Watching the detectives: Inside the guilty landscapes of inspector morse, baantjer and wallander

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62 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Visiting the settings of popular media products has become a growing niche within the tourist market. This article provides a content-based explanation for the popularity of one specific example: the TV detective tour. Three popular television series from different linguistic regions of Europe were analysed, each of which has led to substantial tourist numbers: Inspector Morse (Oxford) , Wallander (Ystad) and Baantjer (Amsterdam). The results show that the tourist attraction of the TV detective programme is due in part to its topophilic character. First, couleur locale is extremely important to the narrative setting of the detective programmes; the narratives elaborate on existing tourist gazes. Second, the narrative development is characterized by a process of investigation and tracking. By taking the tour, viewers can walk in the detective's footsteps and relive the storylines. Finally, the TV detective genre promises the viewer/tourist an acquaintance with the thrilling, 'guilty' landscapes of the TV detective.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)165-181
Number of pages17
JournalEuropean Journal of Communication
Volume24
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2009
Externally publishedYes

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