From the Guardian, Saturday June 25, 2005

CSI … as characterless as life

It has no car chases, no shoot-outs, no emotions. So what makes Crime Scene Investigation so utterly compelling? The answer, writes JG Ballard, goes to the heart of our most basic fears.

JG BALLARD: “Television today is an ageing theme park, which we visit out of habit rather than in hope of finding anything fresh and original. At times I think that the era of television is over, but then it suddenly comes up with something rich and strange. A few years ago, hunting the outer darkness of Channel 5, I began to linger over a series called C.S.I: Crime Scene Investigation. After only a few episodes I was completely hooked, for reasons I don’t understand even today.”