Crime Stories (British TV series)
A short-lived ITV crime drama with a documentary style.
Crime Stories, a British crime drama, ran on ITV from 12 November to 14 December 2012. Developed by Paul Marquess, it was marketed as "groundbreaking" and employed a documentary-style aesthetic with unscripted dialogue. Despite this, the series received heavy criticism from both critics and viewers, leading ITV to cancel it after a single season. The production reused the set previously occupied by another ITV drama, *The Bill*, where Marquess had been executive producer from 2002 to 2005.
The show starred Jane Antrobus, a former real-life detective superintendent, and Ben Hull as the lead investigators, DI Jane Preston and DS Ben Shaw. Each episode featured a guest cast of well-known actors from soap operas and other dramas. The plot followed the team as they investigated a crime from within the station, using CCTV, witness statements, and suspect interviews. Twenty episodes were produced, airing daily at 2:00pm. The series has never been released on DVD, though it was previously repeated on ITV Encore before that channel closed in 2018.
**Cast** Jane Antrobus played DI Jane Preston, the senior investigator at East Central Police. Her character is direct and blunt, skilled at spotting when a victim or suspect is lying. Antrobus herself retired from real-life police work as a Detective Superintendent shortly before filming began. Ben Hull portrayed DS Ben Shaw, Preston’s second-in-command, who takes a more relaxed approach to investigations. He acts as the main collator, gathering evidence like CCTV, phone records, and bank statements, but is tenacious in pursuing the truth. Tom Butcher served as the narrator for every episode, providing voiceover for scenes without dialogue and linking different parts of the investigation to maintain narrative flow. He also delivered a closing statement revealing the fate of each suspect.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Crime drama
- Writer
- Jake Riddell · Claire Fryer
- Director
- Various
- Starring
- Jane Antrobus · Ben Hull
- Narrator
- Tom Butcher
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Num Seasons
- 1
- Num Episodes
- 20
- Executive Producer
- Paul Marquess · Steve Hughes · Darren Fairhurst
- Producer
- Donna Wiffen
- Runtime
- 60 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The series starred Jane Antrobus, a former real-life detective superintendent, and Ben Hull, as protagonists Jane Preston and Ben Shaw. Each episode features a select guest cast, made up of well-known actors including both soap and drama stars. Each episode follows the team as they investigate a given crime, including collecting CCTV, witness statements and interviewing suspects, all within the confines of the station. A total of 20 episodes were produced, airing daily at 2:00pm on ITV. The series has never been released on DVD, although it was previously repeated on ITV Encore before that channel closed in 2018.
Reader's Guide
Crime Stories is notable as a short-lived experiment in British television crime drama, employing a documentary-style feel and unscripted dialogue under the guidance of Paul Marquess. Despite being described as 'groundbreaking,' the series was panned by critics and viewers and was cancelled after one series. It used the set previously occupied by fellow ITV drama The Bill, for which Marquess served as executive producer from 2002–2005. The series featured a former real-life police superintendent in a lead role, adding a layer of authenticity. Its 20 episodes aired daily in a daytime slot, and while never released on DVD, it continues to be repeated on ITV Encore, maintaining a niche presence.
The Enigma of Fitz Fitzgerald
Dr Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald was conceived as a deliberate contradiction: a man of staggering intellectual brilliance in criminal psychology who simultaneously embodied a catalogue of personal vices. Scottish by birth with Irish roots, Fitz was alcoholic, a chain smoker, obese, sedentary, a compulsive gambler, manic, foul-mouthed, and relentlessly sarcastic. Yet beneath that rough exterior lay a mind capable of dissecting the most tangled criminal motivations. Creator Jimmy McGovern named the character after the English poet Edward FitzGerald, lending the role a literary resonance that contrasted with its street-level energy. Fitz's own summary of himself—delivered in the episode "Brotherly Love"—reduced his existence to a simple confession of excess: he drank too much, smoked too much, gambled too much, and was, in his words, "too much." Robbie Coltrane's portrayal earned him the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in three consecutive years from 1994 to 1996, a remarkable streak matched in BAFTA history only by Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, and Julie Walters.
