Disney+ takes ABC’s 20/20 abroad with UK true-crime series
The first non-U.S. version of ABC News’ 20/20 will revisit six British crime cases for Disney+ and Hulu.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
ABC News’ long-running 20/20 brand is getting its first version made outside the United States, with Disney+ ordering a UK true-crime series, Deadline reports.
The new show, titled 20/20 Britain’s Most Notorious Crime Investigations, will examine six cases and launch next week, according to the report. In the UK it will stream on Disney+, while U.S. viewers will get it on Disney+ and Hulu.
Deadline reports that the first episode will focus on Ben Needham, the toddler who was abducted from the Greek island of Kos in the early 1990s. The remaining episodes will then arrive weekly.
Six cases under the 20/20 banner
The series will also revisit the case of Jane Andrews, a former aide and dresser to the Duchess of York who was convicted of murder, according to Deadline.
Another episode will focus on Ben Field, described in the report as a young churchwarden accused of persuading older people to sign over their estates. Deadline also names Joanna Yeates, who went missing in Bristol on a freezing night, among the cases being covered.
The other episodes will examine Scottish serial killer Peter Tobin and Mahek Bukhari, identified by Deadline as a TikTok influencer who murdered her mother’s lover and his friend during a high-speed car chase.
Several of the cases have already been adapted for television drama. Deadline cites The Lady, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies and The Sixth Commandment as scripted shows connected to the cases of Andrews, Yeates and Field.
Who is making the series
The production comes from Candle True Stories, the documentary company backed by Candle Media and led by former ABC News chief James Goldston, according to Deadline. The company won a tender for the project and is making it with ABC News Studios.
Goldston and Alicia Kerr are executive producers. Ralph Perring is co-executive producer, David Sloan is senior executive producer, and Eamon McNiff is executive producer for ABC News Studios, Deadline reports.
The Hulu original was commissioned by Sean Doyle, vice president of unscripted at Disney+ EMEA.
A U.S. news staple goes global
20/20 has been on air since 1978. Deadline notes that the ABC News magazine was created by Roone Arledge as a rival to CBS’ 60 Minutes and is currently hosted by David Muir and Deborah Roberts.
The format has covered a broad mix of stories over the decades. In 2019, according to Deadline, it moved to a two-hour structure with a stronger focus on true crime and celebrity scandals.
The UK previously had its own major crime appeal and investigation programme, the BBC’s Crimewatch, which Deadline notes was cancelled in 2017.
The commission also fits a broader push by Disney+ EMEA into unscripted programming. Deadline points to recent documentary projects including Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth, Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story and Flintoff, as well as a planned reboot of Blind Date.
Deadline reports that the new 20/20 series is part of a bigger move into true crime for Disney+, as Netflix and Prime Video continue to invest in international crime documentaries.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.