. 
• BRITBOX

  BritBox created in 2020 is a new British attempt to compete with established streaming services like Amazon and Netflix. Launching as a joint venture between ITV and the BBC, the UK-based pay streaming service will provide access to archive British TV shows and will commission new programmes. Channel 4 and Channel 5 are part of BritBox – with its TV content, as well as movies courtesy of Film4 arriving on BritBox in 2020 enabling No Offence to achieve an even wider audience.
• Subverted stereotypes and differences in genre combined with the global appeal of the TV Crime Genre gave the series the opportunity to be successful both nationally and in Europe.
• Fremantle Media sold No Offence for an American audience to the American streaming service Acorn. The series was  a big success in France where the first episode of No Offence was watched by over 5 million viewers on France 2 and was now available through Acorn streaming in America. This is an example of a transnational hit(Like The Killing)where common European issues such as sexism, violence, crime and humour are able to resonate with European and also American audience