Alibi is a British pay television channel that was launched on 1 November 1997 as UK Arena. It was renamed UK Drama in 2000, and then UKTV Drama in 2004, and assumed its current name on 7 October 2008.

History

The channel originally launched as part of the new four channel UKTV network on 1 November 1997. The channel, originally named UK Arena, focused on arts programming and was named after the BBC's flagship arts programme '' Arena'' (The BBC, through

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

, owning half of UKTV and therefore half the channel). The channel aired as a part-time service, airing from 7pm-7am every day. However, following disappointing ratings, the channel's focus was broadened to include all drama series, and as a result was renamed UK Drama on 31 March 2000. Within the launch of UK Food on 5 November 2001, UK Drama began timesharing with the new channel at the same broadcast hours. By 2002, UK Drama's broadcast hours were reduced to 9pm-5am. On 8 March 2004, the channel, alongside all other UKTV channels, was renamed UKTV Drama to increase awareness of the central UKTV brand. On 9 April 2005, UKTV announced that the channel would expand to a full 24-hour schedule on 30 May. Following the successful relaunch and rebranding of the channel UKTV G2 as

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

on 15 October 2007, the remaining UKTV channels underwent the same changes. UKTV Drama was renamed Alibi on 7 October 2008, and the channel's programmes were changed to focus specifically on crime dramas. All non-crime dramas were transferred to the rebranded Gold channel or to the newly created flagship channel Watch.

Subsidiary channels

Alibi +1

Alongside the main channel, a time shift channel is also operated: Alibi +1. Corresponding to the name on the main channel shows all programming from the channel one hour later, with no special idents or continuity used. It originally launched on

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

on 2 May 2006 as UKTV Drama +1. Unlike its main service which broadcast around the clock, the timeshift only operated as a part-time service that broadcast from 3pm-2am. The channel was added to Virgin Media on 23 October 2007.

Alibi HD

On 29 July 2011, UKTV announced that it had secured a deal with

BSkyB Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

to launch three more high-definition channels on

. As part of Virgin Media's deal to sell its share of UKTV, all five of UKTV's HD channels would also be added to Virgin's cable television service by 2012. Alibi HD launched on 3 July 2012 on Sky and Virgin Media, while Dave HD and Watch HD launched in October 2011. All three channels are HD simulcasts of the standard-definition channels.

On-air identity

When the channel launched on 1 November 1997, the idents featured a star shape, usually inside a circle, with the UK Arena logo below. The logo, like that of all the UKTV channels until 2001, featured a single straight line logo with the UK prefix in a white box and the channel name typed in

Gill Sans Gill Sans is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill and released by the British branch of Monotype from 1928 onwards. Gill Sans is based on Edward Johnston's 1916 "Underground Alphabet", the corporate font of London Underground. ...

above a line extending out from the box. When the channel rebranded to UK Drama on 31 March 2000, the idents remained the same, with a change of the colours and the logo the only noticeable differences. A new design introduced on 7 May 2001 resulted in the UK Drama logo standing alone at the bottom of the screen in a bold text, stylised to appear as: "^UK Drama". On the end of the logo, a small design was included. One was assigned to each channel, with the exception of UK Gold and

UK Gold 2 Dave is a British free-to-air television channel owned by UKTV, a subsidiary of BBC Studios. It broadcasts mainly comedy, with some factual programming. The channel took the name Dave on 15 October 2007, but it had been on air under various id ...

, to identify what the channel broadcast. In the case of UK Drama, it was a bold, eight pointed star within a circle. The idents themselves were replaced by three men beating drums with water on the surface with each drummer bathed in a particular colour light: red, blue and green. A subsequent name change to UKTV Drama saw the logo with an uppercase 'DRAMA' below a UKTV logo which was aligned to the left of the screen, a predominantly purple colour scheme, and idents that featured a giant glass appearing 'D', which used from 30 May 2005 to 6 October 2008. Following the rebrand to Alibi on 7 October 2008, the channel's idents were all accompanied by the Alibi logo, seen with interchangeable colours of white, black and red, and featured words associated with crime and murder arranged into different shapes; the outline of a dead body, a gunshot shattering a pane of glass, the dials of a safe, and the beam from a torch illuminating the words. On 1 July 2015, Alibi had its first rebrand for seven years, with a slight change to the overall look and feel. The channel's red identity was made slightly darker while the logo stayed circular with white font, no dot over the first "i" and a black dot over the second. New idents feature crime scenes with the camera following red string that joins the clues together before resolving into the new logo.

