Private Eye No 1378 Post Office follow up

Issue no 1378

In the latest Private Eye In The Back section (Eye 1378 p.34) there is a small follow-up article to their recent piece on the Post Office's branch computer system Horizon (Eye 1375).

Burglars and Break-ins: Caught on Camera (S2 Ep5)

It's not as good a title as Armed and Dangerous: Caught on Camera, is it? But it's a damn fine episode and it's on Channel 5 tonight at 9pm.

As the title suggests, this week's programme features lots of home-installed CCTV catching burglars being idiots, or in the case above, drug-crazed idiots. We also have the usual amazing stuff from the Met's airborne unit India 99. 

I say the usual, but we shouldn't take it for granted. The insight this footage gives you into modern policing is extraordinary. 

Tonight's episode features a crime which was entirely picked out from the sky, ending in an arrest. All thanks to the excellent work of the spotter on board.

We can also take you into the strange world of the 24/7 monitored council estate. The set up below in Wolverhampton is a service voted for by residents, who now rely on the three "concierges" below to keep tabs on anti-social behaviour, and help people out when necessary.

You may have heard the stories about CCTV being able to talk back. In this episode you can see that happen, much to the surprise of a resident fly-tipper.

So there you go - Channel 5, 23 Oct 2014, 9pm - and of course again an hour later on C5+1 at 10pm. And again on C5+24 tomorrow at 9pm....! 

If you miss all that you can watch any already-transmitted episode of the Caught on Camera strand here, on Demand 5.

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Armed and Dangerous: Caught on Camera

In what is easily the best title of our Caught on Camera strand so far, I am delighted to present to you the fourth programme of series 2 of Criminals: Caught on Camera - Armed and Dangerous.

It goes out at 8pm on Thursday 25th September. 

Those disappointed at the earlier start time will be filled with joy on remembering that Channel 5+1 will be showing the programme at 9pm unless there's some kind of extraordinary disruption in the space-time continuum. Which this programme may very well cause, because it's that good.

There's a lot of helicopter action in this one, including a bike chase which makes for a thrilling drama and demonstrates a quite brilliant use of technology to identify criminals mid-pursuit. There's also some excellent detective work on a drugs bust, plus a girl gang dressed in clothes from an 80s pop video going on the rampage. It is our series producer's favourite episode so far. 

Although very little is certain in this world, there are four more Criminals: Caught on Camera due to be screened later this autumn. Hopefully we'll get a good weekly run of them.
You can catch up with all the programmes from the strand (and a collection of faintly unnerving publicity shots) on Demand 5, including the first series, which we filmed last year.