Great Crimes and Trials

{{Infobox television

| image =

| caption =

| genre = Documentary

| creator = Philip Nugus and Johnathan Martin (Nugus/Martin Productions LTD)

| starring = Robert Powell

| country = United Kingdom

| num_episodes =78

| list_episodes =

| runtime = 30 minutes

| network = BBC2

| first_aired = {{start date|1993|11|2|df=yes}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1996|7|17|df=yes}}

| num_series = 3

}}

Great Crimes and Trials (sometimes titled Great Crimes and Trials of the Twentieth Century) is a 1993–1996 BBC documentary television series. The program uses archival material to reconstruct a renowned crime, examining the felon's motives, details of the crime, the investigations and the trial. Each episode is narrated by actor Robert Powell.{{cite web|url=http://www.c21media.net/screenings/imgentertainment/great-crimes-and-trials/2580/|title=Great Crimes and Trials|website=C21media}}{{Cite web | url=http://www.dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=2418 | title=Great Crimes and Trials of the 20th Century (TV) | website=www.dvdcompare.net}}

Series 1 (1993)

class="wikitable"

! Number

! Episode

! Notes

rowspan="1"|1

|The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping

rowspan="1"|2

|Lucky Luciano

rowspan="1"|3

|Al Capone

rowspan="1"|4

|Son of Sam

rowspan="1"|5

|The Hillside Stranglers

rowspan="1"|6

|John Dillinger – Public Enemy No. 1

rowspan="1"|7

|The Manson Family Murders

rowspan="1"|8

|The Jonestown Massacre

rowspan="1"|9

|The Green Beret Killings

rowspan="1"|10

|The Case of Dr. Sam Sheppard

rowspan="1"|11

|Neville Heath

rowspan="1"|12

|Ted Bundy

rowspan="1"|13

|Gary Gilmore

rowspan="1"|14

|The Trial of Adolf Eichmann

rowspan="1"|15

|John Gacy

rowspan="1"|16

|The Massacre of the Tsar and the Imperial family

rowspan="1"|17

|Dr. Crippen

rowspan="1"|18

|The Great Train Robbery

rowspan="1"|19

|The Boston Strangler

rowspan="1"|20

|Haigh the Acid Bath Murderer

rowspan="1"|21

|John Christie of Rillington Place

rowspan="1"|22

|The Black Panther

rowspan="1"|23

|Murph the Surf

rowspan="1"|24

|The Hammersmith Murders

rowspan="1"|25

|The McKay Kidnapping

rowspan="1"|26

|The Yorkshire Ripper

Series 2 (1994)

class="wikitable"

! Number

! Episode

! Notes

rowspan="1"|1

|Charles Starkweather

rowspan="1"|2

|Howard Hughes Biography Hoax

rowspan="1"|3

|Jean Harris

rowspan="1"|4

|The Kidnap of Patty Hearst

rowspan="1"|5

|Richard Speck

rowspan="1"|6

|Caryl Chessman

rowspan="1"|7

|Roberts, Duddy and Witney

rowspan="1"|8

|Jeremy Bamber

rowspan="1"|9

|Hitler and the Nuremberg Trials

rowspan="1"|10

|Stalin and the Massacre at Katyn Wood

rowspan="1"|11

|The Assassination of Gandhi

rowspan="1"|12

|The Assassination of Martin Luther King

rowspan="1"|13

|The Kennedy Assassination

rowspan="1"|14

rowspan="1"|15

rowspan="1"|16

rowspan="1"|17

rowspan="1"|18

rowspan="1"|19

rowspan="1"|20

rowspan="1"|21

rowspan="1"|22

rowspan="1"|23

rowspan="1"|24

|Episode features the 1946 and 1962 escape attempts.

rowspan="1"|25

|The Ku Klux Klan

rowspan="1"|26

|The New York Mafia Wars

Series 3 (1996)

class="wikitable"

