Public Service Broadcasting: The BBC

Cuffs is broadcast by the BBC, a Public Service Broadcaster. Find out more about what PSB means. Answer these questions in your book today.


1. What does Public Service Broadcasting mean?
2. What is the licence fee and who needs to pay for one?
3. What was the critical response for the Cuffs series? In particular, focus on episode 1 - find a number of reviews that express different opinions (if possible).
4. What is the mission statement and/ or ethos of the BBC?
5. What type of programmes are broadcast on BBC1? Why is this?
6. How is ITV and Channel Four different?
7. How is Sky One different?

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Technical Codes: Editing

Technical Codes: Mise en scene

Technical Codes: Camera

Cuffs Episode 1

TV Crime Drama: Textual Analysis

Watch the opening sequence of episode one of TV Crime Drama Cuffs. You should make notes on a textual analysis grid looking at:

• Camera
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise en scene

Next, pick three still images from the extract, print them out and stick them into your books.

Task: Answer this exam style question in your book. The question is worth 10 marks and so you will need to write just over a side in your book. Deal with each bullet point in turn and remember to use the media terminology from your moving image glossary to describe the examples from the extract in your answer.

Analyse how far the extract depicts the police's point of view rather than the criminal point of view. In your answer you must:

• analyse aspects of the extract using examples to support your analysis
• judge how far these aspects depict the police's point of view.