''Police 5'' is a British television programme that reconstructs major unsolved

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

s in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. It originally aired on some ITV regions from 1962 to 1992, followed by a brief revival in 2014 on Channel 5.

Creation

''Police 5'' was commissioned, when

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...

needed a five-minute programme to fill a gap in the schedules for six weeks caused by an American import underrunning. The idea came from Steve Wade, Head of Outside Broadcasts, and, Grade refused to copyright the format which allowed other ITV regions to launch their own versions with Taylor often hosting them. Almost a third of the appeals featured in the programme led to an arrest. The format was later sold overseas; in Germany it was a networked hour-long programme, ''

Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst ''Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst'' ("Case number XY... unsolved") is a German interactive television programme first broadcast on 20 October 1967 on ZDF. Created by Eduard Zimmermann, it aims to combat and solve crimes. The programme is currently ...

'' (German for "Case number XY ... Unsolved") on

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

since 1967, which became the blueprint for the BBC's ''

Crimewatch ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was o ...

'' (1984); Taylor had pitched the idea for a centralised version to

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in 1982 but the idea had been rejected.

History

The five-minute programme was originally produced by ATV for its London and Midlands region from 1962 and shortly afterwards the format was picked up by a number of other

ITV network ITV is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the ol ...

regions, some versions of which used the same name and presenter. These included

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

Television South Television South (TVS) was the ITV franchise holder in the South and South East of England between 1 January 1982 at 9.25 am and 31 December 1992 at 11.59 pm. The company operated under various names, initially as 'Television South plc' and ...

(TVS) and

Central Independent Television ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...

. The show's original thirty-year run ended on 18 December 1992 in South and South East of England region due to the production company TVS losing its broadcasting franchise. Following negotiations with the next franchise holder,

Meridian Broadcasting ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at 12:00 am on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...

, it was decided not to continue ''Police 5''. In 1972, Taylor presented a spin-off show for younger viewers called ''Junior Police 5''. His catchphrase was "keep 'em peeled!" – asking viewers to be vigilant. In 2014, Channel 5 revived ''Police 5'' for a seven-part series with new presenters

Joe Crowley Joseph Crowley (born March 16, 1962) is an American politician and consultant who served as U.S. Representative from New York's 14th congressional district from 1999 to 2019. He was defeated by Democratic primary challenger Alexandria Ocasio-C ...

and Kate McIntyre. At the age of 89, Taylor appeared on each half-hour programme for a short segment in which he “set out to reunite theft victims with what’s rightfully theirs”.

Other versions

Similar formats were aired in different ITV regions. ''Police Call'' was seen in the Anglia and Tyne Tees areas while ''Police File'' was the title adopted for programmes across Granada,

Channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

and

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...

areas. ''Police 6'' was broadcast on

Ulster Television UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1) is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc an ...

in Northern Ireland. This version ran for 25 years until Christmas 1994, and was later replaced by ''Crime Call'' which was axed in 2001.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=1816953 1960s British crime television series 1962 British television series debuts 1970s British crime television series 1980s British crime television series 1990s British crime television series 2010s British crime television series 2014 British television series endings British crime television series ITV crime shows Television shows produced by Associated Television (ATV) Television shows produced by Central Independent Television London Weekend Television shows Television shows produced by Television South (TVS) Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming Law enforcement in the United Kingdom British television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows