Life On Mars - Audiences - Component 2

Question 1

What is life on mars?

Answer 1

• Life on mars is a hybrid tv Sci-Fi/crime drama produced in 2006, but set in the 1970s.
  The show tells the fictional story of sam tyler (played by john simm) serving within the greater Manchester police as a DCI (detective chief inspector)
• After being struck by a car in 2006, Tyler wakes up to find himself in the year of 1973, and finds himself working for a predecessor of the GMP - the Manchester and Salford police force, at the same station and location as in 2006.
• Early on in the series Tyler eventually becomes aware and realises that he is now became a detective inspector which is one rank lower than his previous rank in 2006 as a DCI
  He then finds himself working under DCI gene hunt as part of a criminal investigation

Question 2

Who produce life on mars?

Answer 2

• Life on mars was produced by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in 2006 who have been notoriously known and have a strong reputation for making popular TV crime dramas
• Such as doctor who and peaky blinders

Question 3

Who are the primary target audience?

Answer 3

• The primary target audience are fans of BBC crime drama who are aged 15 and above
• The BBC have consistently produced a range of exciting and critically acclaimed television dramas
• Which has contributed to them building an extensive fan base
• This longevity and consistency of the BBC has resulted in a mark of quality whenever a new BBC television dram is broadcast

Answer 4

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Question 5

How are mainstream audiences targeted?

Answer 5

• Life on mars embraces all the typical conventions that audiences would expect from a TV crime drama
• Ranging from stock characters narrative devices of criminal activity,
• And iconography associated with crime and follows the formula of a serial which encourages audiences to watch on a weekly basis

Question 6

How are fans of sci fi catered for?

Answer 6

• Sci fi fans are catered for as life on mars offered a whole new uniqueness to the genre of television crime drama
• As it conformed to the popular evolving hybrid genre
• The narrative device of Sam Tyler travelling back in time to 1973 embraces the narrative device of time travel
• This resulted in audiences consuming a programme that was extremely ambitious,
• It offered a unique viewing experience and resulted in the outreach to a wider demographic

Question 7

Why would fans of the 70s period be interested in LOM?

Answer 7

• Certain audiences can be driven to consume television programmes based on the context in which the programme is set
• The 2000’s (mainly in Hollywood) went through a wave of 1970s properties either being adapted or rebooted
• The BBC contributed to this wave by introducing a hybrid crime drama set in 1970s Britain

Question 8

How do he BBC target audiences who are looking for nostalgia?

Answer 8

• Life on mars allows the older demographics who experienced the 1970s capture a sense of nostalgia
• Nostalgia stems through via the aesthetic the music and the cultural attitudes embedded within the text
• Also LOM emulates conventions narrative devices and themes of classic 70’s cop shows, something audiences would have experience when they were younger

Question 9

How does the BBC target audiences who want aesthetic in what they are watching ?

Answer 9

• The aesthetic appeal offers verisimilitude from the décor to the costume
• Iconography that is typical to the 1970s yet retaining high production values to reinforce a pleasing visual aesthetic

Question 10

Overview of Stuart halls reception theory?

Answer 10

• Stuart halls reception theory is the idea that
• There are three hypothetical positions from which messages and meanings may be decoded
• Dominant, negotiated and oppositional

Question 11

How does the BBC target audiences to embrace a dominant reading of the three main protagonists?

Answer 11

-The BBC embrace a dominate reading on the 3 main protagonists to target audiences ,

• This is seen on hunt because they respect his old school methods of policing or find the character funny
• Its also shown on Tyler because they are able to identify him and sympathise with his situation
• And on Annie because they respect her character and the way that she competes in a patriarchal and sexist workforce

Question 12

Why would a primary target audience take and oppositional reading to the text?

Answer 12

• However the primary target audience would take an oppositional reading this text
• As some of the scenes demonstrated and performed by the likes of hunt and his colleagues
• Would be deemed as inappropriate and sexist in contemporary day
• for example some people might dislike hunt as a character and what he stands for