Season 1
Episode: 1x01 | Airdate: Sep 29, 2014
This extraordinary episode opens with the dawn arrest of a man on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. The film documents the work of the lead detectives as they investigate and interview the suspect.
Episode: 1x02 | Airdate: Oct 6, 2014
In this second episode of the observational series shot inside Luton Police Station, two PCs are determined to get to the bottom of two contrasting cases of domestic abuse and harassment.
Episode: 1x03 | Airdate: Oct 13, 2014
This episode follows the team of four detectives working full-time on child abuse cases in the dedicated Safeguarding Investigation Unit at Luton Police Station.
Episode: 1x04 | Airdate: Oct 20, 2014
This episode opens with a young man accidentally dropping a large quantity of cocaine from his jacket pocket outside a petrol station - all caught on CCTV.
Episode: 1x05 | Airdate: Oct 27, 2014
It's Saturday night in Luton, and Bedfordshire Police are dealing with drunken domestic disputes and a booze-fuelled fight.
Episode: 1x06 | Airdate: Nov 10, 2014
In Luton, a devout Muslim has been arrested for violently assaulting his daughter with an iron after she married a man he doesn't approve of.
Episode: 1x07 | Airdate: Nov 17, 2014
Acting sergeant and double amputee Wil Taylor and his team investigate the case of three sex workers. Are the women victims of trafficking, or are they exploiting others?
Season 2
Episode: 2x01 | Airdate: Jan 6, 2015
Hardened detectives DS Hutton and DC Brecknock are shocked by an extraordinarily disturbing case of attempted murder in an ordinary terraced home.
Episode: 2x02 | Airdate: Jan 13, 2015
Two teenage girls are arrested after a fight broke out in a nightclub. And the police also arrest a 61-year-old man who's never spent a night in the cells before.
Episode: 2x03 | Airdate: Jan 20, 2015
This episode follows an investigation into suspected human trafficking. DC Tom Stean says Human trafficking is getting worse and worse. I think Luton is a magnet.
Episode: 2x04 | Airdate: Jan 27, 2015
This episode follows cases where alcohol and relationship tensions mix in a dangerous cocktail. Investigating Officer Lisa Hutchinson says nine out of ten cases can be of domestic violence.
Episode: 2x05 | Airdate: Feb 3, 2015
Several elderly people have been sexually assaulted in a graveyard. The police have a sample of an attacker's DNA from a previous crime scene, and arrest a young man. Will his DNA match?
Episode: 2x06 | Airdate: Feb 10, 2015
Cathie Layton and Brett Jones used to work together in the police, but now Brett's a legal rep, representing one of Luton's prolific burglars, with DC Layton on the other side of the table.
Season 3
Episode: 3x01 | Airdate: Jul 27, 2015
DS Emma James and DC Cathie Layton pull a 22-hour shift to find the evidence against a young man accused of robbery and assault, who denies everything and paints himself as the victim.
Episode: 3x02 | Airdate: Aug 3, 2015
Bedfordshire Police must decide whether to charge two men arrested as part of a nationwide operation against people possessing and, in some cases, distributing indecent images of children online.
Episode: 3x03 | Airdate: Aug 10, 2015
DS Simon Hancock and DC Cathie Layton have 24 hours to interview two men who they suspect are behind a string of knife-point robberies. And neither man knows what the other's saying.
Episode: 3x04 | Airdate: Aug 17, 2015
The police release a young man who's been accused of a vicious assault when he gives his mother as an alibi. But when she fails to support his story they have to try to find him again.
Episode: 3x05 | Airdate: Aug 24, 2015
DC Cathie Layton investigates the case of a man who is alleged to have assaulted a taxi driver and stolen his keys. But her instinct tells her that all is not what it seems...
