Crimewatch Live
British television programme produced by the BBC
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Crimewatch Live (previously known as Crimewatch Roadshow Live or simply Crimewatch Roadshow and originally as Crimewatch Daily) is a British television programme produced by BBC Studios Documentary Unit Cymru Wales, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving them. The programme is broadcast on BBC One.[1]
| Crimewatch Live | |
|---|---|
 Crimewatch Live title card (2021–present) | |
| Also known as | Crimewatch Daily Crimewatch Roadshow |
| Genre | Factual |
| Based on | Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst |
| Presented by | Phil Gayle Jane Moore Sophie Raworth Rav Wilding Ginny Buckley Miriam O'Reilly Dave Guest Sian Lloyd Jacqui Hames Michelle Ackerley Sonali Shah Tina Daheley Steph McGovern Jennifer Reoch |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 3 (Daily) 12 (Roadshow) 5 (Live) |
| No. of episodes | 58 (Daily) 260 (Roadshow) 75 (Live) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Production locations | New Scotland Yard, London (Daily) BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House, Cardiff (Roadshow and Live) |
| Camera setup | Multiple-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes (Daily) 45 minutes (Roadshow and Live) |
| Production companies | BBC Studios BBC Cymru Wales |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 27 November 2000 – 7 December 2001 |
| Release | 1 June 2009 – present |
| Related | |
History
2000–2001: Crimewatch Daily
First aired on 27 November 2000, Crimewatch Daily was the initial daily version of the original Crimewatch programme,[2] aired between 10:00 and 11:00am on weekday mornings, that appealed for help with unsolved cases not covered in the main programme. Broadcast from a specially designed studio at New Scotland Yard,[3] the series was presented by Phil Gayle and Jane Moore.[4] Two further series aired throughout 2001, before the final edition was broadcast on 7 December 2001.[5]
2009–2020: Crimewatch Roadshow
First broadcast on 1 June 2009, Crimewatch Roadshow was the second daily version of the BBC's Crimewatch programme, that was broadcast on weekdays from 9:15 to 10:00am. From 2009, the main Crimewatch programme did not broadcast in June, being instead replaced by twenty shows broadcast on a daily basis throughout the month. The Crimewatch Roadshow broadcast live from a different area of the country for each episode, often containing features on how the local police force helps to solve everyday crime. In October 2017, it was announced that following the cancellation of the main programme, it would now broadcast two series per year.[6]
Twelve series of the show have been broadcast. Rav Wilding has presented throughout, first appearing as a co-presenter alongside Sophie Raworth before being promoted to main anchor from the second series onwards. Ginny Buckley, Miriam O'Reilly, Dave Guest, Alice Bandhukvari, Nicola Rees, Sian Lloyd, Sonali Shah, Michelle Ackerley and Tina Daheley have all appeared on-location as co-presenters throughout the series' run. During the fifth series, former Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames co-presented every Friday, updating viewers on success stories from years past.[7] From the twelve series onwards, Ackerley is promoted to anchor alongside Wilding in the studio, with John Paul Davies joining the team as the new roving reporter.[8]
2021–present: Crimewatch Live
First broadcast on 8 March 2021, Crimewatch Live is the third and current daily version of the BBC's Crimewatch programme, that broadcasts on weekday mornings originally from 11:00 to 11:45am before moving an hour earlier from September 2021. It is now filmed in BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House, Cardiff, with presenters Rav Wilding and Michelle Ackerley in the studio, and John Paul Davies reporting on scene.[1]
In October 2025, Ackerley was absent due to being on maternity leave and was replaced by stand-ins Steph McGovern and Jennifer Reoch. McGovern presented the show on Mondays and Tuesdays, while Reoch covered Wednesdays through Fridays during the first two weeks of the series' return, with McGovern returning to host the entire third week alongside Wilding.[9] For the March 2026 series, Ackerley and McGovern shared the role as co-presenter alongside Wilding; Ackerley hosted the show Mondays through Wednesdays, with McGovern now hosting on Thursdays and Fridays.
Show format
Broadcasting on weekday mornings, at various times over the years, it features approximately three or four cases per show with each case featuring reconstructions of the crime. It is one of the largest live factual studio productions. The films shown often feature interviews with senior detectives and/or relatives or friends of victims.[10] Key evidence is usually shown, such as E-FIT profiles of suspects and details of certain lines of enquiry.
