The Big Cases (2022)
Series 1
The biggest crime stories and court cases in the UK. The fights for justice, the investigations, and the stories of those affected by the crimes.
Released April 9, 2022
Episode 24 min
None+
S1E1 - The Murder of Sabina Nessa
Primary school teacher Sabina Nessa was killed at random by a man with a history of violence.
April 9, 2022, midnight
S1E2 - Stabbed in a Sanctuary
Sir David Amess MP was murdered by an IS fanatic, at a meeting in a church in Southend-On-Sea in Essex, UK.
April 15, 2022, midnight
S1E3 - The Abuser Working for MI5
This is the story of a dangerous MI5 agent, which the government tried to keep secret.
May 21, 2022, midnight
S1E4 - 27 Years to Catch a Killer
Rikki Neave left for school but never came home. Decades on his killer has been jailed.
June 25, 2022, midnight
S1E5 - Logan Mwangi: A Boy Betrayed
Logan Mwangi was five years old when he was murdered by the people he trusted.
July 2, 2022, midnight
S1E6 - Deadly Browsing: The Lorry Driver
How a lorry driver, looking at dating sites while driving, went on to kill three.
July 29, 2022, midnight
S1E7 - My Baby: Taken, Failed, Killed
Leiland-James was taken from his mother in hospital and placed in care. He went on to be killed by the woman who wanted to adopt him.
Aug. 7, 2022, midnight
S1E10 - The Doorstep Murder
It's one of Scotland's longest unsolved murder cases. Alistair Wilson was shot on his doorstep almost 20 years ago. Are police any closer to finding who killed him and why?
Nov. 26, 2022, midnight
S1E8 - The Suitcase Murderer
Revealing the killer who decapitated her friend and dumped her body.
Nov. 5, 2022, midnight
S1E9 - Catching The Cult Movie Killer
Jacqueline Kirk was badly disfigured after being set alight in 1998 by her ex-boyfriend Steven Craig. She then died in 2019 from complications relating to the injuries she suffered.
Nov. 10, 2022, midnight
S1E11 - Killing My Children's Abuser
Sarah Sands stabbed to death a convicted paedophile who was accused of abusing three more young boys. BBC News can reveal, for the first time, that they were all her children. Now all three boys have become adults, they speak, alongside their mum about the killing, and subsequent events.
Nov. 23, 2022, midnight
S1E12 - Killed Walking Home
Zara Aleena was killed walking back from a night out by a sexual predator, only recently released from prison, labelled a "danger to any woman".
Dec. 14, 2022, midnight
S1E13 - Groomed, Radicalised, Gone
The schoolgirl charged with terrorism, but found to have been exploited. Rhianan Rudd, 15, was the youngest girl to be charged with terrorism offences in the UK. She took her own life in 2022. Her mum says investigators should have seen her daughter as "a victim rather than a terrorist".
Jan. 3, 2023, midnight
S1E14 - Found Under The Floor
The story of Bennylyn and Jellica who were murdered after starting a new life in the UK.
Feb. 7, 2023, midnight
S1E15 - Twenty Minutes of Terror
A gunman kills five people within minutes. Could the shootings have been prevented?
Feb. 24, 2023, midnight
S1E16 - Homegrown Terrorist
How was Salman Abedi from Manchester radicalised to the point where he could kill, and could the Manchester Arena bombing have been stopped?
March 11, 2023, midnight
S1E17 - The Lie That Destroyed a Town
The story of false accusations about being the victim of a grooming gang and how it sent shockwaves through a small town in the North of England.
March 17, 2023, midnight
S1E18 - Caught In The Crossfire
Nine year old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed when shots were fired into her family home.
April 3, 2023, midnight
S1E19 - 30 Years For Justice
Nikki Allan's murder shocked Sunderland. Why did it take so long to catch her killer?
May 23, 2023, midnight
S1E20 - Stephen Lawrence: The Sixth Suspect
This BBC News investigation by reporter Daniel De Simone identifies a new suspect in the Stephen Lawrence murder. Stephen’s killing in 1993 changed policing and race relations in Britain forever, and its shadow hangs over the Metropolitan Police to this day. For decades, five men have been suspected of the attack, and in 2012 two of them were found guilty. Daniel De Simone has seen secret evidence and spoken to dozens of witnesses to publicly identify a sixth suspect for the first time. Evidence uncovered in this investigation also further implicates other suspects in the attack, and raises serious question of the police handling of the case over many years.
