Crimewatch (formerly Crimewatch UK) is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was originally broadcast once a month in a primetime slot on BBC One, although in the final years before its relaunch in September 2016 it was usually broadcast roughly once every two months.
Crimewatch was first broadcast on 7 June 1984, and is based on the German TV show Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst (which translates as File Reference XY... Unsolved). Nick Ross and Sue Cook presented the show for the first eleven years, until Cook's departure in June 1995. Cook was replaced by Jill Dando. After Dando was murdered in April 1999, Ross hosted Crimewatch alone until January 2000, when Fiona Bruce joined the show.
Kirsty Young and Matthew Amroliwala replaced Ross and Bruce following their departures in 2007. The BBC announced on 15 October 2008 that they would move production of shows such as Crimewatch to studios in Cardiff.BBC evicts top shows from London BBC News, 15 October 2008 The move took place in January 2011. Young and Amroliwala remained as the lead presenters until 2015. Following a brief period with guest presenter Sophie Raworth in 2016, it was announced that the show would relaunch in September 2016 with a new weekly format. The new presenters were announced as Jeremy Vine and Tina Daheley. The new series began on 5 September 2016, with the final episode broadcast on 20 March 2017.
In October 2017, the BBC announced that the main Crimewatch series had been cancelled, citing declining viewership. The daytime spin-off series Crimewatch Roadshow (now Crimewatch Live) would continue to air, but will also air more episodes per year. Over 40 years, more than 700 programmes have been broadcast with 7,000 appeals made on behalf of British police.
History The idea for the show came from the UK programme Police 5 and the German Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst (File Reference XY... Unsolved).Jewkes, Yvonne (2004) Media and crime, SAGE, p. 153 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).Schlesinger, Philip; Tumber, Howard (1994) "Fighting the war against crime: Television, police and audience." The British Journal of Criminology. 33:19-32 However, they favoured the idea of audience participation in the show.
Originally, Crimewatch UK (as it was then known) was due to run for only three programmes.Newburn, Tim (2007) Criminology, Willan Publishing, p. 105 It was regarded as an experiment when it was first shown due to doubts that the police would take part and scepticism as to whether witnesses and victims would welcome the idea. There was also concern that it could be considered to prejudice a jury. The cases featured on the first programme included three murders, a stamp theft in London and some forged car documents. In over 25 years, 57 murderers, 53 rapists and sex offenders, 18 paedophiles, and others were captured as a direct result of Crimewatch appeals."Axed! Who killed Crimewatch – and why?" Guardian, 17 October 2017
The original theme music was "Rescue Helicopter" (1980) by John Cameron (Bruton Music).
Show format Main programme
Crimewatch used to be shown once a month on BBC One. The start time varied slightly but it was generally aired for 45–50 minutes before being extended to an hour in the early 2000s. In the early years it followed the BBC Nine O'Clock News starting at around 9.30pm but in the mid to late 1990s was often moved to 10pm, always with a short Crimewatch Update programme airing later that evening (sometimes as late as after midnight due to scheduling). In June 1986, there was no edition of the programme due to World Cup football coverage from Mexico. In January 1987, the Grandstand studio was used for that month's edition due to a strike by the set designers. In later years, following the move of the flagship evening news programme, the main show was now aired at 9pm for an hour with Crimewatch Update now airing sometime after the BBC Ten O'Clock News. In 2006, the show's name dropped the "UK" suffix. Since March 2011 the show aired less frequently, roughly once every two months.
It featured approximately three or four cases per show, with each case featuring reconstructions of the crime. It was one of the largest live factual studio productions. The films shown often feature interviews with senior detectives and/or relatives or friends of victims.Leishman, Frank; Mason, Paul (2003) Policing and the media: facts, fictions and factions, Willan Publishing, p. 114 Key evidence is usually shown, such as E-FIT profiles of suspects and details of certain lines of enquiry.
Other features to the show included a "CCTV section", which showed crimes caught on CCTV with enhanced imagery of suspects. A "Wanted Faces" section was also featured: eight close-up pictures of suspects police are trying to trace are shown on screen. This section also frequently involves information about suspects, including aliases. These eight photos are shown upon the programme's closing credits, one of the few programmes in which the BBC do not 'show the credits in reduced size'.
Viewers could contact Crimewatch by phoning 0500 600 600, with the phone lines remaining open until midnight the night following the programme. Viewers could also send text messages to 63399. 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 could be watched on the BBC iPlayer catch-up service for only 24 hours from broadcast due to legal reasons.
Crimewatch Update Following the main programme, there was a 10–15 minute follow-up after the BBC News at Ten, with updates on calls and results from the earlier broadcast. This was removed when the show relaunched in September 2016. From the start of the fourth series in October 1987, additional updates were also featured as part of the following morning's edition of Open Air but later moved into magazine programme Daytime Live (a replacement for Pebble Mill at One) from November 1989 until May 1990.
Police involvement Despite initial police concerns about involvement (only three forces out of more than 40 agreed to participate initially), 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, 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 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."The big cases Crimewatch helped solve" BBC News, 17 October 2017 Over the years, Crimewatch has featured appeals from all 43 police forces in the country.
Several police officers have appeared on the programme from the studio, including David Hatcher, Helen Phelps, Jeremy Paine, Jacqui Hames, Jonathan Morrison, Jane Corrigan, and Rav Wilding. For many years the programme also included antiques experts John Bly, Eric Knowles and Paul Hayes to help with 'treasure trove' details of recovered goods believed to have been stolen.
Ratings and public response At its peak, Crimewatch was seen by fourteen million viewers per week. However, by 2017, credited to competition from other programmes, it had fallen to an average of three million. At the time of the programme's 150th episode in January 1999, it was reported that the average viewing figures were eight million. Ratings began to decline further in the 2000s but remained competitive. In January 2008, the first episode to feature Young as presenter attracted 4.5 million viewers.
A study by the Broadcasting Standards Council found that Crimewatch increased the fear of crime in over half of its respondents, and a third said it made them feel "afraid".Palmer, Gareth (2003) Discipline and liberty: television and governance, Manchester University Press ND, p. 80–81 However, according to John Sears, senior English lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, 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."Bignell, Jonathan (2004) An introduction to television studies, Routledge, p. 197
Presenters Lead presenters