Yahoo News The BBC is dropping Crimewatch after 33 years
The BBC has confirmed that it will not be moving ahead with any more of Jeremy Vine and Tina Daheley's Crimewatch.
Thirty-four years after the docu-series about unsolved crimes first debuted on the Beeb, a decision has been made to scrap the primetime version of the format in favour of the daytime Crimewatch Roadshow.
A BBC spokesperson told Digital Spy: "We believe the successful Crimewatch Roadshow format in daytime is the best fit for the brand going forward and we will increase the number of episodes to make two series a year.
"We are incredibly proud of Crimewatch and the great work it has done over the years and the work Crimewatch Roadshow will continue to do, and this move will also allow us to create room for new innovative programmes in peak time on BBC One."
This surprising cancellation of the nighttime Crimewatch comes just a year after the BBC tried boosting the show's ratings with format tweaks and the hiring of Jeremy Vine as one of its new presenters.
Among the tweaks was Vine's refusal to utter predecessor Nick Ross's famous show-ending catchphrase: "Don't have nightmares, do sleep well."
"It's a funny thing where you have a catchphrase where you want to say something like it but you don't want to actually say that," he said of dropping the catchphrase last summer.
"I think that catchphrase was of its time and I think Nick Ross did an amazing 23 years and he's the defining presenter of Crimewatch, no question."
Its daytime spin-off Crimewatch Roadshow has been fronted by Rav Wilding since its premiere in 2009, with occasional One Show presenter Michelle Ackerley joining him two years ago.
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