June 26, 2023, midnight
S1E21 - Sunshine Scammer
Lyne Barlow is a bogus travel agent from County Durham, conning hundreds of holidaymakers and her family in a £2.6 million scam, which also saw her lie about a cancer diagnosis.
June 28, 2023, midnight
S1E22 - Killed on Christmas Eve
Elle Edwards was shot dead as she celebrated Christmas Eve, in a murder that shocked the UK. We follow her dad Tim as he deals with the devastation of his daughter’s death.
July 7, 2023, midnight
S1E23 - The Killing in the Lane
Lilia Valutyte died from a single stab wound in her chest. Her killer was found unfit to plead, but a jury determined in a trial of the facts he killed the nine-year-old.
July 12, 2023, midnight
S1E24 - Killed on Duty
Sgt Matt Ratana was shot and killed on duty by a handcuffed prisoner just three months before he had been due to retire.
July 27, 2023, midnight
S1E25 - Unmasking a Fugitive
The story of Nicholas Rossi - the US fugitive who came to the UK with a new identity after faking his own death. He claims he is called Arthur Knight and is a victim of mistaken identity, but a sheriff in Scotland is sending him back to Utah to face rape charges. We speak to the people who knew Nicholas Rossi in his previous life in America and chart his story from there to his discovery by police in a hospital bed in Glasgow.
Aug. 2, 2023, midnight
S1E26 - Deadly Influence
The story of a social media influencer, her mum and a murder plot.
Sept. 1, 2023, midnight
S1E27 - The Missing Mum
This is the story of Linda Razzell who vanished on her way to work more than 20 years ago. Her husband was found guilty of her murder. Now, in 2023, will he reveal where her body is in order to be released on parole?
Sept. 26, 2023, midnight
S1E28 - The Commons Criminal
The MP who rose from obscurity to being imprisoned for fraud. The story of Jared O'Mara.
Oct. 11, 2023, midnight
S1E29 - Killed By My Boyfriend
The story of a young mum killed by her boyfriend of eight weeks. When Christopher McGowan was released on bail from a prison in Scotland, a court ordered he should stay at the home of his new girlfriend, Claire Inglis. He was a known criminal with a string of previous convictions and within weeks Claire was dead.
Oct. 25, 2023, midnight
S1E30 - The Doping Ward
The hospital unit where patients were drugged to keep them "quiet and compliant".
Dec. 19, 2023, midnight
S1E31 - The Student Who Never Came Home
Kidnapped and murdered in France while on a university placement. Is it finally time for justice for 20 year old Joanna Parrish?
Dec. 21, 2023, midnight
S1E32 - Killed In The Park
Brianna Ghey was stabbed to death - two teenagers tried to get away with murder.
Feb. 2, 2024, midnight
S1E33 - Held Captive And Left To Die
Shakira Spencer was 35 years old when her body was found by the police. She had been tortured and starved by people she considered friends.
March 1, 2024, midnight
S1E34 - The Nottingham Attacks
Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates were killed in a series of stabbings by one man on the streets of Nottingham in the summer of 2023.
March 7, 2024, midnight
S1E35 - The Executioner Next Door
The quiet Irishman behind the high hedge had a history his neighbours could have never guessed: the man they knew as 'Frank' was really Freddie Scappaticci, a man with many secrets. Not only had he been an Irish Republican Army killer, he was at the same time an agent for the Army – perhaps their most important source inside the IRA, with access to their most sensitive secrets.
March 8, 2024, midnight
S1E36 - The Dance Floor Murder
The story of footballer Cody Fisher who was stabbed to death in a nightclub in Birmingham.
April 8, 2024, midnight
S1E37 - Killer in the Attic
When Michael Riddiough-Allen is stabbed to death outside a nightclub in Cornwall, armed police track down his killer to a nearby house where he was found hiding in the attic.
April 12, 2024, midnight
S1E38 - The House Party Murder
How a house party turned into a murder scene - the fatal stabbing of Mikey Roynon.
May 3, 2024, midnight
S1E39 - Crushed: The Six Year Nightmare
Monika had moved to the UK from Poland for a better life. She had work, a new place to stay but then was hit by a drink driver. He served time for injuring her so badly she could never walk or talk again. Six years later, Monika died. It was time for justice, again.
