The BBC is launching The Crime Next Door, a brand new true crime strand for BBC Sounds, with a dramatic Kirkcaldy hitman story taking centre stage.
All episodes will be made by BBC teams in the nations and regions, bringing together storytelling from communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The brand will become the new home for all local true crime podcasts including An Assassin Comes to Town, from BBC Radio Scotland, where Kaye Adams returns to Kirkcaldy, a quiet suburban town in Scotland, to find out why a hard-working family man found himself the target of a ruthless hitman who would stop at nothing. An Assassin Comes to Town is a six-part podcast which tells an incredible story of state forces, international espionage, a disintegrating nation and a hitman on the loose.
Claudia Lawrence: A Mother’s Story is another recent launch from local teams. The special series from BBC Radio York speaks to Joan, the mother of missing chef Claudia Lawrence. Over four episodes Joan opens up about her pain as it approaches 15 years since her daughter’s disappearance.
Other podcasts come from BBC teams around the UK, including BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Wales and BBC Radio Nottingham.
As with all BBC local productions, the focus is not on the crime but how it impacted on the surrounding community and told exclusively by local story tellers.
It will be available on BBC Sounds this Spring alongside other local podcast strands Assume Nothing, My Moment in History (stories of those impacted by history Expelled from Uganda), The Salisbury Poisonings, The Falklands War, The Total Sport Podcast (Seven: Rob Burrow with….), Brown Gal Can’t Swim and Love Bombed; where Vicky Pattinson meets real people who have fallen victim to double lives, mental trickery and manipulation in love.
Chris Burns, controller of local audio commissioning for the BBC said: “BBC radio teams across the nations have a unique connection with audiences; they are closest to stories and the people impacted.
“If we are covering a news story, we do so through the eyes of our audiences and where they live, not the lens of Westminster. If we are doing a story about the NHS, we need to hear from those impacted and we use those stories to hold local leaders and politicians to account. In sport we provide commentary on every local game and provide regular forums where fans can praise – and grumble.”
