Catch up TV
Expert Witness
Expert Witness Episodes
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 3: 5. Written In Blood And The End Of The Line
When two men are wrongly convicted of murder, a forensic blood spatter analyst helps to prove their innocence. And an expert witness uses mobile phone analysis to help police br ...
30-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 4. Corrosive Truth And A Field Of Evidence
When a woman is the victim of an acid attack in Brighton, an expert pieces together hours of CCTV footage to identify the suspect. And through pollen analysis, an expert witness ...
29-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 3. Body Of Evidence And Shallow Grave
When a 21-year-old student is murdered and dumped in the Humber Estuary, a forensic biologist helps police bring her killer to justice. And an expert witness analyses soil at a ...
28-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 2. A Watery Grave And The Dangerous Date
When the body of a farmer is found in a lake, a bioarchaeologist helps police reveal how he got there. Meanwhile, when a man is accused of intentionally spreading the HIV virus, ...
27-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 1. Body In The Woods And Supermarket Killers
When a dismembered body is discovered, police turn to a facial reconstruction expert to help identify the victim. And when a man is murdered in Northern Ireland, a cell site exp ...
26-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 15. Buried Secrets
A woman’s body is found in a remote location in South Lanarkshire in 2005 by a dog walker. She is identified as Emma Caldwell, a 27-year-old sex worker, who has been missi ...
16-05-2025
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 4: 13. Unearthing The Truth
In 1984 in Hull, the body of schoolboy Christopher Laverack is found floating in a canal after being reported missing. He was sexually assaulted, beaten to death and wrapped in ...
14-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 12. The Rachel Nickell Murder: Justice At Last
On 15 July 1992, while walking with her two-year-old son on Wimbledon Common, Rachel Nickell was brutally murdered, with the little boy left clinging to her body. The police lau ...
13-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 11. Blood On The Carpet
In 1976, Renee MacRae and her infant son Andrew are reported missing. The car they were travelling in is found on fire in a lay-by near Inverness. Neither will ever be seen agai ...
12-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 10. The Shooting Of Olivia Pratt-korbel
We uncover how even when a professional hitman attempted to hide his identity from CCTV cameras, a forensic analyst used their expertise to help police build a case against a ch ...
08-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 9. Lured To The Woods
We explore a case that encompassed the biggest fingertip search in British history and required the help of a digital forensics expert to apprehend the suspect. But it would tak ...
07-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 8. Beneath The Ashes
When fire crews attended a blaze at a hostel in West Sussex, they quickly discovered a burned body on a bedroom floor. It belonged to 37-year-old mother of five Melanie Grey and ...
06-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 7. The Boy In The Woods - The Murder Of Rikki Neave
In 1994, six-year-old Rikki Neave was found dead in woodland near the Peterborough estate where he lived. He’d been strangled and left naked in the open. Police enlisted t ...
01-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 6. Murderers, Messages And The Breakfast Killer
In this episode, we take a look at how phone data can unlock a case and provide a solid link between the suspects and a horrific murder. \n\nIn early 2023, emergency call handle ...
30-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 5. Catching A Cold Case Killer
Now more than ever, forensic science is opening up the possibility of catching criminals for crimes that have remained unsolved for years. In this episode, a case that had lain ...
29-04-2025
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: 3. The Wheelie Bin Killer
In our first case, father of four, Pat McCormick, goes missing in Comber, Northern Ireland, leaving his family desperate for answers. Police suspected he’d come to harm bu ...
24-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 2. The Body In The Suitcase
An expert witness uses scanning technology developed for the manufacturing industry to find vital evidence that convicts a killer. \n\nIn a Birmingham canal, a truly shocking di ...
23-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 1. The Murder Of Sarah Payne: Fields Of Evidence
True crime documentary series that reveals how expert witnesses helped solve some of the UK's most complex major crime cases. \n\nThis programme travels to Sussex to investiga ...
22-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 15. Grave Secret And Lockdown Tragedy
Evidence unearthed by a forensic archaeologist helps to catch the killer of a young woman from Wiltshire. And a case of harrowing neglect suffered by a Welsh teenager is reveale ...
14-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 14. Fragments Of Truth And Wall Of Evidence
A forensically trained dentist’s expertise helps police to connect a man to the disappearance of his wife. And the diligent analysis of a soil expert helps to bring convic ...
13-02-2025
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 3: 12. Red Light Killer And A Rural Rampage
Detectives hunting the killer of a young woman from Bolton require the help of a fibre and DNA specialist to arrest their suspect. And police seek the help of a body fluids expe ...