Season 4
Episode: 4x01 | Airdate: Apr 20, 2016
The critically acclaimed documentary series returns with a new approach to serious crime as it follows the investigations of Bedfordshire Police around the clock. Police are called to investigate frantic banging coming from inside a refrigerated HGV lorry that recently passed through Dover after crossing the Channel. Inside, they discover a distressed three-year-old girl and her five-year-old sister along with their mother and 12 other migrants who have been smuggled into the UK. Bedfordshire Police now face a race against the clock to find out whether they have been illegally trafficked into the UK and deliberately imprisoned in the refrigerated container for more than 17 hours, or whether they have smuggled themselves aboard the lorry unbeknown to the driver and transport company. With the migrant crisis dominating the news agenda, this is real life drama at its most intense.
Episode: 4x02 | Airdate: Apr 27, 2016
Men are being lured to meetings with a couple who pose online as underage girls. After filming their public confrontations with their victims, paedophile hunters post the evidence online. They also demand that the men who they entrap hand themselves in to the police. Once the suspects are in custody the police begin a race against the clock to find the evidence to charge the men. Does the involvement of these modern-day vigilantes help the police investigation into potential sex offenders who lurk in our midst or does it risk undermining the prosecution against them? 24 Hours in Police Custody - the critically acclaimed documentary series with unprecedented access around the clock to the work of Bedfordshire Police - has returned with a new approach to their investigations into major crimes. Cameras follow each case in forensic detail as the officers race against time to disentangle who is responsible for the crime, then try to build a case and put it to their suspect in interview.
Episode: 4x03 | Airdate: May 5, 2016
Cameras from 24 Hours in Police Custody follow Bedfordshire Police as Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League, is held in Luton police station following a vicious assault on a Muslim man. Policing tensions between extremist groups in one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse towns in the UK is a daily challenge for Bedfordshire Police. Their job is made more complicated still when they have to deal with the backwash of Islamic fundamentalism when a Muslim woman seeks their protection from her husband, who is threatening to take her to Syria against her will. 24 Hours in Police Custody, the critically acclaimed documentary series that follows the work of Bedfordshire Police around the clock, has returned with a new approach to their investigations into major crimes. Cameras follow each case in forensic detail as the officers race against time to disentangle the evidence and build a case, which they then put to their suspects in interview.
Episode: 4x04 | Airdate: May 12, 2016
Two lives change in a heartbeat after a single punch fells a man outside a nightclub. The blow kills the victim and the police arrest the attacker. Cameras follow every twist and turn as police from the Major Crime Unit try to disentangle what really happened. Was the punch an unjustified and aggressive assault on an innocent man or an act of self defence with tragic consequences? This is real life drama at its most intense. 24 Hours in Police Custody, the critically acclaimed documentary series that follows the work of Bedfordshire Police around the clock, has returned with a new approach to their investigations into major crimes. Cameras follow each case in forensic detail as the officers race against time to disentangle the evidence and build a case, which they then put to their suspects in interview.
Episode: 4x05 | Airdate: May 19, 2016
Bedfordshire Police investigate a rash of knife-point robberies. But without good CCTV images, they have to rely on old-fashioned detective skills.
Episode: 4x06 | Airdate: May 26, 2016
When does a row at home become a case of domestic violence? That's the tricky question the police face as they are called to intervene in the many domestic dramas that happen night and day behind closed doors in Bedfordshire. The force has seen a surge in the number of incidents of domestic abuse being reported to them, to over 200 a week. Domestic violence crimes have been given a high priority and the police have new powers to charge suspects, so they have their work cut out navigating very personal situations. The stakes are high; although many couples decide to make up, officers are all too aware of the tragic statistic that on average two women every week are killed at the hands of their partners. These issues around domestic abuse are often covered in television drama but for the police and the victims this is no drama; it's real life.
