UK Edition
BBC axes Crimewatch after 33 years on air
The family of Jamie Bulger whose murder was solved following an appeal on Crimewatch has condemned the decision to scrap the programme as “utter madness”.
Stuart Fergus, the toddler’s step-father and the charity manager at The James Bulger Memorial Trust, called on another television network to take on the show after BBC bosses announced that it had been scrapped.
“Crimewatch is an institution. It was there to help bring justice for Jamie,” Mr Fergus, 42, said from his home in Kirkby, Merseyside.
“It's an informative programme not a documentary or a soap that's on three to five days a week. It's on every couple of months and has helped solve cases.
“I'm quite shocked that a programme like that is getting cancelled. It seems to be a cost-cutting exercise. They need to go back and put their thinking caps on. I hope at least that another network takes it on.”
Denise Fergus’s son was two when he was snatched from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993. CCTV footage of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson leading the child away was shown on the programme and led to their arrest and conviction for murder. The toddler had been beaten with bricks and iron bars and his body dumped on a railway line.
Mr Fergus continued: "I'm shocked the programme’s come to an end. Not only was it very informative it also helped people to look after themselves and their homes.
"The whole point of the programme was for cases where they needed the public's help to catch perpetrators. I think there will be uproar from other families.
"At the end of the day the BBC do what they want, they don't care about anyone."
When Crimewatch celebrated 30 years of broadcasting in 2014, the BBC revelled in how one in three cases featured on the 9pm programme ended in arrest, and one in five resulted in a conviction.
At its peak in the 1980’s and 1990’s it could get up to 15 million viewers. The programme was recently relaunched in a weekly format with hosts Jeremy Vine, 52, and Tina Daheley, 36. However it attracted only around 1.7 million viewers, well below the five million a primetime show is expected to get.
Among the crimes featured on the programme was the murder of chef Claudia Lawrence, 35, who disappeared on her way to work at the University of York in 2009.
Martin Dales, a friend and spokesman for Miss Lawrence's father Peter, said the family had been grateful for the support Crimewatch had offered during the investigation.
He said the programme was relevant for a channel described as a public service broadcaster, adding: "It is disappointing and it strikes me that it is a huge loss in expertise in linking the relevant police forces and the public to a number of channels."
Sue Cook, who along with Nick Ross launched the show in 1984, said that BBC bosses determination to use gimmickry to boost viewing figures actually undermined the credibility of the programme.
“Because they were trying to get more higher figures they jazzed it up a bit,” she said. “Presenters would be looking at camera one, two then three, walking here, there and everywhere. They also played music during reconstructions and added imaginary dialogue. Whereas we had only ever used what we knew had happened during a crime.
“They got more and more desperate to make it viewable. But when it looks like a TV drama it paradoxically detracted from the realness of it.”
Nick Ross said he believed the format had become dated in an increasingly digital world where police forces issue appeals with CCTV footage of suspects on Twitter and other social media.
“It’s a shame. But, I think it’s inevitable that it’s gone. It was a remarkable phenomenon in its time. But, it’s time was 1984 to 2004. Digital technology was beginning to eclipse its very purpose.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We believe the successful Crimewatch Roadshow format in daytime is the best fit for the brand going forward and we will increase the number of episodes to make two series a year.
“We are incredibly proud of Crimewatch and the great work it has done over the years and the work Crimewatch Roadshow will continue to do, and this move will also allow us to create room for new innovative programmes in peak time on BBC One.”
It is understood that the decision to axe the programme will allow BBC bosses to cut the salary of Vine. Earlier this year there was a public outcry over how men were paid more than women, as it emerged that Vine was paid up to £749,999.