The 20/20 franchise, a staple of American television for over five decades, is crossing the Atlantic with a new UK edition. 20/20 Britain’s Most Notorious Crime Investigations will premiere on Disney+ in the UK and the US in just nine days, marking a significant expansion for the long-running news magazine series.
The series will delve into six of the UK’s most high-profile criminal cases, including the conviction of Jane Andrews former aide to the Duchess of York, and the disappearance of Joanna Yeates in Bristol. Other episodes will cover the abduction of Ben Needham from the Greek island of Kos, the crimes of Scottish serial killer Peter Tobin and the case of Mahek Bukhari a TikTok influencer involved in a fatal car chase.
The Evolution of 20/20
Created by Roone Arledge in 1978 as a rival to CBS’ 60 Minutes 20/20 has been a fixture of American television, currently hosted by David Muir and Deborah Roberts. The series has evolved over the years, shifting to a two-hour format in 2019 to focus on true crime stories and celebrity scandals. This new international edition represents a bold step in the franchise’s history.
Production and Premiere Details
The series is produced by Candle True Stories a documentary indie backed by Candle Media and run by former ABC News boss James Goldston. It is co-produced with ABC News Studios and will be executive produced by Goldston, Alicia Kerr and Ralph Perring with David Sloan serving as senior executive producer and Eamon McNiff as EP for ABC News Studios. The Hulu original was commissioned by Sean Doyle Vice President, Unscripted, Disney+ EMEA.
The premiere episode will focus on the Ben Needham case, with subsequent episodes dropping weekly. The series will be available on Disney+ in the UK and on both Disney+ and Hulu in the US.
The True Crime Landscape
This launch signals a strategic push into the true crime genre by Disney+. The streaming platform has recently invested in high-profile documentaries such as Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth and Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story and is rebooting the classic dating show Blind Date. On the scripted side, Disney+ is adapting Tom Hindle’s bestseller Murder on Lake Garda further emphasizing its commitment to compelling crime narratives.
Rivals Netflix and Prime Video have already established a strong presence in the international true crime market. This new edition of 20/20 positions Disney+ to compete in this lucrative and popular genre.
