Cuffs was broadcast before the 9 pm watershed and therefore although it is a police procedural set in a modern city with all the challenges that involves, it avoids overt violence, strong language and content that is not family-friendly. However, the review sums up how much plot drama and excitement audiences are offered. Thinking about audience pleasures, which of the four 'gratifications' is best described by this exciting plot?
- Do you agree with the view that the programme offers a 'pro-police perspective'? What do you understand by that? What evidence is there of that so far?
- From what you have seen so far, can you support the view of this reviewer that the police force in Cuffs are 'understaffed and underappreciated, working against the odds to bring in a result?
Cuffs is set in Brighton which plays an important part in the programme as it is a city of contrasts, as the following review notes:
- What comedy have we seen so far that it typically 'Brighton'?
- So far, which scenes most obviously use Brighton as the mise-en-scene? What kind of a seaside town is it? How different is its representation from (say) Little Bazeley in The Avengers? How is it made to seem very much more modern than Little Bazeley, a city that is clearly 2010s? Is it to do with the number of different representations?
- As we watch the episode, notice how the different plot lines are woven together, how the editing links them and how the characters develop. The programme is much more than a series of police cases - although the excitement, tension and drama drives the narrative along. The audience also starts to empathise with the individual police officers and in some cases the people that they are dealing with.
- Who do we start to empathise with?
- Which characters start to reveal more about themselves?