11-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 11. Death On The Nile And Cell To Cell
When a British woman is found dead in an Egyptian hotel room, a UK toxicologist uncovers a sinister murder plot. And police turn to a cell communications analyst to solve the vi ...
10-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 10. A Grave Error And Souvenir Of A Killer
When a teenager’s body is located in a shallow grave, a soil specialist is called on to unearth evidence to convict the killer. And as a murder investigation on Merseyside ...
07-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 9. Threads Of Evidence And Bad Chemistry
A fibre specialist from the UK brings closure to Australia’s longest-running murder investigation. And a forensic pharmacologist uses her expertise to ensure a murder char ...
06-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 8. Patterns Of Behaviour And Time Flies
A blood residue specialist leads police to the killers of an East Sussex waiter, brutally bludgeoned in his flat. And a forensic entomologist uncovers a case of extreme neglect ...
05-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 7. Hidden Blood And Traces Of A Killer
Police turn to an expert witness to help them link a drug gang to the death of a Vietnamese man in Wales. And experts in DNA and fibre analysis provide the evidence needed to co ...
04-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 6. Face Of A Killer And Proof In The Pollen
When a young man is stabbed to death, a facial recognition expert helps Merseyside Police catch the killer. And a specialist palynologist’s help is needed by detectives in ...
03-02-2025
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 2 (reversions): 7. Body In The Snow / From The Ashes
This episode takes us to Bristol, where police launch a major missing persons enquiry following the disappearance of 25-year-old Jo Yeates. Days later, the body of the young wom ...
04-12-2024
BBC 1
Series 2 (reversions): 6. Murder In The Car Park / River Of Evidence
This episode travels to Tunbridge Wells to investigate the shocking murder of Terry Edmonds. Seventeen-year-old Terry travelled to Tunbridge to visit friends when she disappeare ...
03-12-2024
BBC 1
Series 2 (reversions): 5. The Kitchen Poisoner / Invisible Evidence
Detectives are always looking for ways to use new areas of forensic science to solve crimes. In Hull, investigators who are trying to solve the murder case of a teenage boy foun ...
02-12-2024
BBC 1
Series 2 (reversions): 4. Body In The Bog / The Bite Of A Killer
We travel to Ayrshire to investigate the murder of 39-year-old Emma Faulds. Emma is reported missing when she fails to turn up to work, and on entering her home, police find her ...
28-11-2024
BBC 1
Series 2 (reversions): Episode 3
Our first case delves into the gripping investigation of the 2004 murder of 37-year-old David Morley, who was brutally attacked by a gang of youths on a chilling spree of random ...
27-11-2024
BBC 1
Series 2 (reversions): Episode 2
We travel to Manchester to investigate the unexplained death of a single mother, Karen Doubleday, found dead in the woods. Investigations reveal she has been strangled and stamp ...
26-11-2024
BBC 1
Series 2 (reversions): Episode 1
In July 1978, the city of Aberdeen was rocked when Dr Brenda Page was found bludgeoned to death in her West End home. Initial police forensic work undertaken by Eric Jenson unco ...
25-11-2024
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 2: 12. Murder In The Car Park And Cold Call Fraud
Blood spatter analysis helps identify the killer of a body found in a suitcase, and an expert helps in a serious case of financial fraud that cost some victims their life savings.
04-06-2024
BBC 1
Series 2: 11. Sole Of A Killer And Stolen Treasure
Police turn to a footprint analyst and a pollen expert to help solve a murder in Manchester, and a soil expert unearths the evidence needed to arrest a gang of treasure thieves.
03-06-2024
BBC 1
Series 2: 10. Car Killer And Shot On The Sofa
A blood spatter analyst unlocks the mystery of a woman murdered in her own car, and an expert witness uses a mobile phone to help detectives solve a baffling murder case.
31-05-2024
BBC 1
Series 2: 9. Invisible Evidence And The Chocolate Box Conmen
An expert in microscopic lifeforms helps solve the murder of a teenager, and a handwriting expert assists an old lady whose house has been sold without consent.
30-05-2024
BBC 1
Series 2: 8. Late Night Murder And Exhuming Evidence
When a young nurse disappears, a soil analyst helps find her body and solve the crime. A digital imaging expert proves that what was thought to be an accidental death was murder.
29-05-2024
BBC 1
Series 2: 7. Body In The Bog And Bomb In The Boot
An expert witness uses soil analysis to find the body of a missing woman feared murdered, and a cell site expert uses his tracking skills to catch a killer in Northern Ireland.
