Documentary

Eyewitness

Eyewitness was a BBC series which examined how the police investigate crimes and the techniques they use to find their way through the complex web of memory. Ten people were secretly filmed as they witnessed what they believed to be a real crime - a knife attack in a Manchester pub. But when they were later interviewed by the police, their memories were radically different to each other's and to what really happened. In an extraordinary experiment with the Greater Manchester Police, the problem of eyewitness recollection was dramatically brought into focus, alongside the remarkable techniques used by the modern police to counter our unreliable memories.

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Created By

Status

Ended

Original Name

Eyewitness

First Air Date

April 18, 2010

Last Air Date

May 2, 2010

Seasons

1

Episodes

3

Language

English

Production Companies

Networks

BBC Two

S01E03

Never Forget a Face

Having many witnesses to a crime helps the police piece together the facts. But what happens when the only witness is also the victim? Stephanie Slater was blindfolded during her kidnap but her attacker was caught because police interviewers were able to help her recall the sounds and smells she experienced during her ordeal. But memory can be easily contaminated. Jennifer Thompson-Cannino identified an innocent man as her rapist. He spent 11 years in jail. Now, British police use cutting-edge techniques designed to collect uncontaminated eyewitness testimony so that they can secure a safe conviction, as in the case of Louise Aird, whose home was broken into during a £2 million art theft.

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