June 12, 2024, midnight
S1E40 - The Abuser Headteacher
North Wales headteacher Neil Foden abused children over a four-year period, but could he have been stopped?
July 1, 2024, midnight
S1E41 - Trying to Kill Holly
The case of a plot to kidnap, rape, and murder TV presenter Holly Willoughby.
July 12, 2024, midnight
S1E42 - Stabbed After School
The shocking story of how a teenage relationship ended in murder. 15-year-old Holly Newton was stalked and murdered by her 'jealous' ex-boyfriend in Hexham in Northumberland. We speak to Holly's family and the police who pieced together what happened, and hear calls for a change to the law.
Nov. 1, 2024, midnight
S1E44 - My Husband the Monster
The story of Gisele Pelicot has shocked the world. She's a wife and a mother who was drugged and then raped by strangers. All were invited to do so by her husband at their home in Avignon, France. The trial of Dominique Pelicot and fifty other men has led to a huge outpouring of support across France and beyond as Gisele refused to hide away as her life unfolded in court and in public.
Dec. 19, 2024, midnight
S1E43 - Tortured Behind Closed Doors
The tragic story of Sara Sharif, who was just 10 years old when she was burned and beaten by her father and stepmother. Her body was found with dozens of injuries at the family home in Surrey.
Dec. 17, 2024, midnight
S1E45 - Killed By Kids: The Machete Murder
What happens when kids become killers? The shocking story of two 12 year old school boys who brutally murdered Shawn Seesahai with a machete.
Dec. 19, 2024, midnight
S1E46 - The Mistaken Identity Murders
A shocking story of two teenage boys from Bristol, Max and Mason, who went out for pizza and never came home. They were killed in a case of mistaken identity. We hear from the families who have faced unimaginable loss and see the consequences of children carrying weapons on the street.
Dec. 19, 2024, midnight
S1E47 - Neighbour, Friend, Killer
Wendy Buckney knew about her neighbour Brian Whitelock's past and wanted to give him a second chance. But were opportunities missed to protect the public from this triple-killer?
Dec. 20, 2024, midnight
S1E48 - The Bus Stop Murder
The shocking story of Elianne Andam, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was stabbed to death at a bus stop outside a shopping centre in Croydon, south London, in a row about a teddy bear.
March 13, 2025, midnight
S1E49 - The Predator Who Fled to Paradise
The shocking tale of a predator who went on the run for almost three decades. He lived a life in paradise while his victims wondered if they would ever get justice.
April 30, 2025, midnight
S1E50 - The Aristocrat, the Convict and the Missing Baby
When an aristocrat and her convict partner vanish with their newborn baby, a nationwide manhunt begins. Fears for the baby’s welfare grow - until the case finally ends in tragedy.
Through interviews with family, friends and witnesses, and exclusive research, we uncover the hidden backgrounds of this couple on the run.
July 14, 2025, midnight
S1E51 - The Sycamore Gap - From Roots to Ruin
A single sycamore tree, growing in a natural dip in the countryside along Hadrian's Wall, came to symbolise a community. When the people of Northumberland wake to discover it has been chopped down overnight, it leads to a news story that makes headlines around the world. Who destroyed the tree at Sycamore Gap and why?
July 15, 2025, midnight
S1E52 - Murdered by his Grandparents
A police investigation unravelled a horrific story of brutal abuse by those who should have cared for and nurtured him.
Oct. 3, 2025, midnight
S1E53 - The Bodies in the Suitcases
When two suitcases are abandoned by a man behaving strangely on a bridge in Bristol, the shocking contents lead police to a brutal double murder scene.
Oct. 24, 2025, midnight
S1E54 - The Killer They Called Family
A young couple, killed on an ordinary morning by a man they welcomed into their home. This is the story of young parents Chloe and Josh Bashford. How did a family friendship go so wrong?
Nov. 6, 2025, midnight
S1E55 - Bribes, Lies and the British Politician
A politician close to Nigel Farage takes bribes to make statements in support of Russia. His texts reveal pro-Russian interference reaching right to the heart of Europe’s democracy.
Nov. 21, 2025, midnight
Network: BBC News
Episode Runtime: 24 min.
Season Runtime: 1351 min.
Released: April 9, 2022
Last Air Date: Nov. 21, 2025, midnight
Status: Returning Series
Certification: NR
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