In this piece I am going to state how representation of Englishness has been achieved in the TV series Midsommer Murders. I am going to mainly look into the setting, props and sound.
Throughout the sequences which I watch the setting was one of the main factors were the landscapes showing the traditional English image they were trying to portray. The old thatch cottages which fill the village help to portray a quant and typical English village. The Post Office, Village Hall and Pub also enhanced the English appearance, due to them being very traditional it also helps to give a sense of community to the village. There seem to be a repeat in each series showing several shots of fields and country roads again by doing this it reminds the viewer this typical English image they are trying to achieve.
Props are another key factor which helps to portray this image which the series are trying to create. The picnic baskets, lemonade stalls, flat caps, land drovers, bicycles and horses all show pieces of the ‘English picture’. The old men dressed in checked shirts and driving land drovers present the stereotypical English farmers. By making all the police male this enhanced the old fashion image as it is showing a male dominated society. Also almost all the characters seemed to have a ‘posh’ English accent despite English people knowing how in rural villages people have accents from other films English people are often portray as having ‘posh’ and ‘upper-class’ therefore this is again enhancing this stereotypical idea of England.
Some non deigetic sound commonly used is Classical Music throughout the series this suggests a peaceful setting which a small English village is meant to have. Deigetic sound used are birds and leaf rustling these help to enhance this countryside image which again reflects to typical England.
Overall through looking at the key factors of representation it uses peoples expectation of ‘Englishness’ rather than focusing on making the series realistic to England. Despite this the show still has a sense of Englishness even though it’s a stereotypical old fashion one.
