Family Forensics was a UK television series airing on LivingTV

LIVINGtv

Sky Living is a UK television channel owned by British Sky Broadcasting, who purchased the Living TV Group group in 2010. Originally launched as UK Living in 1993, the channel changed its name to Living TV in 1997 and then to Living in 2007. On 1 February 2011 Living changed its name to Sky Living...

 and produced by Twofour

Twofour

Twofour is a UK independent media group that was founded in 1988 by Charles Wace, a former TV news producer and brother of financier Ian Wace. It has grown to become one of the largest independent media groups in the UK, employing over 350 people internationally....

. Only one episode was shown on 16 November 2005 before the series was cancelled, though it subsequently broadcast in April and May 2006. Hosted by Jayne Middlemiss

Jayne Middlemiss

Jayne Middlemiss is a London-based British television and radio presenter, originally from Northumberland. She began presenting music television shows such as The O-Zone and Top of the Pops in the mid '90s, before presenting a variety of other television and radio shows, including on BBC 6 Music...

, the programme was a UK version of a US show where a forensics team (including a forensic profiler, a private investigator

Private investigator

A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...

 and a relationship expert) treat a house as they would a crime scene, profiling the lives and psychological make-up of the family who live there, over the course of a weekend.

Premise

The team had access to the entire house and its contents for a weekend, looking personal belongings, computer files, photos, financial records and the household rubbish. The team were given access by one member of the family, who pretended to the rest of the family that they had won a holiday to get them out of the house. The team took swabs, fingerprints and samples to piece together a picture of the entire family, and then presented them with detailed personal profiles based on their findings.Tetra scene of crime a UK supplier of crime scene equipment was contracted as a consultant and managed all aspects of the forensic investigation( Phillip Ravell )" Forensic Phil" used many new crime scene detection techniques to show viewer actual investigation methods used by real CSIs.

Production

The US version was broadcast in July 2005, and the show was been licensed for British television from Twentieth Century Fox Television. Six hour-long episodes were made. The show was Middlemiss' first presenting job since she had won Celebrity Love Island in 2005. The relationship expert was Christine Webber, and a retired policeman was another show adviser. The executive producer was Charlotte Wheeler, and the director was Sue McGregor.

Cancellation

The show was cancelled in November 2005 after one show had been broadcast when the producers discovered that their private investigator, Michael Brown, had been convicted that October of six child sex offences. Brown was in breach of his contract for not telling the producers about this, and Living TV apologised for broadcasting the one episode. Pulling the show cost Living £600,000. Brown also had a previous child sex conviction and a conviction for possessing a knuckleduster. He was jailed that December. The show was re-filmed with another team, and broadcast in April and May 2006.

Reception

The Times said that "If Kim and Aggie role-played as CSI agents, the result would be something like this nosy (and previously axed) series." The Telegraph called it "a super, slightly nasty idea". The Mail on Sunday said it was "a break from sanity" and that "They should have called the series Punish Me For My Humanity."