! Number

! Episode

! Notes

rowspan="1"|1

|Mark Chapman and the Killing of John Lennon

rowspan="1"|2

rowspan="1"|3

rowspan="1"|4

rowspan="1"|5

|Episode made before revelation of Duffy's accomplice.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1150216.stm|title=Life for 'depraved' killer|date=2 February 2001|work=BBC News}}

rowspan="1"|6

|Graham Young

rowspan="1"|7

|Sir Harry Oakes

rowspan="1"|8

|Lord Haw-Haw

rowspan="1"|9

|DeFeo and Benson

rowspan="1"|10

|Donald Merrett

rowspan="1"|11

|Roy Fontaine

rowspan="1"|12

|Buck Ruxton

rowspan="1"|13

|Leonard Lake and Charles Ng

rowspan="1"|14

|John Bodkin Adams

rowspan="1"|15

|Heidnik and Dahmer

rowspan="1"|16

|Judge Joe Peel

rowspan="1"|17

|Sacco and Vanzetti

rowspan="1"|18

|The Trunk Murders

rowspan="1"|19

|Browne and Kennedy and other Police Killings

|Episode also features the cases of Bentley and Craig and Guenther Podola.

rowspan="1"|20

|The Siege of Sidney Street

rowspan="1"|21

|Leopold and Loeb

rowspan="1"|22

|The Zodiac Killer

|Episode features the cases of the California Zodiac Killer, the New York Zodiac and the Green River Killer. Episode made before capture of both the New York Zodiac{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/21/nyregion/zodiac-suspect-obtained-gun-making-materials-via-mail-orderdetectives-say.html|title=Zodiac Suspect Obtained Gun-Making Materials Via Mail Order,Detectives Say|first=Lizette|last=Alvarez|newspaper=The New York Times|date=21 June 1996|publisher=}} and the Green River Killer.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-dec-01-mn-10324-story.html|title=Arrest in Green River Murders|first1=LYNN|last1=MARSHALL|first2=JULIE|last2=CART|date=1 December 2001|publisher=|via=LA Times}}

rowspan="1"|23

|The Assassination of Robert Kennedy

rowspan="1"|24

|Pol Pot and the Killing Fields of Cambodia

rowspan="1"|25

|The Malmedy Massacre

rowspan="1"|26

|Ma Barker and Other Public Enemies

|Episode also profiles the Barker–Karpis gang, Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger and Machine Gun Kelly.

Broadcasting

The series was originally broadcast on Tuesday afternoons on BBC2 in the United Kingdom{{cite web|url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=great+crimes+and+trials&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00:00&tt=00:00#search|title=Search Results – BBC Genome|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk}} and in the United States on the A&E Network.{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/61294/great-crimes-and-trials-of-the-20th-century-volume-2-the-original-gangstas/|title=Great Crimes And Trials Of The 20th Century, Volume 2: The Original Gangstas|website=DVD Talk}} In the mid-late 2000s the program was repeated on weekdays in the United Kingdom on the Crime & Investigation Network.{{cite web|url=http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk:80/tv_series/1/1/Great_Crimes_and_Trials.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820235822/http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk:80/tv_series/1/1/Great_Crimes_and_Trials.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 August 2007|title=Great Crimes and Trials – TV Series – Crime And Investigation Network|date=20 August 2007|publisher=}} The broadcast of the series began on Russian TV-6 channel in the fall 2000.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The 2011 series

In 2011 the Investigation Discovery rebooted the series narrated by Alisdair Simpson, with infamous cases from the late 20th century and the early 21st century. The series aired one season with 26 episodes.

Great Crimes and Trials (2011)

class="wikitable"

