Crimewatch

For other uses, see Crimewatch (disambiguation).

Crimewatch
Also known as	Crimewatch UK
Genre	Factual
Starring	Kirsty Young Matthew Amroliwala Rav Wilding
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC
Picture format	16:9
Original run	7 June 1984 (1984-06-07) – present
Chronology
Followed by	Crimewatch Update
Related shows	Crimewatch Roadshow
External links
Website

Crimewatch (formerly Crimewatch UK) is a long-running and high-profile British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes with a view to gaining information from the members of the public. The programme is usually broadcast once a month on BBC One. It was announced on 15 October 2008, that the BBC is to move the filming of shows such as Crimewatch to studios in Cardiff.^[1]

The show was first broadcast on 7 June 1984, and is based on the German TV show Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst (which translates as File XY... Unsolved). It was first presented by Nick Ross and Sue Cook. When Cook left in 1995, she was replaced by Jill Dando. After Dando's murder in April 1999, Fiona Bruce took over.

Kirsty Young, Rav Wilding and Matthew Amroliwala currently front the show, following the departures of Ross and Bruce in 2007.

History

The idea for the show was inspired by programmes in the UK, as well as Germany – Police Five and Aktenzeichen XY... Ungelöst (Case XY... Unsolved) respectively.^[2] Producers viewed the shows and rejected the overt reconstructions with music to build suspense in America's Most Wanted, and were also against the idea of filming the reconstruction from the perspective of the offender as in Aktenzeichen XY... Ungelöst (particularly for sexual assaults).^[3] However, they favoured the idea of audience participation in the show.^[3] It started as Crimewatch UK and was due to run for three programmes only.^[4] It was regarded as an experiment when it was first shown, partly because of doubts about whether police would take part,^[4] whether witnesses and victims would welcome the idea, whether it would actually lead to arrests, and whether it could be considered to prejudice a jury. In over 25 years, 57 murderers, 53 rapists and sex offenders and 18 paedophiles have been caught as a direct result of Crimewatch appeals

Show format

The programme is shown every month on BBC One usually at 9pm, with a Crimewatch Update at 10.35, following the BBC News at Ten. The show features approximately three or four cases per month, with each case featuring reconstructions of the crime. It is one of the largest live factual studio productions. The films shown often feature interviews with senior detectives and/or relatives or friends.^[5] Key evidence is usually shown, such as E-FIT profiles of suspects and details of certain lines of enquiry.

The show has other features, such as the CCTV section, presented approximately 15 minutes from the start and end of the programme by Rav Wilding. This shows CCTV reports of many different crimes, with enhanced imagery of suspects police are trying to contact. Also presented by Rav Wilding is the Wanted Faces, eight close-up pictures of suspects police need to talk to. This section also frequently involves information about suspects, including aliases. These eight photos are shown upon the programme's closing titles, one of the few programmes in which the BBC do not 'show the credits in reduced size'.

Viewers can contact Crimewatch by phoning 0500 600 600, with phonelines remaining open until midnight the night following the programme. Viewers can also send text messages. Due to the high demand for cases to be shown on the programme, many other cases are added to the Crimewatch website. These are joined by reconstructions, CCTV footage and Wanted faces that have been shown on previous programmes. All reconstructions, CCTV footage, faces and cases remain on the Crimewatch website until the criminals are caught or suspects convicted. Crimewatch is available to watch on the BBC iPlayer, however, only for 24 hours after broadcast

Crimewatch Update

Following the main programme, this is a 10-15 minute follow up following the BBC News at Ten which updates viewers on calls and breakthroughs.

Crimewatch Solved

From time to time the team airs an extra programme Crimewatch: Solved showcasing cases that resulted in convictions; and sometimes produce a Crimewatch special which reviews an entire high-profile case, such as the murder of Sarah Payne, from beginning to end.

Crimewatch Roadshow

This accompanying series was shown on weekday mornings from 1–26 June 2009, presented by newsreader Sophie Raworth and regular Crimewatch presenter Rav Wilding. The show returned on 7 June 2010, this time presented by Wilding and newsreader Ginny Buckley.^[6]

Series 3 runs from June 6 to July 1 2011 and is presented live from the studio by Rav Wilding, with co-presenter Miriam O'Reilly on location in different parts of the country.

Involvement

Several police officers have also featured in the studio, including David Hatcher, Helen Phelps, Jeremy Payne, Jacqui Hames, Jonathan Morrison, Jane Corrigan and most recently Rav Wilding. For many years the show also recruited antiques experts John Bly, Eric Knowles and Paul Hayes to help with 'treasure trove' appeals to trace owners of goods that had been recovered and which were assumed to be stolen.^[5]

Despite initial police concerns about involvement^[4] (only three forces agreed to participate at first) Crimewatch developed a special status with police and was credited with an expertise of its own, notably through Nick Ross' long experience with public appeals. Unlike the American equivalent spawned by Crimewatch, America's Most Wanted, Crimewatch itself usually appeals for unsolved cases, inviting viewers to be armchair detectives. According to the producers about a third of its cases are solved, half of those as a direct result of viewers' calls. Its successes have included some of the Britain's most notorious crimes, including the kidnap of Stephanie Slater and murder of Julie Dart, the M25 rapist, the road-rage killing by Kenneth Noye, and the capture of two boys for the abduction and murder of James Bulger.

