From the death penalty, to laws against homosexuality, Britain's criminal justice system has undergone momentous change in the last 70 years.<br /><br />In this Timewatch guide to Crime and Punishment, presenter Gabriel Weston examines how television has played a crucial role in documenting these seismic shifts in British law and policing.<br /><br />Looking back through the Timewatch back catalogue of documentaries and a host of BBC archive rarities, Gabriel discovers how historians and filmmakers have not only chronicled these profound changes in law but also managed to shape public opinion.<br /><br />By highlighting miscarriages of justice, like that of the wrongful imprisonment of the Birmingham Six, or by shining a spotlight on other issues of corruption and damning flaws in police procedures, Gabriel finds that television actually became a powerful agent for change.