! Number

! Episode

! Notes

rowspan="1"|1

| Brisbane's Lesbian Vampire Killers

rowspan="1"|2

|Monster of Belgium

rowspan="1"|3

|The Case of Christopher Porco

rowspan="1"|4

|Murdered by the Mob

rowspan="1"|5

|The Crimes of Harold Shipman

rowspan="1"|6

|The Ken and Barbie Killers

rowspan="1"|7

|Murder of Sarah Payne

rowspan="1"|8

|Murder on Cape Cod

rowspan="1"|9

|The Australian Outback Killer

rowspan="1"|10

|A Very Dangerous Game

rowspan="1"|11

|The Kennedy Connection

rowspan="1"|12

|The Case of Amanda Knox

|Murder of Meredith Kercher

rowspan="1"|13

|Long Island Railroad Massacre

rowspan="1"|14

|Murder in the Mansion

rowspan="1"|15

|Murder on the Mountain

| The murder of Rinette Bergna

rowspan="1"|16

|The Case of Ray and Faye Copeland

rowspan="1"|17

|Beast of Notting Hill

| The murder of Janie Shepherd

rowspan="1"|18

|Beast of the Bastille

rowspan="1"|19

|The BTK Killer

rowspan="1"|20

|The Boogeyman

rowspan="1"|21

|Case of Susan Smith

rowspan="1"|22

|Case of Ward Weaver III

rowspan="1"|23

|The Railroad Killer

rowspan="1"|24

|The Case of Arthur Gary Bishop

rowspan="1"|25

|Terror in Gainesville

rowspan="1"|26

|Death of a Mail Order Bride

Book

{{Infobox book|

| name = Great Crimes and Trials of the Twentieth Century

| title_orig =

| translator =

| image =

| caption =

| author = Paul Begg and Martin Fido

| cover_artist =

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| series =

| genre = True crime

| publisher = Carlton Books

| release_date = December 1993{{Cite web|url=https://isbnsearch.org/isbn/1858680166|title = ISBN 9781858680163 - Great Crimes and Trials}}

| media_type = Print (Hardcover)

| pages = 224

| isbn = 1-85868-016-6

| oclc = 41900320

| preceded_by =

| followed_by =

}}

A book to accompany the series was published by Carlton Books in late 1993 written by Paul Begg and Martin Fido. Comprising twenty eight true crime cases, the book profiles twenty five of those from series one (including The Hammersmith Murders), one case which would later be profiled in series three (Bentley and Craig) and two that were never featured on the programme (The Krays and The Moors Murders).Begg, Paul. and Fido, Martin (1993). Great Crimes and Trials of the Twentieth Century, p. 5. Carlton Books, London. {{ISBN|1858680166}}

Home Media

Several collections of Great Crimes and Trials have been released to VHS and DVD. The first and second series were released on video by Columbia Tristar in 1997. The first series was released on DVD by Columbia Tristar in 2005,{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Crimes-Trials-20th-Century/dp/B0002XOZ56/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_74_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YCXJK6C4NJPW6D0EFBFM|title=Great Crimes And Trials Of The 20th Century: Series 1|date=4 October 2004|publisher=|via=Amazon}} and the third series was released on DVD by Network DVD in 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.britishdrama.org.uk/20thcrimes.html|title=..: Great Crimes And Trials of the 20th Century :..|website=www.britishdrama.org.uk}}

In the US, two collections were released by Sony as part of the "Sony Choice Collection" line of burn-on-demand DVD-R's in 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/greatcrimesandtrialsofthe20thcenturyvolume1gruesomecalifornia/|title=Great Crimes And Trials Of The 20th Century – Volume 1: Gruesome California – Sony Pictures|website=www.sonypictures.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/greatcrimesandtrialsofthe20thcenturyvolume2theoriginalgangstas/|title=Great Crimes And Trials Of The 20th Century – Volume 2: The Original Gangstas – Sony Pictures|website=www.sonypictures.com}} Great Crimes And Trials of the 20th Century, Volume 1: Gruesome California features six episodes on one disc of crimes that took place in California and Great Crimes And Trials of the 20th Century, Volume 2: The Original Gangstas features five mob and gangster related episodes on one disc.{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/61264/great-crimes-and-trials-of-the-20th-century-volume-1-gruesome-california/|title=Great Crimes And Trials Of The 20th Century, Volume 1: Gruesome California|website=DVD Talk}}

References

Cited works and further reading

{{Cite book|last1=Begg|first1=Paul|last2=Fido|first2=Martin|title=Great Crimes and Trials of the Twentieth Century|year=1994|publisher=Carlton Books Limited|location=Great Britain|isbn=978-0-671-71876-3}}

External links

{{cite web|url=http://www.nugusmartin.com/crimes.html|work=Nugus Martin|title=The Great Crimes and Trials of the Twentieth Century|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704145145/http://www.nugusmartin.com/crimes.html|archivedate=4 July 2010|id=Production company's website with episode listings}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070820235822/http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/tv_series/1/1/Great_Crimes_and_Trials.htm Crime & Investigation Network listing] Archived from [http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/tv_series/1/1/Great_Crimes_and_Trials the original] on 20 August 2007.
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370151/ IMDb]

Category:1990s British documentary television series

Category:1993 British television series debuts

Category:1996 British television series endings

Category:BBC television documentaries

Category:British crime television series

Category:British English-language television shows

Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television