Updated TV show treatment

Working title
Narrow-temple

Genre
Crime

Duration
2 minutes 30 seconds - 3 minutes

Plot outline
Two male detectives, Dave and Michael sit in on a bench in a park - they are both happy as they have just solved a case involving the murder of a young man (which has been the focus of the series). We see that there is a potential romance going on between the two and that the solving of the case may allow them to get closer. Dave, the main detective, gets a phone call; Anna, another police officer informs him that they have just found a new piece of evidence revealing that the person who they thought was the killer was, in fact, an accomplice. The real killer was none other than Michael (dun dun duuuun). Dave asks Michael to come with him, but Michael realises what is going on and breaks into a sprint. Dave pursues him.

The pursuit takes them to a quiet urban area, and Michael reaches a dead end. He hides behind a bush, waiting for Dave, then springs out, brandishing a knife in threat. He tells Dave that he'll kill him unless he lets him go. Dave asks him why he killed the young man and he says that he had sold drugs to his sister which had killed her. He tries to persuade Dave to run off with him and to forget about what he did, but Dave says he can't forget it. Michael cannot bring himself to kill Dave, so drops the knife.

Characters
Dave - the protagonist, a detective (and a bloody good one) who is obsessed with his work and has a tough time balancing it with his social life. He likes to appear hard and toughened but has a hard time expressing emotions.
Michael - Dave's colleague/lover who seems charming at first, but has a tragic past and a rarely-seen dark side.
Anna - another police officer helping with the case.

Visual elements
High key lighting for exterior, more low-key/noir-ish lighting for interior (the police station).

Audio elements
Non-diegetic music; happy at the start, then dramatic, then tense/melancholy near the end.

Themes
Work and personal life, LGBTQ+, good and bad, what is morally right.

Requirements and resources
3 actors (2 male and 1 female), a swiss army knife, some beer bottles, clothes which detectives would wear, a park, an urban location and an office location, a camera, an audio recorder and microphone, a tripod, possibly a dolly, stock music, editing software.

Audience
18-35 year old millennials, ABC1, liberal-minded, cross-gender appeal

I decided to change a few aspects of my drama; firstly, I removed the part where the killer slits their throat as, while this kind of Tarantino-esque gore may appeal to me, I can't imagine it on a mainstream channel like ITV and think that it would put off a lot of the more casual viewers which they try to attract. In addition to this, it would be a lot of effort and would require me learning to use software like after effects and, if it looked bad, it would be very distracting and could come off as comedic. Secondly, I made the two police officers male, rather than female, simply for the reason that I know more male actors than I do female (but wanted to keep the gay romance). To compensate for this, I made the police officer on the phone female as I want my show to have a cross-gender appeal, so want plenty of gender variation (and, as Katz and Blumler say in their 'uses and gratifications' theory, one of the reasons which people consume media products is for identification, hence there must be a variety of representations for people to identify with).

I also thought that it would be a better opportunity for drama if the killer threatened the main detective rather than a random passer-by, as it adds a heavier emotional weight to the situation to see someone turn on their partner (also it saves me from getting another actor). I also added in a reason for why Michael killed the victim, as I felt like it was important to know this and be able to understand his motivation. It also adds depth to this character and gives Dave more of a moral dilemma as to whether Michael's murder was justified.