Episode: 4x07 | Airdate: Jun 1, 2016
A man is on the run from Operation Bosun, Bedfordshire Police's specialist unit who tackle gun crime. Police believe that the wanted man is lying low for the moment but remains armed and dangerous. Gun crime is a force priority: in just six months Bedfordshire Police have dealt with dozens of reports of weapons being discharged and have seized 23 firearms. Finally officers spot their suspect and call in armed back-up. The attempted arrest is a moment of high tension and drama that plays out in an ordinary street in an ordinary town. This isn't a crime thriller; this is real life. 24 Hours in Police Custody, the critically acclaimed documentary series that follows the work of Bedfordshire Police around the clock, has a fresh approach to capturing their investigations into major crimes. Cameras follow each case in forensic detail as officers race against time to disentangle the evidence and build a case, which they then dramatically put to their suspects in interview.
Episode: 4x08 | Airdate: Jun 8, 2016
During Luton's May carnival, a man enters a house and sexually assaults two young children. Bedfordshire Police are determined to find him before he can strike again.
Episode: 4x09 | Airdate: Jun 15, 2016
A young woman has made a complaint of rape against a man who she met in a bar. What follows is a series of interviews with the woman and suspect, as police try to unpick the different accounts.
Season 5
Episode: 5x01 | Airdate: Jun 5, 2017
The first episode explodes onto TV screens with a man walking out of a hotel lift covered in blood and holding a fire extinguisher. He approaches the reception desk shouting that he has killed someone. As the terrified receptionist tries to ring 999, the man grabs the phone, but the police have been alerted and they're already racing to the scene. Cameras follow every twist and turn as detectives from the Major Crime Unit try to disentangle what really happened at the hotel close to Luton Airport, which has suddenly become a chaotic and bloody crime scene. This is real-life drama at its most intense. Throughout the series, cameras follow each case in forensic detail as the officers race against time to disentangle the evidence and build a case, which they then put to their suspects in interview.
Episode: 5x02 | Airdate: Jun 12, 2017
A distressed woman arrives at Luton Police station. She is comforted by officers from Bedfordshire Police's Safeguarding Unit, but they have to reveal that her 76-year-old husband is under arrest and in custody following allegations of historic child sex abuse, dating back to the 1970s. Since the Jimmy Savile case, the police have been overwhelmed with claims of child sex abuse but they feel duty-bound to seek justice for the victims, no matter how long it has been delayed. Cameras follow every twist and turn of the investigation as the detectives work out if they can believe the allegations, and whether they can ever find the evidence to build a case. This is real-life drama at its most intense.
Episode: 5x03 | Airdate: Jun 19, 2017
A man comes to Luton Police station claiming that his life's in danger and that he's just escaped from a slave-owning gang who have held him captive at a Travellers site in a remote part of Bedfordshire. The police are prioritising allegations of 'modern day slavery'. They launch a major operation to see if they can find evidence of his claims. Over 200 officers are drafted in to help launch a dawn raid on the site to arrest their suspects. Cameras follow every twist and turn of the investigation as the detectives work out if they can believe the allegations, and whether they can find the evidence to build a case. This is real-life drama at its most intense.
Episode: 5x04 | Airdate: Jun 26, 2017
A man has been attacked and left lying unconscious on the floor of a crowded pub for over 30 minutes. The emergency services are eventually called but, although his condition is critical, no one is prepared to come forward and name the attacker. The next day, with their victim in hospital and the attacker still at large, detectives from Bedfordshire Police seize CCTV footage from the pub. Although they can clearly see the vicious assault, they can't easily identify who threw the punch. Cameras follow every twist and turn of the investigation as the detectives work out if they can overcome the wall of silence that they face and find the evidence to charge. This is real-life drama at its most intense. Bafta Award-nominated 24 Hours in Police Custody follows Bedfordshire Police's detective work around the clock in forensic detail as officers race against time to disentangle evidence, build a case and interview their suspects.
