Reception theory

• said that active audiences choose how to 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- audiences take on parts of the producer's message but do not agree entirely with all of it, eg the violence against disabled people and women.
• Rejected/oppositional reading- can be argued this is an exagerrated and therefore unrealistic depiction of the police force as the dominant ideology and social and cultural contexts would indicate 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.