What is it about transgressing the law that makes it such a popular subject for drama? Given the amount of big and small screen time devoted to different perspectives on this topic, it’s a question worth investigating. The last couple of nights have presented two very different takes on what makes crime fascinating, from the long established ITV show The Bill, and new American import Life.

One distinction between the shows is that The Bill is an ensemble drama, while Life centres round one central character. That difference shapes the programmes in interesting ways. The cops of Sun Hill have differing personal styles that affect the way they do their jobs, and that sometimes leads to conflict within the team. That range of approaches and personalities makes for the programme’s key appeal: how the letter of the law is interpreted by people of divergent character.

Life is a very different show, and one that is very much representative of 21st century genre television, when the tried and tested formats have been running for decades and anything new must have something different to offer to viewers. We’ve seen the same happen in medical dramas with the success of House, where Hugh Laurie synthesises Sherlock Holmes and Simon Cowell to create a uniquely appealing character. And clearly the makers of Life are hoping for a similarly distinctive appeal with their protagonist, Charlie Crews.

As played by Damian Lewis, Crews is a cop who’s been let out of prison after serving a decade there wrongfully. Meaning he’s interesting for at least three reasons. First, he doesn’t understand some aspects of the modern world, eg the internet and phones that take photos. Second, he’s been given oodles of money as compensation, which he’s invested in a flash car and house. Third, the reason he survived his time in prison is because of his adoption of a Buddhist stance on life. These factors can be played with in the context of a crime drama to produce endless interesting permutations for the writers to toy with.

So, Crews is the axis around which the show rotates, and my fear is that the writing is already leaning to the hip end of the spectrum to give it a Unique Selling Point. And it sounds a bit cutesy to me, Zen reduced to fortune cookie aphorisms. But maybe there’s an audience for that, because god knows it was hard to find much distinctive about The Bill. Well written and acted it undoubtedly was, but there was a strong feeling of deja vu in this evening’s episode. One of the guys poses as a taxi driver and gets caught up in delivering dodgy packages in a storyline that connects to a posh bird who has been supplying her friends with coke. It was all very competently done, but the only original aspect was the young woman being represented by her father, a barrister, a mix of professional and personal which created some of the show’s more interesting moments.

Certainly The Bill can impress – witness the bombing storyline a few months back – and make the most of its ensemble cast. But given the inevitable familiarity of many of the storylines run on a show about to celebrate its 25th birthday, is it any surprise that new shows head in the direction of Life, in an attempt to find fresh life in the genre? The danger being that shows dependent on a protagonist’s idiosyncrasies risk those qualities losing favour with the public without solid writing and performances.

As long as we live in a society with others, we will continue to be fascinated by those who transgress the shared rules by which we are obliged to live together. And there’s always going to be a place on the tv schedules for shows which examine that truism. Specifically how that’s done is a question of playing with some of the variables that past tv dramas have been constructed with: team or individual focus, legal or criminal perspective, ongoing drama or fixed end point, etc. Playing with those permutations has given us Dexter and Hill Street Blues, Cracker and The Sopranos, Columbo and Wire in the Blood. There’s every reason to assume a bright future for viewers from the darkness at the heart of those shows.