Sub-genres - another category within a genre. Crime drama falls into different categories depending on the settings, character types and area of the crime represented.
Hybrids - Crime drama usually has a wide variety of programs often mixing with other types of shows, e.g 'thriller/action-adventure' or 'hospital/medical' etc. These can be called crossovers too.
Multiple Suspects - anyone could be the perpetrator – possible red herrings
Professionals –Police, Investigators, Detectives, SWAT teams, Medics, Lawyers, Press, Judges.
Evidence – DNA, witnesses, Fingerprints, Alibis, Personal Effects, CCTV / Images, Scars, footprints.
Formulaic Narrative – Equilibrium, Disruption, Resolution. (Twists as new evidence emerges)
Montages (of murders / evidence gathering)
Restrictive narrative (we know as much as the investigators)
Flashbacks (to the crimes / prior events)
Motives (Jealousy, revenge, money, accidental)
Press Conferences (releasing details to the public)
Water Shed - A certain time adults are usually up and watching programs, when the kids are in bed
Autotopsy - a post-mortem examination
Burglary - a crime of breaking and entering a property
Forensics - the application of science to answer questions related to a crime
Informant - someone gives secret information
Interrogation - the formal questioning of someone during a police investigation
Lawyer - a member of the legal profession, eg Barrister and Solicitor
Manslaughter - is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by the law as less culpable than murder e.g self-defence
Murder - the unlawful killing of another human being
Perpetrator - a person who commits a crime
Robbery - a cime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force
Search warrant - a court order to search a property
Sentence - the punishment allotted to a person condemned in a criminal trial
Statement - a formal account of event/s given by someone
Witness - a person who gives evidence in court and was there
Tone – Glamorous v. gritty, humorous v. sombre
