OCR A-Level Lupin Narrative

A complete OCR A-Level Media Studies lesson exploring narrative structure, flashbacks, enigmas and audience engagement in Lupin Season 1 Episode 1.

This fully editable PowerPoint (.pptx) lesson focuses on Lupin: Chapter One for OCR A-Level Media Studies Paper 2: Evolving Media, Section B – Long Form Television Drama.

The lesson explores how Lupin uses non-linear narrative, flashbacks, enigma codes, cross-cutting and dual identity to engage audiences. Students begin by considering how Assane’s identity as both a janitor and a gentleman thief creates narrative tension and challenges audience expectations. The Do Now also asks students to consider the episode’s beginning, middle and end, the mysteries introduced, the use of flashbacks and whether the full truth is revealed by the end of Episode 1.

Students then learn how Lupin uses a non-linear structure, shifting between the present-day Louvre heist, two-weeks-earlier planning scenes and flashbacks to Assane’s childhood. The lesson explains how this structure creates suspense, mystery and sympathy by gradually revealing Assane’s motivations and the injustice surrounding his father.

The lesson includes focused analysis of two key flashback sequences: the 1995 scene with Assane’s father and Mrs Pellegrini, and the later flashback showing Babakar’s betrayal, arrest and imprisonment. Students explore how these scenes reveal class prejudice, racial injustice, betrayal, identity, revenge and Assane’s gentleman-thief persona.

The second half of the lesson introduces Roland Barthes’ enigma codes, helping students understand how unanswered questions sustain audience curiosity and encourage binge-watching on Netflix. Students match key enigmas to their effects, including questions around the necklace, Assane’s plan, his father’s guilt, surveillance, the heist and whether Assane will be caught.

The lesson builds towards an exam-style written response on how the complexity of Lupin’s narrative ensures the audience is engaged. It includes sentence starters, a word bank, a model response and success criteria for WWW/EBI self-assessment.

This lesson covers:

OCR A-Level Media Studies
Paper 2: Evolving Media
Section B: Long Form Television Drama
Lupin: Chapter One
Media language
Narrative structure
Non-linear narrative
Flashbacks
Enigma codes
Roland Barthes
Cross-cutting
Dual identity
Janitor vs gentleman thief
Assane Diop
Babakar Diop
Pellegrini family
Betrayal
Revenge
Injustice
Class prejudice
Racial prejudice
Character depth
Audience engagement
Netflix binge-watching
Crime drama conventions

What is included:

Fully editable PowerPoint (.pptx) lesson
Do Now narrative analysis task
Teacher feedback/model response
Lesson objectives
Non-linear narrative explanation
Turn and Talk task on narrative effect
Flashback analysis task: 9:25–11:40
Flashback anal