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[[quoteright:350:[[Series/{{CSI}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_csidrama.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dead men tell all sorts of tales.]]
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->''"I'm telling you, [=DeGroot=], keep Crime Scene Unit out until you're done and not before. They've all seen ''Series/{{CSI}}'' and suddenly they're all Literature/SherlockHolmes now. Magic words for dealing with CSU: 'shut up and lift the fucking fingerprint, lab monkey'."''
-->-- '''Frank Ironwine''', ''Ironwine''

Police detectives, private detectives, amateur detectives, beat police, retired police, lawyers, reporters and judges... almost every major career that could have something to do with crime has been used at one point or another as inspiration for a PoliceProcedural, so it was inevitable that TV would eventually turn to the lesser-known elements of police investigation for material.

As a result, we get the Forensic Drama. Most commonly this genre follows forensic pathologists -- they're the ones that cut up and/or examine the corpses -- but will also include shows or characters that specialise in general forensic science (lifting fingerprints and the like), forensic psychology and forensic toxicology among a dozen other specialisations. Basically, if you can put "forensic" on the front of it, there's probably a pilot episode in existence somewhere.

As dull as this may seem, viewers do actually turn on in droves to see the adventures of a bunch of people who mostly spend their time sitting in laboratories or offices rather than chasing armed criminals. Some series get around this by having the investigator get caught up in the murderer's private life, or by bending the rules a bit to allow him or her to [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything interview and arrest suspects]]. In real life, though, they're mostly just TheLabRat.

See also TheProfiler.

