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.
Series 1 (1993) Number Episode Notes1The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping2Lucky Luciano3Al Capone4Son of Sam5The Hillside Stranglers6John Dillinger – Public Enemy No. 17The Manson Family Murders8The Jonestown Massacre9The Green Beret Killings10The Case of Dr. Sam Sheppard11Neville Heath12Ted Bundy13Gary Gilmore14The Trial of Adolf Eichmann15John Gacy16The Massacre of the Tsar and the Imperial family17Dr. Crippen18The Great Train Robbery19The Boston Strangler20Haigh the Acid Bath Murderer21John Christie of Rillington Place22The Black Panther23Murph the Surf24The Hammersmith Murders25The McKay Kidnapping26The Yorkshire Ripper
Series 2 (1994) Number Episode Notes1Charles Starkweather2Howard Hughes Biography Hoax3Jean Harris4The Kidnap of Patty Hearst5Richard Speck6Caryl Chessman7Roberts, Duddy and Witney8Jeremy Bamber9Hitler and the Nuremberg Trials10Stalin and the Massacre at Katyn Wood11The Assassination of Gandhi12The Assassination of Martin Luther King13The Kennedy Assassination14The A6 Murder15Dennis Nilsen16Charles Whitman17US Brinks Robbery18The Night Stalker19The Rosenbergs20Jimmy Hoffa21Dan White22Bonnie and Clyde23Wayne Williams24AlcatrazEpisode features the 1946 and 1962 escape attempts.25The Ku Klux Klan26The New York Mafia Wars
Series 3 (1996) Number Episode Notes1Mark Chapman and the Killing of John Lennon2Gaston Dominici3Henry Lee Lucas4Donald Hume5John DuffyEpisode made before revelation of Duffy's accomplice.6Graham Young7Sir Harry Oakes8Lord Haw-Haw9DeFeo and Benson10Donald Merrett11Roy Fontaine12Buck Ruxton13Leonard Lake and Charles Ng14John Bodkin Adams15Heidnik and Dahmer16Judge Joe Peel17Sacco and Vanzetti18The Trunk Murders19Browne and Kennedy and other Police KillingsEpisode also features the cases of Bentley and Craig and Guenther Podola.20The Siege of Sidney Street21Leopold and Loeb22The Zodiac KillerEpisode also features the cases of the San Diego serial murders, the New York Zodiac and the Green River Killer. Episode made before capture of both the New York Zodiac and the Green River Killer.23The Assassination of Robert Kennedy24Pol Pot and the Killing Fields of Cambodia25The Malmedy Massacre26Ma Barker and Other Public EnemiesEpisode 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 and in the United States on the A&E Network. In the mid-late 2000s the program was repeated on weekdays in the United Kingdom on the Crime & Investigation Network. The broadcast of the series began on Russian TV-6 channel in the fall 2000.
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) Number Episode Notes1 Brisbane's Lesbian Vampire Killers2Monster of Belgium3The Case of Christopher Porco4Murdered by the Mob5The Crimes of Harold Shipman6The Ken and Barbie Killers7Murder of Sarah Payne8Murder on Cape Cod9The Australian Outback Killer10A Very Dangerous Game11The Kennedy Connection12The Case of Amanda KnoxMurder of Meredith Kercher13Long Island Railroad Massacre14Murder in the Mansion15Murder on the Mountain The murder of Rinette Bergna16The Case of Ray and Faye Copeland17Beast of Notting Hill The murder of Janie Shepherd18Beast of the Bastille19The BTK Killer20The Boogeyman21Case of Susan Smith22Case of Ward Weaver III23The Railroad Killer24The Case of Arthur Gary Bishop25Terror in Gainesville26Death of a Mail Order Bride
Book
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.
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, and the third series was released on DVD by Network DVD in 2011.
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. 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.
References
Cited works and further reading
External links
Crime & Investigation Network listing Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. IMDb