Q.3 How far does Cuffs adapt police drama conventions to fit its family audience at 8 p.m. on BBC1?

Q.3 How far does Cuffs adapt police drama conventions to fit its family audience at 8 p.m. on BBC1?

Cuffs adapts the police drama genre conventions quite a bit to fit family friendly conventions. This allows them to be shown at 8 o'clock which is before the 9 o'clock watershed. These family oriented changes can be seen, when that normally there would be lots of violence in the police dramas genre as is of the genre convention, this could involve lots of blood and guns, but cuffs never shows any graphic violence and only implies it off screen, allowing for the show to be air at 8 pm just before the 9 o clock water shed. In the episode there is a fight but no blood is spilled and the man is taken out quickly and cleanly by a blunt object, further limiting the violence that is displayed

 

Another way that genre conventions are adapted for the show to be aired before the 9 o'clock watershed, is that there is no foul language or nudity or drugs. Normally in this genre there is lots of foul language and maybe nudity but no foul language is said by the cast but in cuffs and there is no nudity not even by the naturalists in the extract. This allows the show to be deemed family friendly. Also in a Brighton around the youth population there is likely to be drugs but no drugs are displayed in the entire episode.

 

A third way that this can be seen is in the humour of the show, this humour provides escapism for the viewer because it allows the show to not be all serious and have some light heartedness. In the extract the chief super intendant says “positive daily interactions with the public” and is meaning the officers, but out side the window on the beach is the fight in which no one respects the officer or thanks him for trying to help them. This making the show enjoyable and family friendly enough for it to be judged suitable to be shown be for the water shed line at 9 o clock.