The ABC News franchise 20/20, which has aired nearly every week since 1978, is getting its first international version. Disney+ has greenlit 20/20 Britain's Most Notorious Crime Investigations, a six-episode series covering some of the United Kingdom's most high-profile criminal cases. The show drops in nine days, making its debut on Disney+ in the UK and on Disney+ and Hulu in the US.
According to Deadline, the series was produced by Candle True Stories, a docs independent backed by Candle Media and run by former ABC News president James Goldston. It was co-produced with ABC News Studios and won a competitive tender to take on the project.
The six cases include Jane Andrews, former aide and dresser to the Duchess of York, who was convicted of murder. Ben Field is also featured, described as a charming young churchwarden accused of seducing older people into signing over their estates. The series also revisits Joanna Yeates, who disappeared on a cold night in Bristol and was never found. All three cases were previously adapted into successful British TV dramas.
The remaining three episodes cover Ben Needham, abducted from the Greek island of Kos in the early 1990s; Scottish serial killer Peter Tobin; and Mahek Bukhari, a TikTok influencer convicted of murdering her mother's lover and his friend in a high-speed car chase. The Needham episode will drop first, with remaining episodes releasing weekly after that.
The original 20/20 was created by Roone Arledge as a competitor to CBS's 60 Minutes and has been on the air in some form since 1978. It is currently hosted by David Muir and Deborah Roberts. In 2019 the show shifted to a two-hour format with a focus on true crime and celebrity stories. The UK had a comparable program in the BBC's Crimewatch, which was cancelled in 2017.
Disney+ EMEA has previously concentrated on premium documentary titles including Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth and Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story. The announcement signals a broader push into true crime content, a space where rivals Netflix and Prime Video have already built substantial international audiences. Disney+ has also been given an increased budget and is separately developing a scripted adaptation of Tom Hindle's novel Murder on Lake Garda.
The series is executive produced by Goldston and Alicia Kerr. Ralph Perring serves as co-executive producer. David Sloan is senior executive producer, and Eamon McNiff is executive producer for ABC News Studios. The series was commissioned by Sean Doyle, Vice President of Unscripted at Disney+ EMEA.
