Learning on ScreenArmchair Detective
Series
- Series Name
- This Week In Britain
Issue
Story
- Story No. within this Issue
- 1 / 1
- Summary
- COI synopsis: A rather unusual TV series combines Scotland Yard with local TV stations once a week to present unsolved crimes to the public, in the hope that they may be able to come up with the vital missing pieces of information. Vicki Luke goes to Scotland Yard to find out how the programme is put together, and just how effective the response is from Britain’s "armchair detectives".
- Researcher Comments
- The featured programme is London Weekend Television’s ‘Police Five’ and the film includes an interview with its presenter, Shaw Taylor and with Geoff Simmons who co-ordinates the programme. NB: Information drawn from the Australian version
Additional information posted by director Andy Humphreys at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY7DTYiimfA (accessed 4/12/2012) referring to uncut footage. ‘Working at the COI (Central Office of Information) in the 1980s as a freelance director, we made a film about Shaw Taylor and Police 5 -- the fore-runner to Crimewatch. I suggested to the producer that as our film was international we should emulate Police 5 and "advertise" for a major British criminal abroad -- Lord Lucan - absconder after allegedly murdering his nanny mistaking her for his wife. "Great idea, I’ll ask Scotland Yard for a drawing". Then, alone, the producer tasked elsewhere, I presented this rough cut to Sir Hyan Mitey, Head of Television, Foreign and Commonwealth Office... who hit the roof and demanded the sequence be removed. Officially the reason was that HMG would be seen to letting a murder suspect get away(... err - he had already). I protested, the producer caved in, told me "shut up" and had the sequence binned. I thought it lost but now found on an old tape! So, why the fuss? HMG embarrassment, establishment protection, suicide, bumped off or could this Director’s cut have had him nicked? Yer’ll never know, but "keep’em peeled." ' - Keywords
- Police; Crime; Television
- Written sources
- COI Catalogue Cards [BFI National Archive]
COI Microfilm Roll 42 [BFI National Archive] Used for synopsis
- COI Reference
- MI 936/1074
- Credits:
-
- Director
- Andy Humphreys
- Sponsor
- Central Office of Information (COI)
- Sponsor
- Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- Presenter
- Vicki Luke
This series is held by:
Film Archive
- Name
- British Film Institute (BFI)
- For BFI National Archive enquiries:
nonfictioncurators@bfi.org.uk
For commercial/footage reuse enquiries:
footage.films@bfi.org.uk - Web
- http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web
- Phone
- 020 7255 1444
- Fax
- 020 7580 7503
- Address
- 21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN - Notes
- The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).
- Series held
- View all series held by British Film Institute (BFI)
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