Episode: 5x05 | Airdate: Jul 3, 2017
It's a particularly busy period for Bedfordshire Police. Officers are preparing to interview a young female care worker who's been brought into custody despite her adamant denial of involvement in the theft of a gold bracelet from someone in her care. A young man in custody denies being involved in a stabbing at a corner shop. Yet another suspect, who has been wanted for six months, has finally handed himself to police to be questioned over a violent assault outside a nightclub. Cameras follow every surprising twist and turn of the investigations as the detectives work out the strength of the evidence they can put to their suspects. Will what is said in police interview reveal what really happened in each case, and is there enough evidence to charge? This is real-life drama at its most intense.
Season 6
Episode: 6x01 | Airdate: Feb 19, 2018
This episode reveals what happens when a police officer who is meant to be investigating a crime turns out to be the man who committed it. The unprecedented access takes viewers behind the scenes into an allegation of police corruption. Cameras follow all of the twists and turns of a unique and gripping investigation as it unfolds, as detectives from the Major Crime Unit track down, arrest and then charge their suspect. Police officers from across Bedfordshire have to come to terms with the fact that one of their own, a colleague and someone some regard as a friend, is a corrupt cop. This is real-life drama at its most intense.
Episode: 6x02 | Airdate: Feb 26, 2018
At 4.30am on a Saturday, Bedfordshire Police are called to Dunstable Town Centre, where a man has driven a car into a group of revellers outside a kebab shop before fleeing on foot. His victim has been left unconscious with life-threatening injuries and the police's only lead is the car. With a suspect on the loose, cameras follow every twist and turn of the investigation, as the urgent job of tracking him down is handed to the Criminal Investigation Department.
Episode: 6x03 | Airdate: Mar 5, 2018
A man lies dead in a park in Peterborough. The position of his body raises intense suspicions but rigor mortis has already set in and the trail of evidence is going cold. Who is the victim and how did he come to be dumped overnight in open ground? Detectives are called in to investigate. Cameras follow every extraordinary twist and turn of the investigation as the job of working out this real whodunnit becomes the priority for the Major Crime Unit. Bafta Award-nominated 24 Hours in Police Custody follows Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Police's detective work around the clock in forensic detail as officers race against time to investigate major crimes, disentangle evidence and build a case, which they then put to their suspects in interview. This is real-life crime drama at its most intense.
Episode: 6x04 | Airdate: Mar 12, 2018
Police are digging in the back garden of a house in Luton searching for the body of a woman who disappeared in 2003. They believe a painstaking fingertip search might reveal vital clues in a suspected murder enquiry. Natalia Wilkanowska's disappearance left detectives from the Major Crime Unit puzzled and frustrated with the lack of answers to their questions. Without answers the family can't lay her memory to rest and properly grieve. Cameras follow every extraordinary twist and turn of an investigation where detectives have decided it's time to solve the job by turning up the heat on their suspects. This is real-life crime drama at its most intense.
Episode: 6x05 | Airdate: Mar 19, 2018
The police search for a couple who they believe have exploited a young, vulnerable woman by taking over her flat to use it as a drugs base.
Episode: 6x06 | Airdate: Mar 26, 2018
A woman has reported to police that she's living in fear because she believes a man who she once regarded as a friend has begun to stalk her. The police are only too aware that they've got to act in case the situation escalates out of control, so they arrest him. One in five women say they've been a victim of stalking, and tougher sentences have recently been introduced to tackle the crime. But the man denies that he's a stalker. Cameras follow the victim and the prime suspect as they argue over whether he has crossed a line and their friendship has now turned into an unhealthy obsession. Police unpick the case as they try to work out who's telling the truth and whether they have the evidence they need to charge the suspect.
Season 7
Episode: 7x01 | Airdate: May 21, 2018
A woman's body is found in overgrown grassland. When detectives inform her partner of her death, his behaviour marks him out as the chief suspect.
Episode: 7x02 | Airdate: May 28, 2018
This episode has unprecedented access to a major covert surveillance operation, which culminates in 10 simultaneous armed dawn raids against organised crime gangs.