Programming

The output of the channel is a combination of drama series and serials comprising first-run exclusive and second run shows from the United States and Canada, together with second run showings of shows from the BBC and

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

Original programming

Drama

* Annika (original series) * Traces (2 seasons, 12 episodes) (Alibi original series) (Renewed) * We Hunt Together (2 seasons, 12 episodes) (Alibi original series)(Renewed)

Co-production

* Inspector George Gently

Current

* The Bad Seed (New Zealand import from TVNZ 1) * Bite Club (Australian import from

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

) * CSI:Vegas * Death in Paradise (also shown on Drama) * The Doctor Blake Mysteries (Australian import from

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

(Australia)) (also shown on Drama) *

Doctor Foster Doctor Foster may refer to: * " Doctor Foster", an English nursery rhyme * ''Doctor Foster'' (TV series), a British television drama * Dr Foster Intelligence Dr Foster Intelligence is a provider of healthcare information in the United Kingdom, mo ...

* Evil (US import from Paramount+) *

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

(also shown on Drama) and spin-off

Sister Boniface Mysteries ''Sister Boniface Mysteries'' is a British detective period television series, created by Jude Tindall, which is produced by BBC Studios and BritBox. It is a spin-off of ''Father Brown'', as the Sister Boniface character was introduced in a ''Fa ...

* Frankie Drake Mysteries (Canadian import/UKTV co-production with CBC Television) *

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

(Australian import from

(Australia)) * Hudson & Rex (Canadian import from CBC) * Luther *

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' is an Australian drama television series. It was first broadcast on ABC on 24 February 2012. It is based on author Kerry Greenwood's historical mystery novels, and it was created by Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger. ...

(Australian import from

(Australia)) * Miss Marple (also shown on Drama) * Miss Scarlet and The Duke * Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries (Australian import from Seven Network) *

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick B ...

(Canadian import/UKTV co-production with

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

/ CBC) * New Tricks (also shown on Drama) * One of Us (Australian Import) *

Ragdoll The Ragdoll is a breed of cat with a distinct colorpoint coat and blue eyes. Its morphology is large and weighty, and it has a semi-long and silky soft coat. American breeder Ann Baker developed Ragdolls in the 1960s. They are best known for the ...

(American import/UKTV co–production with AMC+) *

Rizzoli & Isles ''Rizzoli & Isles'' is an American crime drama television series starring Angie Harmon as Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as Maura Isles. Based on the series of ''Rizzoli & Isles'' novels by Tess Gerritsen, the plot follows Boston Homicide polic ...

(US import from TNT) * Pretty Hard Cases (Canadian import) * Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators *

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

(also shown on Drama) *

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McC ...

(also shown on Drama) * Strike * Taggart (STV)

Previous on Alibi

1-800-Missing ''Missing'' (originally titled ''1-800-Missing'') is a Canadian crime drama television series based on the ''1-800-WHERE-R-YOU'' book series by Meg Cabot. The series aired on the A network and W Network in Canada, and on Lifetime in the United ...

(Canadian import from

W Network W Network (often shortened to W) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts general entertainment programming oriented towards a female audience. W Network was established in ...

) *

55 Degrees North ''55 Degrees North'' is a BBC television drama series starring Don Gilet as DS Nicky Cole, a London detective relocated to Newcastle upon Tyne after exposing police corruption. Dervla Kirwan co-stars as Claire Maxwell, an ambitious solicitor. ...

* Bergerac (now on Drama) * The Bill (ITV) (now on W and Drama) * Body of Proof (US import from

) * Cagney and Lacey (US import from CBS) * Campion *

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

(US import from

) * The Closer (US import from TNT) * Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (US import from CBS) * Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour (US import from CBS) * Crossing Lines * Dalziel and Pascoe (now on Drama) * Dangerfield (now on Drama) * Detective Conan (Japanese import from TMS Entertainment; presented in Japanese with English subtitles) * Diagnosis: Murder (US import from CBS, now on CBS Justice) *

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

(broadcast during 2008 as a special season presenting all of Tom Baker's episodes) *

Due South ''Due South'' is a Canadian crime comedy-drama television series created by Paul Haggis, and produced by Alliance Communications from its premiere on April 26, 1994, to its conclusion after four seasons on March 14, 1999. The series starred Pau ...

(Canadian import from

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

, US import from CBS, now on

Sony Channel Sony Channel is a brand of general entertainment television channels, owned by Sony Pictures Television. It was previously known as Sony Entertainment Television (SET), but many of the channels, except the Indian television channel, were rebrand ...

) *

Deception Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...

Father Dowling Mysteries ''Father Dowling Mysteries'' (also known as ''Father Dowling Investigates'' in the United Kingdom) is an American mystery television series that aired from January 20, 1989 to May 2, 1991. Prior to the series, a TV movie aired on November 30, 1987 ...

(US import from NBC/

) * The Glades (US import from A&E) * The Guardian (US import from CBS) * Hamish Macbeth (now on Drama) * Hart to Hart (US import from

, now on

) * Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (now on Drama) *

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

* The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries * The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (now on Drama) * Jack Taylor (Irish import from

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

) * Jonathan Creek (now on Drama) *

Judge John Deed ''Judge John Deed'' is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court of Justice, High Court judge wh ...

