Crimewatch

This article is about the former evening television programme. For the current daytime television programme, see Crimewatch Live. For the Singaporean television programme, see Crimewatch (Singaporean TV series). For other uses, see Crimewatch (disambiguation).

Crimewatch
Also known asCrimewatch UK
GenreFactual
Based onAktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
Presented byNick Ross
Sue Cook
David Hatcher
Helen Phelps
Jacqui Hames
Pattie Coldwell
Jill Dando
Fiona Bruce
Rav Wilding
Kirsty Young
Matthew Amroliwala
Martin Bayfield
Jason Mohammad
Sophie Raworth
Jeremy Vine
Tina Daheley
Opening theme"Rescue Helicopter"
ComposerJohn Cameron
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series33
No. of episodes322 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerJoe Mather
Production locationMultiple location(s)
Running time60 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release7 June 1984 (1984-06-07) –
20 March 2017 (2017-03-20)
Related
Crime Limited
Crimewatch File
Crimewatch Solved
Crimewatch Live
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

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.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] The daytime spin-off series Crimewatch Roadshow (now Crimewatch Live) would continue to air, but will also air more episodes per year.[5] Crime NI, a similar live monthly programme in partnership with Crimestoppers UK, was aired from 3 September 2021 to 11 April 2022 on BBC One Northern Ireland and presented by Wendy Austin and journalist Dearbhail McDonald.[6] Previously, a localised version of the programme was aired in the English Midlands region on BBC Two from 1987 until 1991. Presented originally by Peter Purves and BBC Midlands Today's Kathy Rochford, who was later replaced by fellow newsreader Sue Beardsmore, Crimewatch Midlands was broadcast live from Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham and ran for five series.

  1. ^ "Entertainment | Bruce takes Crimewatch job". BBC News. 12 November 1999. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  2. ^ BBC evicts top shows from London BBC News, 15 October 2008
  3. ^ Foster, Patrick (4 August 2016). "Jeremy Vine to become new Crimewatch presenter". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  4. ^ "Crimewatch AXED after 33 years as revamp of BBC favourite fails to save ratings nosedive". Daily Express. 17 October 2017.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc-cancelled was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "BBC One - Crime NI". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2021.