Episode: 7x03 | Airdate: Jun 4, 2018
A man lies dying in the street from a stab wound to his heart. A friend at the scene is desperate to find out if he will survive, but it's now a crime scene and he's not allowed to see the victim. Paramedics can't save the man so the police begin a murder inquiry, and they believe the friend may be able to tell them what happened. But they know that without his co-operation they may struggle to prove their case. Cameras follow in intimate detail a tragic case with a surprising and disturbing twist. This is real-life crime drama at its most intense.
Episode: 7x04 | Airdate: Jun 11, 2018
A woman calls the police to a block of flats in Luton, where a bloody hand print is found on the wall, and a disturbing case unfolds.
Episode: 7x05 | Airdate: Jun 18, 2018
A teenager is rushed to hospital with serious injuries that suggest she's been tied up and assaulted. She says she got them during sex with her boyfriend. But then she disappears from hospital...
Episode: 7x06 | Airdate: Jun 25, 2018
The police receive a call from a young man claiming that there are body parts buried in the garden of a house on an estate in Luton. A search team is dispatched but they face a wall of silence at the scene. Detectives suspect that it is a fantasy but, more worryingly, they may be being deliberately drawn into a long-running and brutal tit-for-tat gang war. Cameras follow every twist and turn of the case as it escalates further when the mother of the young man is stabbed in the chest. Police begin investigating the case as an attempted murder. This is real-life crime drama at its most intense.
Episode: 7x07 | Airdate: Jul 2, 2018
Detectives investigate a man who they believe has brought a young woman into Britain unlawfully, on a one-way ticket from Bulgaria.
Episode: 7x08 | Airdate: Jul 9, 2018
A man is lured to a sting by paedophile hunters. A few days later, a pensioner is found badly beaten. Cameras follow every twist and turn of an emotive and troubling police investigation.
Season 8
Episode: 8x01 | Airdate: Mar 11, 2019
A young woman has been brutally attacked in the undergrowth near a secluded bridge. Police immediately begin a frantic search at the scene of daylight rape to find any forensic evidence that might identify a suspect. DC Denise Brown of the Major Crime Unit says: 'I think this case has affected me more than any other crime I've dealt with. The torture and pain will affect her for the rest of her life.
Episode: 8x02 | Airdate: Mar 18, 2019
An experienced officer from the Bedfordshire Police Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team investigates an area of criminal behaviour beyond anything she has tackled before.
Episode: 8x03 | Airdate: Mar 25, 2019
Detectives race to the scene of a stabbing in broad daylight. Cameras follow every twist and turn of the investigation, revealing the real-life stories behind the familiar headlines about knife crime.
Episode: 8x04 | Airdate: Apr 1, 2019
Cameras follow every twist and turn of a real-life police investigation as detectives attempt to catch a suspected drug trafficker before he can escape on a flight to Spain.
Episode: 8x05 | Airdate: Apr 8, 2019
Bedfordshire police receive a 999 call from a country estate, reporting a burglary of antiques worth a quarter of a million pounds. But for veteran CID detective Dave Brecknock something about the case doesn't quite add up.
Episode: 8x06 | Airdate: Apr 15, 2019
A coroner has asked police to look into the sudden death of a 48-year-old woman. When DS Graham McMillan, who has dealt with over 200 murders during his career, is sent photos of the dead woman, they immediately raise suspicions. He says 'You do get a hunch just through experience, something isn't right... I've looked at the photos that were taken of the lady in situ and what concerns me, is some of the bruising around the chest and the neck area.' His next step is to 'look at what we've got in front of us and say 'something doesn't seem right here'.
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Jan 6, 2020
Two episodes take viewers behind the scenes of a police investigation into the pre-mediated and brutal murder of a young man in the middle of woodland
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Jan 7, 2020
The second half of the double episode. The DCI believes that he knows who was behind the murder. Cameras follow the case as detectives decide to arrest the victim's friends.
