Overview
Forensic Files, originally known as Medical Detectives, is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was originally broadcast on TLC, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, distributed by FilmRise, in association with truTV Original Productions. It broadcast 406 episodes from its debut on TLC in 1996 until its final episode in 2011. Reruns shown on HLN were initially retitled Mystery Detectives before settling on the main title of the show in 2014.
A version of the program was broadcast on Five in the United Kingdom, under the name Murder Detectives. Most of the 400 episodes are also available on the "Medical Detectives - Full Episodes" channel that is managed by distributor FilmRise.
On October 1, 2019, HLN announced it had greenlit a revival of the show, titled Forensic Files II, which began airing on February 23, 2020. Due to long-time narrator Peter Thomas' death, the show is narrated by Bill Camp.
Overview
The show helped pioneer documentary-style crime-science shows. Its website says it profiles "puzzling, often baffling cases whose riddles are ultimately solved by forensic detection." The cases and people are real. Scientists and forensic experts in many fields are interviewed.
Not every case is a crime. In some cases, the investigation reveals that the suspects are innocent, and that a death was an accident or suicide. Several episodes profile people who have been jailed for or convicted of a crime and ultimately exonerated by forensic evidence. Other episodes focus on accidents where consulted experts relied on forensic evidence to explain why the incident occurred, such as the 1987 King's Cross fire and the 1993 Big Bayou Canot train wreck. Many of the accident investigation episodes were originally broadcast as a separate CourtTV program, Extreme Evidence, but are now rerun under the Forensic Files name and included in the Mystery Detectives rebranding.
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