Over the years Crimewatch has featured appeals from all 43 police forces in the country. 1 in 3 appeals leads to an arrest and 1 in 5 lead to a conviction. 4 or 5 requests to air appeals are received from police forces every day.^{[citation needed]}

Ratings and public response

Crimewatch is watched by between four and five million every month.^{[citation needed]}

A study by the Broadcasting Standards Council found that Crimewatch UK increased the fear of crime in over half of its respondents, and a third said it made them feel "afraid".^[7] However, according to John Sears^[who?], it provides a beneficial role, performing "a social function by helping to solve crime, and drawing on the collective responsibilities, experiences and knowledge of the viewing audience in order to do so."^[8]

Presenters

Presenter	Year	Additional information
Nick Ross	1984–2007	Known for ending each episode by reminding viewers that violent crime is actually very rare and encouraging them not to have nightmares (due to the show's late air time). His phrase, "don't have nightmares, do sleep well" has been referenced and spoofed in numerous TV shows and stand-up comedy routines. Left the show after 23 years
Sue Cook	1984–1995	British broadcaster and author, left the show to focus on other work
Jill Dando	1995–1999	Her murder was reconstructed and shown on Crimewatch, though the appeal did not result in the arrest of Barry George, who was later convicted of the killing but was acquitted on 1 August 2008
Fiona Bruce	1999–2007	Left the show to host Antiques Roadshow after eight years
Rav Wilding	2004 -	A former policeman, who specializes on the criminals 'Caught on Camera'
Kirsty Young	2008 -	Former newsreader for Channel Five and ITV now main anchor of Crimewatch and presenter of Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4
Matthew Amroliwala	2008 -	Newsreader who presents the "How they were caught" section and presents updates on previous cases covered by Crimewatch

Featured cases

Victims

• The Murder of Colette Aram, the first case to be featured on the show^[9]
• The Murder of Sally Anne Bowman
• The Murder of James Bulger
• The Murder of Jill Dando
• The Murder of Amanda Dowler
• The Murder of Daniel Handley
• The Murder of Danielle Jones
• The Murder of Rhys Jones
• The Murder of Sophie Lancaster
• The Murder of Stephen Lawrence
• The Rachel Nickell murder case
• The Murder of Nisha Patel-Nasri
• The Murder of Sarah Payne
• The Murder of Damilola Taylor
• The Stabbing of Abigail Witchalls
• The Murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman
• The disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh
• The disappearance of Claudia Lawrence
• The New Cross double murder
• The Joanna Yeates murder
• The disappearance and murder of Melanie Hall
• The murder of Elaine Doyle in Greenock
• The murders of the Sharkey family, whose house was delibrately set on fire in Helensburugh, Scotland.

Suspects and criminal offenders

• Antoni Imiela, the M25 rapist
• Fred Lawlor, child abuser and murderer
• Fiona Mont, formerly Britain's Most Wanted Woman
• Kenneth Noye, murderer
• Michael Sams, rapist, kidnapper, extortionist and murderer
• Joel Smith, murderer
• Michael Stone, murderer
• Steve Wright, serial killer in the Ipswich serial murders
• Peter Tobin, a serial killer who murdered Vicky Hamilton, Dinah McNicol and Angelika Kluk
• Delroy Grant, 'The night stalker', burglar and serial rapist of elderly women.
• Bible John, a serial killer who murdered three young woman in Glasgow, Scotland in the late 1960s
• 2011 England riots, a special edition aired on 18 August 2011 was aimed at identifying those who committed offences during that month's riots.^[10][11]

See also

• Traffic Cops (also called Car Wars)
• America's Most Wanted, similar programme for the United States of America
• India's Most Wanted inspired program in India
• Police Report, similar program in Hong Kong
• Linha Direta, similar program in Brazil
• Efterlyst, similar program in Sweden
• Crime Watch, similar program in Trinidad and Tobago^[12]

References

1. ^ BBC evicts top shows from London BBC News, 15 October 2008
2. ^ Jewkes, Yvonne (2004) Media and crime, SAGE, p. 153
3. ^ ^{a b} Schlesinger, Philip; Tumber, Howard (1994) "Fighting the war against crime: Television, police and audience." The British Journal of Criminology. 33:19-32
4. ^ ^{a b c} Newburn, Tim (2007) Criminology, Willan Publishing, p. 105
5. ^ ^{a b} Leishman, Frank; Mason, Paul (2003) Policing and the media: facts, fictions and factions, Willan Publishing, p. 114
6. ^ Rav Wilding to be joined by Ginny Buckley for Crimewatch Roadshow on BBC One Daytime BBC Press Office, 30 April 2010
7. ^ Palmer, Gareth (2003) Discipline and liberty: television and governance, Manchester University Press ND, p. 80–81
8. ^ Bignell, Jonathan (2004) An introduction to television studies, Routledge, p. 197
9. ^ "Man remanded in 1983 death case". BBC News. 9 April 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/7990989.stm. Retrieved 11 April 2009. 
10. ^ Hough, Andrew (18 August 2011). "London riots: CCTV shows thugs blasting man defending shop with fire extinguisher". The Telegraph (London: Telegraph Media Group). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8709138/London-riots-CCTV-shows-thugs-blasting-man-defending-shop-with-fire-extinguisher.html. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
11. ^ "Police release shocking fire extinguisher attack footage from Battersea riots". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). 19 August 2011. http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/9205324.Police_release_shocking_fire_extinguisher_attack_footage/. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
12. ^ "TnT Crime Watch". http://tntcrimewatch.org. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 

External links

• Crimewatch at BBC Online
• Crimewatch Roadshow at BBC Online
• Crimewatch at the Internet Movie Database