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Nov 8, 2020
The documentary focuses on the importation of huge quantities of Class A drugs, following the work of covert detectives from the Eastern Region Special Operation Unit. A consignment weighing more than 100kg has been intercepted while being imported into the UK from Europe. To reveal who is behind this, an undercover operation is authorised to closely monitor the shipment, using audio and visual equipment, as it travels to its final destination at a farm in rural Hertfordshire.
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Nov 9, 2020 (95 min)
The covert team tries to find the true identity of Jaguar Palace, as well as the evidence to link the suspect directly to the drug-importing conspiracy. The detectives begin a nerve-shredding wait for the criminal network to set up its lucrative operation again, and stand ready to strike against the ringleaders when it does.
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Jan 4, 2021
First of a two-part special taking viewers behind the scenes of a Cambridgeshire police investigation into a woman who is plotting to have her ex-husband killed. A man handed police a secretly recorded conversation that appeared to show his girlfriend offering to pay someone to commit murder, and DS Mike Barnshaw has to work out whether the recording is evidence that she really wanted him dead or is pillow talk with a man she has picked up on a dating site.
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Jan 5, 2021
In the conclusion of this two-part documentary, Victoria Breeden is taken into custody, but claims she is not fit to be interviewed, while police search her home for evidence that proves she has attempted to hire someone to murder her husband. Detectives are determined not to release her, but DC Louisa Abbott fears she is dealing with the cleverest criminal she has ever encountered.
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Mar 22, 2021
In Bedfordshire, a man accused of a string of offences involving violence embarks on a frightening new crime spree. Armed officers are deployed as the suspect becomes 'Most Wanted'.
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Mar 29, 2021
In Luton, a man is shot in the chest by a complete stranger. The same suspect threatens a woman. With a gunman on the loose, a frantic manhunt is launched to catch the shooter before he strikes again.
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Apr 5, 2021
Cambridgeshire Police have a big problem: a murder hunt without a body. A complex search for clues takes them into the woods and across Europe, and features a mysterious post on Facebook.
Episode: S08 Special | Airdate: Apr 12, 2021
In Luton, a man who has been attacked at home dies of severe brain trauma. The investigating officer met the victim a week before and is haunted by the idea that maybe she could have saved his life.
Season 9
Episode: 9x01 | Airdate: Sep 27, 2021
Police officers search for a man in Luton who disguises himself as a delivery driver to force his way into people's homes and commit brutal assaults. However, when the police investigation fails to make headway, the family of one of the victims launch a campaign for information on social media - which increases the likelihood of the criminal seeing he is at risk of discovery and going to ground.
Episode: 9x02 | Airdate: Oct 4, 2021
A violent daytime brawl with knives erupts on the streets of Luton as a chicken shop war heats up. But the case takes an even more disturbing twist when a police raid lands a huge cache of drugs.
Episode: 9x03 | Airdate: Oct 11, 2021
Part one of a two-part report into the case of a man who sexually preyed on young people in Luton, which eventually became Bedfordshire Police's largest ever operation into historic abuse. The film begins with the work of a detective in the Child Sexual Exploitation unit, who discovers that a victim's testimony identifies a man who had been arrested eight times previously for sexual offences but had never been convicted.
Episode: 9x04 | Airdate: Oct 18, 2021
Bedfordshire Police's largest ever operation into historic abuse continues, with DS Rachael Foy spending three years working to persuade victims to testify against the suspect. However, she knows that the system too often lets victims down even when they are brave enough to come forward - and in this case, many of the victims have died before they are able to do so.
Episode: 9x05 | Airdate: Oct 25, 2021
On a quiet Sunday lunchtime in a Cambridgeshire suburb, a man lies bleeding to death. A major manhunt is triggered, where the strength of family blood ties is brutally exposed.
Episode: 9x06 | Airdate: Nov 1, 2021
The real-life drama follows police investigations into one of the most disturbing and hard-to-prove crimes - baby-shaking cases - and examines parents' often-divided loyalties.
