The 2010 BBC Three drama ‘Thirteen’ is a perfect example of transmedia storytelling done right. It follows the story of the hunt for a woman’s kidnapper who kept her captive for thirteen years.
Transmedia was used during the shows five week run and was used to help audience members follow along with the case, even making them feel like a detective themselves. There were various media platforms used, a twitter account which interacted with viewers to discuss their finding as they tweeted about the case using the hashtag #findthegirl, a blog which posted updates on the case such as police developments and crime scene photo and various websites such as an old archived webpage of the victims school which had clues hidden amongst it for the viewers to decipher.
All this allowed new viewers to find out about the show who, had it not been for social media, would never have realised it existed. However, the hashtag #findthegirl didn’t ever trend globally so the only way that people would discover it is if somebody they followed was tweeting about it. Which means that in all likelihood the show only reached a national audience and not a global audience.
It seems that the use of audience engagement in dramas, especially crime dramas is becoming a necessary feature in a shows production. People no longer want to watch a group of detectives try to solve a case, they want to be a part of the case and work alongside the detectives on the show.
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