Crimewatch UK (1984–2017) User Reviews

Unsolved crime reconstruction show.

[LW-08854 · 8/10 · 28 December 2023]

A very important program that over the years recreated reconstructions of serious unsolved crimes. These were then followed up by appeals from the police for witnesses to get in touch, the detective would also go over a few key features of the case. I gather a few details in the reconstructions would have to be changed to protect the identity of the victims sometimes. The show seemed to have some success in helping to solve crimes, even those from 10 or 20 years ago, however many cases are still unsolved. The show became the centre of a strange case of horrible irony when one it's presenters Jill Dando was herself shot dead in a crime that stunned the country. Some of the reconstructions were quite scary knowing they really happened. Over the years the presentation of the show changed and some thought not for the better, but overall this has remained an important program.

For me the best presenters were Nick Robinson, Sue Cook with DC Jacqui Hames chipping in with updates and appeals for information. The show ran like clockwork in a smooth and measured way.

Jill Dando joined the team in the 1990s, Nick Robinson was then paired with Fiona Bruce who I thought was always calm, professional and engaging.

Things went wrong about 2007 when things in the studio started to become much more frantic, the reconstructions started to employ flashy editing, in the past when reconstructing a sex crime it would always fade to black once the victim had been approached and brought to the crime scene, in the new ones we'd actually see the beginning of the attack in sudden graphic short cuts accompanied by the kind of music you'd normally expect in A Friday the 13th movie or something. The introduction of Kirsty Young as a presenter didn't work for me either, she always seemed to be shaking with rage and always had to make some emotive comments after each reconstruction, the viewer was there to get facts and information, not to hear her pass judgement on each case. The show pretty much ended in 2016 by which time the budget was cut so much Jeremy Vine presented it in front of a police van with flashing lights.

Helping to solve real life crime

[chris_gaskin123 · 7 February 2006]

I've been watching Crimewatch UK for many years and is the BBC's crime solving programme.

It deals with the more serious offences that have been in the news including murders, rapes, armed robberies and kidnappings. Reconstructions using actors help to solve these crimes and then follows an appeal with the crime victims themselves and coppers dealing with the case.

We also get to see CCTV footage of crimes such as crooks robbing banks at gun point and also photo's of criminals who are wanted by police.

Nick Ross has presented this from the start and other presenters over the years include Sue Cook, the late Jill Dando and Ross's current co-presenter, Fiona Bruce.

This is usually shown once a month on BBC1 on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening between 9 and 10 pm.

Long may Crimewatch UK continue.

A national institution has lost its way

[chris_escritt · 10/10 · 7 July 2007]

My 10/10 grade is for Crimewatch between 1984-2006. Recently, the programme seems to have lost sight of the fact that its entire existence is as public service television. Yes, its clear-up rate sits at a most impressive one case in every five shown and also there must be a willingness to embrace new technology but the fine line between innovation and tat is becoming increasingly threatened. A programme like Crimewatch should be about increasing the amount of phone calls that can be taken in a single night or ensuring that there is an accessible website to browse case files and report suspicions. It should not concern itself with cinematic reconstructions, breast beating symphonies and posturing. It seems so... tacky.

Nick Ross, the faintly bullish but ultimately professional presenter, has just been relieved of his duties after twenty-three years. If, as it seems, the decision to remove him was because he is in his sixtieth year then it once again reinforces the notion that factual television is two parts shine and one part factual content. Crimewatch has been instrumental in cracking myriad notorious cases, even those that are thirty years old. We are not talking about purse snatching and phone box flashers either... we are talking about murders, serial rapists and infanticide. For this alone, Crimewatch must be allowed to continue. Yet all I ask, as a long time viewer and criminological student, is that the glitz and almost American production values that have crept into recent editions are allowed to die a dignified death. It just takes a mugshot and a phone call to apprehend a bank robber or paedophile. So why bother with pulse racing car chases and sub standard RADA acting if there is a more simple (and dignified) approach to solving illegal deeds? Nick Ross has gone - there are better presenters but let's hope that he doesn't come to symbolise Crimewatch's decline into ITVesque gimmickry, where the process of solving crime plays second fiddle to photogenic presenters and cinematic reconstructions of a sex attack in Woking. Crimewatch has become as dependable as comfortable pyjamas. The elastic hasn't snapped yet and I don't want to have to thrown them into the bin whilst they still have a shelf life.

Important crime fighting series

[jamiecostelo58 · 5 January 2013]

An important tool in the fight against crime in the UK since it began in June 1984, Crimewatch has detailed thousands of serious cases involving murder, robbery and rape amongst others. Continually supported by police forces across the country along with detailed reconstructions as well as CCTV footage of incidents, it simply puts into perspective the enormous good there is in people who phone in with vital information that can help convict those responsible: at least one-in-three cases featured on Crimewatch are solved thanks to viewers; a pretty good statistic.

Broadcast once a month on BBC1 (although in more recent times, a little less frequently), Crimewatch has had numerous presenters over the years. Of course its most prolific is Nick Ross; hosting the show for 23 years until 2007 ranks him as one of the longest serving presenters of the same series in TV history (working alongside female broadcasters Sue Cook, Jill Dando and Fiona Bruce in the process).

Ironically, Crimewatch in itself would be the victim of a terrible crime when Dando was murdered outside her house in London on 26 April 1999; sadly one of Britain's most infamous murders that remains unsolved.

Admittedly, I have to say the look and feel of the programme has diminished in quality in recent years, what with overzealous acting and unnecessary background music during reconstructions in what could be said to be "dumbing down"; what happened to just giving us the facts without resorting to the superfluous?

My point of "dumbing down" seems to be strengthened by the fact that in October 2017 the BBC announced their decision to axe Crimewatch after 33 years; a ridiculous move highlighting the declining standards of British television. A public service programme removed from the schedules due to "falling viewing figures" is a rather lame excuse in my eyes. Nevertheless, Crimewatch has been responsible for bringing many dangerous and prolific criminals to justice over the years thanks to viewers' responses; it's just a shame it will no longer aid the authorities and victims any longer.