Episode: S09 Special | Airdate: Jan 3, 2022
The first episode of a two-part special taking viewers behind the scenes of a Major Crime Unit investigation into the death of an 11-week-old baby after 11 days in intensive care. During this time, the police are watching the parents intently for fear they may have harmed the child - concerns that seem to be borne out when the scale of the child's injuries is revealed by an autopsy.
Episode: S09 Special | Airdate: Jan 4, 2022
The conclusion of a two-part special taking viewers behind the scenes of a police investigation into the death of an 11-week-old baby. Both the mother and her partner are under suspicion of inflicting injuries on the child on a similar scale to those suffered in the notorious case of Baby P, but neither is yet in custody. DI Lucy Thomson of Cambridgeshire's Major Crime Unit, who leads the investigation, has decided she isn't ready to show her hand. However, when police receive a 999 call reporting a disturbance at the couple's flat they rush to the scene and the investigation takes a dramatic turn.
Season 10
Episode: 10x01 | Airdate: Nov 28, 2022
Perplexing cases from the files of Bedfordshire Police. When a couple were woken by what sounded like a break-in at their rural property, the husband set out in pursuit of what he perceived were burglars on motorbikes. Minutes later, police received a call reporting a devastating collision. At the scene two men were still trapped under a vehicle, both of them have apparently suffered critical injuries. Detective Inspector Grant Maxted investigates what happened at the devastating crash and what lay behind it.
Episode: 10x02 | Airdate: Dec 5, 2022
Bedfordshire Police race to rescue a 15-year-old girl after receiving intelligence that a 20-year old man is holding her captive at his flat in Luton. When she comes to the station, she reports being raped multiple times. Police search for the perpetrator, as evidence emerges that she was not his only victim, and that many of the underage girls he targeted are unaware of the danger he presents.
Episode: 10x03 | Airdate: Mar 20, 2023
Following the case of a naked man found stabbed to death in Luton, which leads police to discover this may be one of a series of murders in which men are lured with the promise of sex, so that they can be robbed. DI Dale Mepstead turns her attention to two men who are seen on CCTV accompanying the suspects into a flat. Will either of the women being held in custody reveal their identity?
Episode: 10x04 | Airdate: Mar 21, 2023
When a man is found dead and completely naked after bleeding out from a stab wound to his thigh, Bedfordshire's Major Crime unit charge two women who they believe enticed the man into meeting them with the promise of sex, but instead had the intention of robbing him. CCTV reveals the women were accompanied by two men on the night of the murder. Now with four suspects in custody, investigators need to work out who is behind the `honey trap" plot and which of their suspects is responsible for the murder.
Season 11
Episode: 11x01 | Airdate: Dec 3, 2023 (95 min)
Feature-length special telling the inside story of an armed siege in a Bedford tower block, and including unprecedented access to the command suite during a live siege. A man rings 999 to report that he's seen a man with a weapon that looks like an AK-47 rifle shouting that he'll shoot the next person who he sees in the head. The call has come from a block of flats where two men have already blockaded themselves in a flat. As one of the men inside begins posting live on Facebook, armed officers are ordered to surround the building.
Episode: 11x02 | Airdate: Dec 10, 2023
DC Shona Birkby from Bedfordshire Police's Rap and Serious Sexual Offences team analyses a video of a couple having sex without knowing they are being filmed. As she forensically examines her suspect, she explains how she believes he is regularly prowling the streets filming women in compromising positions without their consent to get sexual thrills. The case takes a sinister turn when, within weeks of the video being taken, police receive a call from a nightclub where door staff believe a woman has been attacked.
Episode: 11x03 | Airdate: Dec 17, 2023 (90 min)
Feature-length special about an investigation into a case of possible male rape involving a man who arranges to meet multiple men a week for sex using Grindr. Bedfordshire Police's Rape & Serious Sexual Offences team try to work out whether there is enough evidence to charge a suspect who claims the sex is consensual. The programme examines fraught questions of consent and the reasons why police investigations into male rape are so rare and difficult to prosecute.