Other features to the show include a "CCTV section", which showed crimes caught on CCTV with enhanced imagery of suspects. A "Wanted Faces" section was also featured: four 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 four 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 can contact the show by phoning 08000 468 999, with the phone lines remaining open until 12:30pm on the morning of the programme. Viewers can also send text messages to 63399 24/7.[11][12] Due to the high demand for cases to be shown on the programme, many other cases are added to the 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 Live website until the criminals are caught or suspects convicted.[13] Each programme can be watched on the BBC iPlayer catch-up service for 24 hours (later increased to seven days) from broadcast.
Presenters
Crimewatch Daily
| Presenter | Tenure | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| Phil Gayle | 2000–2001 | Main presenters of the original Crimewatch Daily series |
| Jane Moore | 2000–2001 | |
Crimewatch Roadshow (Crimewatch Live since 2021)
| Presenter | Tenure | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| Rav Wilding | 2009–present | Presenter of Crimewatch Roadshow for every series. |
| Sophie Raworth | 2009 | Main presenter during the first series in June 2009. |
| Ginny Buckley | 2010 | Co-presenter during the second series in 2010. |
| Miriam O'Reilly | 2011 | Co-presenter during the third series in 2011. |
| Dave Guest | 2012 | Co-presenter during the fourth series in 2012. |
| Sian Lloyd | 2013–2015 | Second longest-serving co-presenter. |
| Sonali Shah | 2015 | Co-presenter during third and final week of series 7 in June 2015. |
| Michelle Ackerley | 2015–present | Longest-serving co-presenter, since June 2015. Absent for series 22 due to maternity leave. |
| John Paul Davies | 2020–2021 | Co-presenter for series 12, 13 and 14. |
| Steph McGovern | 2025–present | Co-presenter that was originally as stand-in for series 22. |
| Jennifer Reoch | 2025 | Stand-in co-presenter for series 22. |
Transmissions
Crimewatch Daily
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes | Main presenter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 November 2000 | 1 December 2000 | 5 | Phil Gayle Jane Moore |
| 2 | 29 January 2001 | 9 March 2001 | 29 | |
| 3 | 5 November 2001 | 7 December 2001 | 24 |
Crimewatch Roadshow (Crimewatch Live since 2021)
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes | Main studio presenter(s) | Location presenter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 June 2009 | 26 June 2009 | 20[14] | Sophie Raworth | Rav Wilding |
| 2 | 7 June 2010 | 2 July 2010 | Rav Wilding | Ginny Buckley | |
| 3 | 6 June 2011 | 1 July 2011 | Miriam O'Reilly | ||
| 4 | 11 June 2012 | 6 July 2012 | Dave Guest | ||
| 5 | 10 June 2013 | 5 July 2013 | Sian Lloyd Jacqui Hames (Fridays) | ||
| 6 | 9 June 2014 | 4 July 2014 | Sian Lloyd | ||
| 7 | 8 June 2015 | 3 July 2015 | Sian Lloyd (Weeks 1–2) Michelle Ackerley (Week 3) Sonali Shah (Week 4) | ||
| 8 | 6 June 2016 | 1 July 2016 | Michelle Ackerley | ||
| 9 | 12 June 2017 | 7 July 2017 | Michelle Ackerley (Weeks 1–3) Tina Daheley (Week 4) | ||
| 10 | 4 June 2018 | 29 June 2018 | 35[14] | Michelle Ackerley | |
| 4 March 2019 | 22 March 2019 | ||||
| 11 | 9 September 2019 | 27 September 2019 | 30[14] | ||
| 9 March 2020 | 27 March 2020 | ||||
| 12 | 7 September 2020 | 25 September 2020 | 15[14] | Rav Wilding Michelle Ackerley | John Paul Davies |
| 13 | 8 March 2021 | 26 March 2021 | |||
| 14 | 6 September 2021 | 24 September 2021 | |||
| 15 | 7 March 2022 | 25 March 2022 | N/a | ||
| 16 | 3 October 2022 | 21 October 2022 | |||
| 17 | 6 March 2023 | 24 March 2023 | |||
| 18 | 2 October 2023 | 20 October 2023 | |||
| 19 | 4 March 2024 | 22 March 2024 | |||
| 20 | 30 September 2024 | 18 October 2024 | |||
| 21 | 3 March 2025 | 21 March 2025 | |||
| 22 | 6 October 2025 | 24 October 2025 | Rav Wilding Steph McGovern[a] Jennifer Reoch[b] | ||
| 23 | 2 March 2026 | 20 March 2026 | Rav Wilding Michelle Ackerley Steph McGovern[c] | ||
- Notes