
Our first case tells the story of a 24-year-old Irish nurse studying in Glasgow, who disappears after a night out with friends. Police focus on the last man she had been seen chatting to outside a nightclub, and they discover he rents a lock-up on a remote farm, where they discover her remains. But still they need tangible evidence. It takes an expert witness in soil analysis to link the suspect to the scene where the body was found. The physical evidence of the soil and the vegetation give up their secrets and help put the killer behind bars. \n \nOur second case follows how, in December 2021, Police Scotland’s wildlife officers began an investigation into a case of suspected hare coursing – an illegal and barbaric blood sport. \n \nPolice receive a report of suspected hare coursing from eyewitnesses, and investigators are able to recover DNA from a hare carcass found at the location. They reach out to wildlife DNA specialist Dr Lucy Webster, who was responsible for a landmark conviction using dog DNA back in 2016. \n\nInvestigators then track down the suspects and retrieve DNA swabs from their dogs as crucial forensic evidence. Lucy’s lab analysis provides a partial DNA match for one of the dogs to ensure charges can be brought, leading to the conviction of three men.
Source: BBC 1
Series 1: 15. 60s Dna And Fibres Around The World
A 50-year-old cold case murder is solved by DNA and the tenacity of an expert witness, and a murder investigation is solved by tracking unusual blue fibres around the world.
13-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 12. Pollen, Chalk And Dna
How expert analysis of nettles and soil helped catch the killer of the Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, and how advances in DNA techniques finally solved the m ...
12-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 11. Text Messages And Dna
Analysis of text messages reveal a husband’s plot to cover up his wife’s murder, and traces of DNA on decades-old evidence help bring justice to the family of a murd ...
11-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 9. Cerium And Cctv
We reveal how the power of forensic science not only found a killer, but also freed an innocent man. Forensic evidence is a powerful tool. So powerful, that if it’s misint ...
10-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 5. Pollen In A Field And Fibres In A Car Crash
When smouldering human remains are found in a field in Hertfordshire, a policeman’s hunch and a diligent expert witness help catch the killers. \n\nNot every expert witne ...
09-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 6. Dna, Fibres And Bones
In this episode, we reveal how the tenacity of a team of forensic scientists helped finally catch the killer of two children in Brighton. Also, when bones were discovered on moo ...
06-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 8. Soil On A Spade And Stones In A Shoe
Soil on a spade helps catch the killer of a young woman from Swindon, who for years evaded justice and a stone stuck in the sole of a shoe helps solve a murder in Manchester.
05-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 3. Forensic Imaging And Msn Chat
This episode uncovers the forensic imaging expertise behind the eventual capture of Michael Hardacre, the 'Rochdale ripper'.\n\nIn the summer of 2000, a series of attacks in Roc ...
04-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 2. Blood Under Paint And Gait
A skilled expert witness does more than just analyse existing evidence. They guide detectives towards new clues that can turn a case. That is what happened in the case of Lynett ...
03-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 1. Soil And Insects
This episode travels to Edinburgh to look at the fascinating story behind one of Scotland’s longest-running investigations, the World’s End murders, a double murder ...
02-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 2 (reversions): 8. Late Night Murder / Hounded To Death
Our first case tells the story of a 24-year-old Irish nurse studying in Glasgow, who disappears after a night out with friends. Police focus on the last man she had been seen ch ...
05-12-2024
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 4. Blood Under Paint And Gait - Fibres
Blood traces hidden under paint help an expert witness overturn a miscarriage of justice, an unusual gait identifies a killer and the science of fibre evidence is explored.\n
08-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 2: 1. Shallow Graves - Unearthing A Serial Killer
Some criminal investigations are so complicated that they require a number of expert witnesses to be involved. This programme examines how forensic evidence from a whole team of ...
11-09-2023
BBC 1
Series 3: 13. Facing Justice And Language Of Terror
When a decomposed body is washed up on a Dutch beach, a UK facial reconstruction expert helps uncover the identity. And a forensic linguistic specialist leads an international h ...
12-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 4. Cracking The Killer's Code
Our first case concerns a young man, Dolton Powell, fatally stabbed by an armed gang after a party. A group of suspects are arrested and questioned, but they remain tight-lipped ...
28-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 14. Blood On His Hands
When a disabled woman is found brutally murdered in her home, her neighbour is the prime suspect. Rhona Heywood was found dead next to her unconscious neighbour in 2008 after sp ...
15-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 13. Insects And Bones
Insects establish an accurate time of death, helping to prove a husband killed his wife, and analysis of burnt remains in Leeds uncovers another husband’s cold murder of h ...
10-11-2021
BBC 1
Series 2: 13. A Scottish Murder And Artful Deceit
An expert in mobile phone technology tracks the movements of a murder suspect, and an expert in art fraud determines whether a very expensive painting is genuine or fake.
07-06-2024
BBC 1
Series 1: 14. Paint Materials And Blood Patterns
Forensics analysis by an art expert proves paintings by a well-known Cornish artist are fake, and spattered blood in a hotel bedroom helps catch the killer of a father of three.
11-11-2021
BBC 1
Series 1: 6. Dna, Fibres And Bones
In this episode, we reveal how the tenacity of a team of forensic scientists helped finally catch the killer of two children in Brighton. Also, when bones were discovered on moo ...
06-06-2025
BBC 1