(now on Drama) *

King & Maxwell ''King & Maxwell'' is an American drama television series that ran on TNT from June 10 to August 12, 2013. The series featured Jon Tenney and Rebecca Romijn as Washington, D.C.–based former Secret Service agents solving crimes as private detect ...

(US import from TNT) *

The Last Detective ''The Last Detective'' is a British TV comedy drama series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV between 7 February 2003 and 31 May 2007, starring Peter Davison as the title character, Detective Constable "Dangerous Davies". The series is based o ...

(

) * Lie to Me (US import from

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

) (previously on Sky One) *

Maisie Raine ''Maisie Raine'' is a British television crime drama series, first broadcast on BBC One, that ran from 28 July 1998 to 9 July 1999. Pauline Quirke stars as the eponymous title character, an unorthodox detective whose hands on yet down-to-earth a ...

(now on Drama) * The Missing *

The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries ''The Mrs Bradley Mysteries'' is a British drama series starring Diana Rigg as Adela Bradley, and Neil Dudgeon as her chauffeur George Moody. The series was produced by the BBC for its BBC One channel between 31 August 1998 and 6 February 2000, ...

(now on Drama) *

My Life Is Murder ''My Life Is Murder'' is an Australian and New Zealand murder mystery, crime comedy-drama television series, broadcast on Network 10 and TVNZ 1. The ten part series premiered on 17 July 2019, at 8:40 pm. In the United States, the series began s ...

(Australian import from

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

) * Murder in Mind *

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

(US import from CBS, now on

5USA 5USA is a British free-to-air television channel. It is owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia and is a sister channel of Channel 5, 5Action, 5Star and 5Select. It was launched on 16 October 2006 as Five US and was the second digital terr ...

) * Perception (US import from TNT) * The Protector (US import from

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

) * Quantico (US import from

) * Rebus (ITV) (now on Drama) *

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

(Australian import from

) *

Reckless Reckless may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Reckless'' (1935 film), an American musical directed by Victor Fleming * ''Reckless'' (1951 film), a Spanish drama film directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde * '' The Reckless'', a 1965 Itali ...

(US import from CBS) * Republic of Doyle (Canadian import from CBC, now on

) * Return of the Saint (ITV) * Ripper Street (now on Drama) * The Rockford Files * Rosewood (US import from

) *

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

(ITV) * Secrets and Lies (US import from

) * Sherlock *

Shoestring Shoelaces, also called shoestrings (US English) or bootlaces (UK English), are a system commonly used to secure shoes, boots, and other footwear. They typically consist of a pair of strings or cords, one for each shoe, finished off at both ends ...

* Spooks (BBC) (now on Drama) *

Stumptown Stumptown is a name or nickname that has been applied to several places in the United States (listed alphabetically by state): * Guerneville, California, was the site of an ancient coast redwood forest, much of which was logged for the rebuild ...

* Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye (US import from

PAX Pax or PAX may refer to: Peace * Peace (Latin: ''pax'') ** Pax (goddess), the Roman goddess of peace ** Pax, a truce term * Pax (liturgy), a salutation in Catholic and Lutheran religious services * Pax (liturgical object), an object formerly kiss ...

) *

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

Ten Days in the Valley ''Ten Days in the Valley'' is an American drama television series that aired on ABC from October 1, 2017, through January 6, 2018. The series, starring Kyra Sedgwick, was ordered direct-to-series on August 4, 2016. After airing four episodes, ABC ...

(US import from

) *

Unforgettable Unforgettable may refer to: Film * ''Unforgettable'' (1996 film), a thriller starring Ray Liotta * ''Unforgettable'' (2014 film), a Bollywood film * ''Unforgettable'' (2016 film), a South Korean film * ''Unforgettable'' (2017 film), an America ...

(US import from CBS/ A&E) (previously on Sky Living) * Waking the Dead (now on Drama) *

Wallander Wallander may refer to: TV, film, books * Kurt Wallander, a fictional Swedish police inspector in novels by Henning Mankell :* ''Wallander'' (film series), Swedish-language television films of the Wallander stories starring Rolf Lassgård :* ''Wal ...

* Whiskey Cavalier *

Why Women Kill ''Why Women Kill'' is an American dark comedy-drama anthology television series created by Marc Cherry. Set in multiple time periods, the series depicts the events leading to deaths caused by women. It premiered on August 15, 2019, on CBS All ...

(US import from Paramount+) * WPC 56

References

External links

*
UKTV at The TV Room

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alibi (Tv Channel) Television channels and stations established in 1997 UKTV UKTV channels Crime television networks

History

Subsidiary channels

Alibi +1

Alibi HD

On-air identity

Programming

Original programming

Drama

Co-production

Current

Previous on Alibi

See also

References

External links