Fitz wannabes take it seriously

By SARAH CASSIDY

TV crime dramas have fuelled a rise in applications to study forensic science in Britain, a survey by the Independent newspaper has found.

Programmes such as the BBC's Silent Witness, featuring a team of university pathologists, and Waking the Dead, in which a psychological profiler and forensic pathologist help to crack unsolved murders, have been cited by students as having inspired them to apply for forensic science courses.

At the University of Northumbria, applications to study criminology and forensic science have doubled.

"We've seen a remarkable increase in applications for forensic science and criminology this year," university admissions officer Miriam Clift said.

"We feel that this increase is partly due to dramas such as Silent Witness."

"Any interest in science can only be a good thing and so this is very positive from our perspective."

The University of Manchester has seen a steady rise in applications to study psychology in the past four years, with applications increasing 15 per cent.

This year, 2000 applicants competed for about 200 places.

Dr Kathy England, the university's recruitment officer for science and engineering, attributed much of the rise to TV programmes.

She pointed to the Cracker phenomenon, arguing that many young people aspired to be like Fitz, the charismatic forensic psychologist played by Robbie Coltrane in the crime drama.

Psychology courses at Manchester also received a boost after the head of the department, Professor Geoffrey Beattie, appeared as a commentator on the reality TV programme Big Brother.

"A lot of students aspire to be the next Cracker, a character from Waking the Dead, or a Big Brother psychologist like the head of our department," England said.

"They see all these programmes on television and they think, 'I'd like to be that person'.

"Television programmes definitely play a big role in the glamorisation of psychology.

"Unfortunately, we haven't see the same glamorisation of physics."

- INDEPENDENT