Narrative Ambition and the Shift Toward Character
Cracker's storytelling evolved dramatically across its three series. Early cases often drew inspiration from real events—the Hillsborough disaster provided a starting point for one storyline—while others remained purely fictional with only loose connections to actual incidents. Cases stretched across multiple episodes, frequently punctuated by cliffhangers, though it was not until the close of the second series that a cliffhanger was used to seal off an entire run. As the programme progressed, the psychological complexity of the criminals deepened, and the narrative focus gradually broadened. By the middle of the second series, psychological tensions began extending beyond the perpetrators to the regular cast members themselves. In later episodes, the crimes increasingly served as a backdrop for intense, provocative explorations of how the police officers processed what they witnessed. Every series also included stories in which the police became victims of crime or crossed the line into criminal acts themselves—murder, rape, obstruction of justice, and assault—underscoring the precarious moral territory the characters inhabited.
A Launchpad for British Television Talent
Cracker assembled a cast and crew whose subsequent careers would shape British television for decades. The regular ensemble included Christopher Eccleston as DCI David Billborough in the first two series, Ricky Tomlinson taking over the detective role from series two onward, Geraldine Somerville as DS Penhaligon, Lorcan Cranitch as DS Beck, and Barbara Flynn as Fitz's partner Judith. Guest appearances featured a remarkable roster: Adrian Dunbar, Jim Carter, Maureen O'Brien, James Fleet, David Bradley, John Simm, Liam Cunningham, Robert Carlyle, Samantha Morton, Bríd Brennan, John McArdle, Tim Healy, Geoffrey Hutchings, David Calder, Paul Barber, and David Haig. Beryl Reid made her penultimate screen appearance in the first series with a cameo as Fitz's mother, while Clive Russell was cast in the third series at Coltrane's personal recommendation. Behind the camera, Paul Abbott produced the second series and wrote its remaining episodes, later creating Touching Evil, State of Play, and Shameless. Script editor Nicola Shindler went on to found Red Production Company.
Manchester as Character and the Show's Longevity
Cracker was inseparable from Manchester. Filmed principally in the city's south, the series used Didsbury as Fitz's home base at the fictitious address of 15 Charlotte Road, while the Greater Manchester Police station was anchored in Longsight. Interior police scenes were shot in the old Daily Mirror offices in central Manchester, a building that has since become The Printworks retail complex. Other locations wove the city's identity into the fabric of the show: Victoria Railway Station, St Peter's Square, Old Trafford, the Arndale Centre, UMIST, the University of Salford, the Ramada Hotel, and the Star and Garter pub. The series originally ran for three seasons from 1993 to 1995, winning the BAFTA for Best Drama Series in both 1995 and 1996. A 100-minute Hong Kong-set special, "White Ghost," followed in 1996, featuring only Coltrane and Tomlinson from the regular cast. Coltrane subsequently declined to reprise Fitz unless McGovern returned to write. That condition was met for the 2006 special "Nine Eleven," in which Coltrane, Flynn, and O'Brien reunited alongside Richard Coyle, Nisha Nayar, and Rafe Spall as new police officers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Crime Stories (British TV series)?
Crime Stories is a short-lived British crime drama that aired on ITV between 12 November and 14 December 2012. It was developed by Paul Marquess and presented in a documentary-style format featuring unscripted dialogue between the characters.
Who starred in Crime Stories (British TV series)?
The lead roles were played by Jane Antrobus, who brought real-world experience as a former detective superintendent, alongside Ben Hull.
Why was Crime Stories (British TV series) cancelled after one season?
The series drew widespread negative reviews from both professional critics and the viewing public, prompting ITV to pull the plug after its single run ended in December 2012.
How is Crime Stories (British TV series) connected to The Bill?
The production filmed on the same set that had previously housed the long-running ITV drama The Bill, and its developer Paul Marquess had served as executive producer on The Bill from 2002 to 2005.
What made Crime Stories (British TV series) different from typical British crime dramas?
It was marketed as a groundbreaking departure from the genre by adopting a documentary aesthetic and allowing its cast to deliver improvised, unscripted lines rather than reading a traditional screenplay.
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