28-05-2024
BBC 1
Series 2: 6. Murder In The Suburbs And Search For A Serial Killer
In our first story, a community reels in total shock when a doting grandmother is found murdered in her home. Detectives search for the killer and suspect it may be someone clos ...
27-05-2024
BBC 1
Series 2: 5. Body In The Woods And Murder At The Post Office
This episode follows two shocking criminal cases in Yorkshire, each involving a woman murdered by her partner, and two expert witnesses with very different disciplines in forens ...
15-09-2023
BBC 1
Series 2: 4. Body In The Snow And Betrayed By A Text
After a 25-year-old woman goes missing in Bristol, the police launch a major missing-person enquiry. Soon after, the body of the young woman is discoved by dog walkers on Christ ...
14-09-2023
BBC 1
Series 2: 3. The Curry Killer And The Body On The Beach
Following the unexplained death of a man in Yorkshire, found alone in his home with no signs of forced entry or a struggle, police were at a loss to explain his death. They turn ...
13-09-2023
BBC 1
Series 2: 2. Mystery Of The Playground Shooter And Signature Of A Killer
A young schoolboy is mysteriously shot in the head while playing in the school yard, but who fired the gun and from where? Philip Boyce, a forensic ballistics expert, is called ...
12-09-2023
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 1 (extended Versions): 10. Pollen, Ballistics And Dna
Expert witnesses analyse nettles and soil to catch the killer of the Soham schoolgirls, new DNA techniques finally solve cold case murders, and ballistics techniques are demonst ...
16-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 9. Paint, Blood And Fingerprints
A forensic art expert proves paintings by a well-known artist are fake, blood spatter patterns in a hotel help catch the killer of a father of three, and there's a fingerprintin ...
15-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 8. Cold Case Dna And Bones
A DNA expert witness helps solve a 50-year-old crime, a murder investigation is solved by tracking unusual blue fibres around the world, and forensic anthropology is explored.
14-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 7. Suspicious Texts, Dna And Soil Secrets
Text message analysis reveals a shocking crime, and DNA on old evidence catches a killer. Soil science and the first murder case solved using DNA evidence are also explored.
13-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 6. Fibre Trails, Diamonds And Toxicology
Expert witnesses use fibre and DNA evidence to solve three violent cold cases in Pembrokeshire, a gemmologist exposes a diamond investment scam, and Ashley visits a toxicology lab.
12-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 5. Dna, Fibres And Crime Scene Management
In this episode, we delve into an old murder mystery in the village of Beenham in Berkshire. Modern forensic science covers a huge area of expertise- blood, DNA, soil, pollen, d ...
09-12-2022
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 1 (extended Versions): 3. Dna, Fibres And Facial Reconstruction
After 32 years, expert fibre analysis helps to bring the killer of two Brighton schoolgirls to justice, and the analysis of bones found on a Yorkshire moor helps to find two kil ...
07-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 2. Forensic Imaging And Msn Chat - Bpa
Marks left by a shoe help detectives catch a killer, a forensic linguist deciphers digital messages - revealing a murder plot, and the power of blood pattern analysis is examine ...
07-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 1. Soil And Insects - Hair
A serial killer is caught by using soil analysis, insects hold the clues to finding a murderer and the forensic sciences of hair evidence and entomology are put under the micros ...
06-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 2: 15. Killer On The Run And Murder In The Valleys
When a man kills four people and goes on the run, a handwriting analyst is brought in, and after a body is found, an expert in pollen links the suspects to the scene of the crime.
02-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 2: 14. Deadly Date And The Football Fraudster
A dental expert helps police investigating the mysterious death of a teenage girl, and an autograph expert is brought in to help convict scammers selling fake celebrity signatures.
01-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1: 10. Pollen, Bones And Dna
Some cases are open and shut. Others present as a complete mystery, and it takes an Expert Witness to uncover the first clues. That’s what happened when human remains were ...
12-08-2022
BBC 1
Series 1: 7. Aging Insects And Fake Fairies
In this programme, we discover how the study of insects was crucial in solving the mysterious disappearance of a Warrington teenager. Murderers can go to great lengths to ensure ...
03-08-2022
BBC 1
Series 1: 4. Fibre Trails And Diamonds
With so many forensic techniques available, detectives and expert witnesses can sometimes disagree on how best to search for evidence. In 2006, a team investigating three notori ...
26-07-2022
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: 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