Murder, Mystery and My Family

Original version

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

Documentaries

Factual

Factual: Crime & Justice

Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein reinvestigate historical cases.

Series 3

BBC Two

BBC One London

London

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

BBC One Cambridgeshire

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One West Midlands

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One North West

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

BBC One Wales

Wales

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Sasha Wass

Jeremy Dein

Clare Wales

Gary John Senior

James Pearson

David McConnell

Mike Benson

Zlatina Rankova

Michael Klokkos

Chalkboard TV

Murder, Mystery and My Family: Series 3: Episode 1

Episode 1

BBC One - Murder, Mystery and My Family, Series 3, Episode 1

The barristers investigate their oldest case to date, a canal boat murder from 1839.

The barristers investigate their oldest case yet, the murder by drowning of a female passenger aboard a commercial narrow boat in Staffordshire in 1839.

Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate their oldest case yet, the murder of a female canal boat passenger 180 years ago, for which boatmen were convicted and publicly hanged in front of 10,000 spectators.

Rugely, Staffordshire, 1839. At dawn on a summer morning, labourers pull the lifeless body of 37-year-old Christina Collins from the Trent and Mersey Canal. She had drowned. Christina had been the sole passenger of a narrow boat, and within an hour the crew were in custody, most of them still drunk from the whisky they had stolen from their cargo hold. They claimed Christina had committed suicide.

An initial trial cleared the men of rape, but before a murder charge could be considered, the proceedings were halted. At a second trial eight months later, without the boatmen's conflicting accounts being presented to the jury, three men including 27-year-old George Thomas were convicted of Christina's murder and sentenced to death.

Now, 180 years on, George Thomas's relatives Jeanette and Patricia are convinced of his innocence and have called upon Sacha and Jeremy to see if they can shed new light on the unusual situation of the two trials. Exploring questions of character, forensic evidence and legal history, can the barristers find enough new evidence to convince a judge that George Thomas was wrongly convicted?

Murder, Mystery and My Family: Series 3

BBC One

Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass re-examine historic murder cases

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Murder, Mystery and My Family

Series 3

Episode 1

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC One North East & Cumbria

About BBC One