A new genre hybrid? The BBC Television Show 'Ashes to Ashes' between serial and series

Essay from the year 2008 in the subject Film Science, grade: 1,5, ( Middlesex University in London ), course: Introduction to Television Studies, language: English, abstract: 'Ashes to Ashes' is a BBC produced drama series and a spin-off series of 'Life on Mars'. The last episode of season one has been aired a few weeks ago. Some people may claim 'Ashes to Ashes' is a science fiction series others may say it is a police drama series. This essay will examine if it is maybe a hybrid of several television genres. Therefore it will explain first how a genre is defined and will take Steve Neil's and Graeme Turner's point of view into account. Steve Neil is a professor for Film Studies at Exeter University and author of several books about genre. Graeme Turner is Professor of Cultural Studies and Director of the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland, Australia. Following this discussion this essay will concentrate on 'Ashes to Ashes' and whether it confirms the genre of police series and science-fiction series. In order to confirm this, the essay will compare both genres and show the similarities and differences. In addition, it will argue that 'Ashes to Ashes' is not only a genre hybrid, further, it is a hybrid between series and serial.