Episode: 11x04 | Airdate: Jan 8, 2024
Part one of a two-part special revealing the story behind a brutal double murder, when one man is found dead in the road outside a pub while another has multiple stab wounds. Despite both men being pronounced dead at the scene, no one in the close-knit community of Houghton Regis has so far come forward to reveal who is responsible.
Episode: 11x05 | Airdate: Jan 9, 2024
Two men have been brutally murdered and a third has been left with multiple stab wounds. A number of suspects have been arrested but the man who police believe is responsible for stabbing all three victims is on the run. The detectives from the Major Crime Unit at Bedfordshire Police still can't comprehend the level of brutality they have witnessed. As the manhunt intensifies, cameras follow live a fresh twist in the investigation when police discover a believed confession written by the fugitive suspect.
Season 12
Episode: 12x01 | Airdate: Jun 4, 2024
The gripping inside story of a brutal machete and gun attack on a Luton doorstep, a gold chain, and a struggle against the odds to identify the attackers.
Episode: 12x02 | Airdate: Sep 9, 2024
Part one of a two-part special following the case of a 47-year-old disabled woman from the Cambridgeshire town of Wisbech, who was found dead in her kitchen with her throat cut. There was no trace of a murder weapon in the property where the victim lived alone - but despite the shortage of clues, the local rumour mill soon revealed more about the victim and the name of a possible suspect.
Episode: 12x03 | Airdate: Sep 10, 2024
A knife is found near the crime scene that could be the murder weapon and while forensic analysis reveals the presence of DNA on the blade which might be from the killer, there's a one in 12,000 chance that anyone will match the DNA - which means as many as three people in Wisbech could be the killer. While the town's rumour mill continues to accuse previous suspects, DI Dale Mepstead has a difficult decision to make: will she arrest again? The sudden death of the original suspect is followed by the discovery at the murder victim's house of a large quantity of heroin and paperwork which suggests the illegal sale of prescription drugs. At last, an opening up of the mystery of a murder motive allows the detectives to move in to question their final suspect.
Episode: 12x04 | Airdate: Nov 25, 2024
The story of a young couple whose lives were shattered by a series of anonymous online attacks, which rapidly escalate into death threats. Rookie detective Emily Richardson is faced with the first big challenge of her policing career, trying to work out what's really going on after each of the couple separately report a series of harassing phone calls and death threats from an unknown third party.
Episode: 12x05 | Airdate: Dec 2, 2024
In Bedfordshire, police detectives discover a connection between a major fraud on a vulnerable old man's life savings and a gang who are exploiting young people. As cameras follow every twist and turn of two very different types of police operations, the true extent of the damage that the drugs trade wreaks are exposed in the most surprising ways.
Episode: 12x06 | Airdate: Dec 9, 2024
A woman calls the police at 4am. She's in deep trouble and many miles from home. Soon she's in a coma. Can detectives solve the mystery of how she got this way?
Episode: 12x07 | Airdate: Jan 6, 2025
An account of the key events in an escape attempt from the Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire. Cameras follow from inside a police manhunt to return to custody a large group of detainees who have successfully scaled a perimeter before fleeing across the UK. As the operation turns its focus on who the criminals on the run are and who on the outside might have assisted the escape, police raid a number of properties linked to Albanian organised crime groups.
Episode: 12x08 | Airdate: Jan 13, 2025 (75 min)
Cameras follow the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit during a major operation that leads to the seizure of drugs worth over £1.5million. After finding drugs hidden in secret compartments in equipment being shipped into the UK, detectives realise they may be able to break an international South American cartel by exploiting their discovery.
Episode: 12x09 | Airdate: Jan 20, 2025
How the new routes behind large scale cannabis importation are leading police to some very different suspects, far from the gangs who traditionally ran the drugs trade. Detectives in Luton CID take on a case after UK Border Force intercept multiple packages of cannabis addressed to properties across Bedfordshire, whole DC Adam Geary is handed what will become the biggest investigation of his career.