Reverend Alphy Kotteram — like his Grantchester predecessors — did not see solving crimes with Inspector Keating as part of his official job description. The main difference? Alphy in Season 9 is way more skeptical of the police than Will or Sidney until Geordie makes a good impression. DI Rachita Ray has the benefits of modern technology, but she still has to navigate working for a majority-white police department. D.I. Ray Season 2 continues to show how racial bias plays a role in hindering active investigations and relations between police personnel.
The term copaganda refers to the role police procedurals and movies featuring law enforcement on both sides of the Atlantic have played in swaying public opinion against measures to reform, hold police who violate the law accountable, or even abolish the current criminal justice system. While the conversation differs between the US and the UK because of gun laws and population differences, critics of current police dramas agree that they want to see fewer shows that ignore these issues. Some have gone as far as to say they do not want any more police dramas at all, but this is easier to theorize about (or to tailor personal viewing habits) than to implement. British TV producers have invested heavily in police procedurals since the end of the lockdown stage of the pandemic because they are cheaper to produce than period or contemporary dramas.
Some older MASTERPIECE period mysteries such as the Poirot and Marple adaptations depict an antagonistic relationship between private investigators and police, but these stories are often far removed from modern policing methods and structure. More recently, Eliza being banned from being a police officer due to gender is depicted on Miss Scarlet but her situation is still framed as a sleuth outmaneuvering the police. Unforgotten Season 4 featured a South Asian constable accusing superiors of racial bias in a similar fashion to D.I. Ray. However, it is later revealed that he was also in trouble for personal misconduct. But suggesting that the police are incompetent does not compare to showing Mrs. C calling Geordie to arrest Alphy in Grantchster Season 9, Episode 3 because she saw a “swarthy man” entering the vicarage.
Alphy calling the police “thugs” in Grantchester Season 9 comes from the perspective of a civilian, and not someone whose career is in law enforcement. Although Sam/Amos’ rant in Episode 8 hinted at possible family alienation in Alphy’s past, the series has not revealed everything about Alphy’s experiences. However, we can assume given the 1960s setting that the police in his hometown of Bromford were likely stopping and frisking men of color without cause, and failing to arrest racists responsible for hate crimes or even members of fascist organizations. Alphy’s journey in Season 9 is discovering that Geordie only confronted him because he is compelled to respond to public calls about disturbances. Alphy and Geordie both share a love of fact finding, and Geordie’s family adopts Alphy into the fold by the end of the season.
Rachita’s journey during D.I. Ray Season 2 is much more fraught, as her bosses are the ones calling her slurs in a private WhatsApp group. They make the Grantchester village residents look like hippies in comparison. They’re also making decisions for the diverse South Asian diaspora in Leeds with no consideration to differences in language, religion or immigration status. Rachita makes the hard decision to file a complaint about her racist superiors; she doesn’t ignore it or try to placate the feelings of the offenders.
Outside of MASTERPIECE and PBS, several recent UK streaming series have made nods to the concept of copaganda even if many of them do not use the term. Many of these series have plotlines where police corruption/misconduct, systemic discrimination, or community dissatisfaction about police actions are part of the story.
The best example of a series predicated on showing the flaws of current policing is the BritBox original series Blue Lights. For those not familiar, the series is a Northern Irish police drama depicting the lives of newly trained beat officers. The series creators told me in an unpublished interview that they do not consider the series to be copaganda because Seasons 1 and 2 depict key criticisms of the current Northern Irish police. Without spoiling whodunits and plot twists, Season 1 features racial profiling and critiques of police bureaucracy. Season 2 dives into the critiques Ulster unionists have about police bias, and portrays corrupt officers making friends with known drug dealers. Both seasons also address unethical policing during the height of The Troubles, which still impacts lives today.
Another streaming favorite, Line of Duty (available on BritBox and Acorn TV), depicts the UK equivalent of the Internal Affairs department in charge of investigating and punishing police personnel with crimes ranging from disobeying regulations to corruption and murder. Many of the cases AC-12 investigates stray heavily into action movie territory; however, critiques of the current UK police structure form the backbone for the fictional suspense.
Three additional BritBox original series Karen Pirie, The Tower, and Sherwood have past investigation failures and police misconduct playing a role in current investigations. Sexism and racism are the causes for Karen Pirie and The Tower, while class conflict is at the center of Sherwood. What all three have in common is that systemic failures of the modern police force are shown at the local level rather than as a wide reaching issue.
Bloodlands, an Acorn TV Northern Irish drama from the creator of Line of Duty, also depicts how current Northern Irish police were involved in covering up historical disappearances and connections to the IRA. While there are some thematic similarities to Blue Lights, the plot follows a single senior officer rather than a whole precinct.
The concept of copaganda also extends to documentaries and dramas wholly based on real-life cases. Many true crime dramas ignore the role racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination affect both crime prevention and victims’ families receiving justice. The Conviction: The Case of Stephen Lawrence (streaming on both BritBox and Acorn) depicts how the London Metropolitan Police failed to arrest the racist gang that killed Stephen Lawrence in 1993. BritBox original series The Sixth Commandment, also based on a real murder investigation, was purposely written to focus on the victims and their families, rejecting true crime genre norms.
Could there be a PBS or MASTERPIECE series that fully explores alternatives to the current policing system? There’s a slim possibility after the many variables of television production are set aside. A case can be made that a series that fully addresses a critical perspective on policing may exceed broadcast television content acceptability and could be a better fit on a ratings-free streaming service. It is also much harder to depict this issue in a historical mystery when the solution to some social problems was the establishment of modern policing and increased recruitment of women and racial minorities. If a PBS or MASTERPIECE series leaned into the criticisms the term copaganda raises, the most likely candidate given current trends would be a current events drama: a dramatization of a real life case similar to Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office and The Conviction: The Case of Stephen Lawrence would be the most realistic scenario. But in the meantime, whatever theme will be the focus of Grantchester Season 10, Alphy’s past and present will surely inform his perspective on the mystery.