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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{Evidence}}'' combines forensic drama with SlasherFilm and FoundFootage film.
* ''Film/ForgettingSarahMarshall'' has the titular character star alongside WilliamBaldwin in a ShowWithinAShow called ''Crime Scene: [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Scene of the Crime]]'', a clear ''Series/{{CSI}}'' {{Expy}}.
* ''Film/{{Manhunter}}'', based on the book ''Literature/RedDragon'', is about an FBI agent who is an expert in forensic profiling and who ends up asking for the help of one Hannibal [[InconsistentSpelling Lecktor]]. Its star, Creator/WilliamPetersen, went on to play Gil Grissom in ''Series/{{CSI}}''.
* The UrExample is probably a 1938 short film called ''Film/TheyreAlwaysCaught''. In the short, a man is murdered via car bomb. The protagonist is a forensic scientist who does scientific analysis of evidence found at the scene--fiber analysis from a burlap sack, fiber analysis from clothing, the use of iodine spray to bring out a WritingIndentationClue, and spectrum analysis of the gunpowder found at the scene, all of which is used to catch the bad guy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* R. Austin Freeman's ''Literature/DrThorndyke'' mysteries might very well be the trope codifier.
* The ''Elizabeth [=MacPherson=]'' series by Sharyn [=McCrumb=].
* The ''Kay Scarpetta'' series by Creator/PatriciaCornwell is an incredibly popular range of books about a forensic pathologist.
* John Rhode's long-running ''Literature/LancelotPriestly'' series was made as as spiritual successor to the Thorndyke books.
* Creator/RandallGarrett's ''Literature/LordDarcy'' was supposedly inspired by someone who complained that in this sort of story for all a lay person could understand, they might as well be doing their detecting with magic spells. Garrett said to himself, "Hmmm. . . ."
* The ''Tempe Brennan'' series by Kathy Reichs, on which the TV show ''{{Series/Bones}}'' is (very loosely) based.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The French series ''Series/AlexandraEhle'' follows the eponymous quirky, stubborn and brilliant red-headed thanatologist/coroner and her hapless trainee as they double as {{Amateur Sleuth}}s.
* ''Series/BodyOfProof'' is ''Series/{{House}}'' if he was a female medical examiner played by Dana Delany.
* ''Series/{{Bones}}''. Technically, it's a Forensic Dramedy. Unlike many of the other examples, they actually have an explanation for WHY the labrat leaves the lab: She's the absolute best in her field and it was her condition for providing her services to the FBI.
* ''Series/{{Cracker}}'' was a British television series about a forensic psychologist who 'cracks' suspects. It was later made into a rather poor US series.
* ''Series/CrossingJordan'' is a dramedy about the workers in Boston's coroner's office, but it morphed into a ''CSI'' clone about halfway through season 2.
* [[TropeMaker Probably the best known example]] is ''Series/{{CSI}}'', which became hugely popular and engendered a slew of spin-off TV series, books, games and comics. FollowTheLeader means it's [[TropeCodifier probably responsible for a lot of the current wave of these shows]] since 2000.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' throws in a few aspects of this, though you can't really call the show a Forensic Drama; Dexter himself is a forensic investigator, though, and there is a lot of swabbing and lab-checking at least once an episode, sometimes even as an important plot point.
* ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' is a mix of this and GothicHorror. The main characters are a mix of FBI Special Agents, [[TheLabRat lab rats]], profilers and psychologists who use forensic science to track and apprehend serial killers, as in [[Literature/RedDragon the source material]]. The focus shifts away from these forensic aspects during the second half of season 2 and the first half of season 3, and the lab rat characters subsequently take a back seat.
* ''Series/{{Harrow}}'' tells the story of Dr. Daniel Harrow, a forensic pathologist with a total disregard for authority.
* ''Series/HecRamsey'': Forensic science meets cowboys.
** The short lived USA Network drama ''Peacemakers''could also be described as forensic science meets cowboys.
* The TV Asahi drama ''Series/{{Kasouken no Onna}}'' (known to KIKU viewers in Hawaii as ''InvestigatorMariko'') is a Japanese version of ''CSI'', although its first episode was aired in Japan in October 1999, a year before CBS debuted ''CSI''. ([[http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Kasouken_no_Onna info link]])
* ''Series/MedicalInvestigation'' was NBC's FollowTheLeader entry to ''CSI''.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Only a few of the characters are forensic specialists (Abby, Ducky), one's a computer expert ([=McGee=]), one's an ActionGirl (Ziva), one's TheAce (Tony), and one's the TeamDad. As such the show blends multiple formulas of PoliceProcedural and Forensic Drama, and much of the fun comes from the cast arguing about how to go about solving the crime.
* ''Series/{{Numb3rs}}'' is a TV series about solving crime with [[EverybodyHatesMathematics math]]!
* The 1992-3 Australian series ''Series/Phoenix1992'' also combined this with PoliceProcedural, with the husband-and-wife team of Ian "The Goose" Cochrane and his wife Carol trying to find out who set off a carbomb that killed two police officers, while trying to get the Major Crime Squad detectives to take their part of the job seriously.
-->'''Inspector Brennan:''' We're not ready for you blokes yet.
-->'''The Goose:''' Oh, is that a fact? I don't know why you called us out here at all.
-->'''Inspector Brennan:''' ''(getting in his face)'' You got a problem?
-->'''The Goose:''' Hell ''[[SarcasmMode no]]'', there's only fifteen people wandering all over the scene. I mean, it's ''hopelessly'' contaminated; whatever was there is not there now--what could possibly be a problem?
-->'''Inspector Brennan:''' Who is this prick?
-->'''Detective:''' A public service prick, Mr. Brennan.
-->'''Inspector Brennan:''' Explain the facts of life to him. ''(leaves)''
-->'''Detective:''' He wants me to explain police procedure to you, boss.
-->'''The Goose:''' Go ahead. I'd like to hear "piss off" explained in depth.
* ''Series/{{Profiler}}'' is a [[TheNineties 90's]] beta version of over-the-top, stylistic shows like ''Series/CriminalMinds''.
* ''Series/QuincyME'', the granddaddy of them all.
* ''Series/Rosewood2015'' is another example of this mixed with the PoliceProcedural.
* ''Series/{{Sign}}'' is a Korean forensic drama modeled after ''Series/{{CSI}}''
* ''Series/SilentWitness'' is a TV series about a group of forensic pathologists and actually pre-dates ''Series/{{CSI}}''. It's notable for being one of the longest-running crime shows in the world.
* ''Series/{{Trace}}'' is Russian forensic show set in Moscow, which is one of the longest-running shows in the world [[LongRunner (more than 2700 episodes since 2007)]].
* ''Series/TruCalling'' had elements of this.
* ''Series/WakingTheDead'', narrowly pre-dating ''Series/{{CSI}}''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXIV'', players who become alchemists use their alchemical knowledge to solve peculiar murder cases in two separate storylines. In ''Heavensward'', the alchemist helps to solve a LockedRoomMystery and in ''Stormblood'', they uncover the mystery of two murder victims whose bodies have not decomposed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''[[http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/securitymonkey/official-securitymonkey-case-file-index-14787 Official SecurityMonkey Case File]]'' claims to be true stories from the career of a computer security consultant who also writes a blog. They are written in a Perry Mason style (complete with alliterative titles). In each one the narrator and his sidekick solve crimes and mysteries by careful computer forensics.
[[/folder]]
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