Forensic Files

Forensic Files
Title card, seasons 7–15
Also known as	Medical Detectives Mystery Detectives Murder Detectives Forensic Files: Digital Details Cause of Death
Created by	Paul Dowling
Starring	Various
Narrated by	Peter Thomas
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	15
No. of episodes	404 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Distributor	Trifecta Entertainment & Media
Release
Original network	TLC (1996–2000) Court TV (2000–2007) truTV (2008–2011)
Picture format	480i (SDTV) (Seasons 1–12) 1080p (HDTV) (Seasons 13–15)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	April 21, 1996 – August 14, 2016
External links
Website

Forensic Files was an American documentary-style series that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and even outbreaks of illness. The show was originally broadcast on TLC, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, distributed by FilmRise, in association with truTV Original Productions. It broadcast 404 episodes since its debut on TLC in 1996 as Medical Detectives. Reruns shown on HLN were initially retitled Mystery Detectives before settling with the main title of the show in 2014.

A version of the series was broadcast on the British Channel Five, under the name Murder Detectives.

Several episodes are also available on distributor FilmRise's YouTube channel.

The show's narrator, Peter Thomas, died in April 2016. The current shows airing on CNN have only him listed under Cast & Crew. The show first ran from 1996 to 2011 and then 4 additional episodes were created in 2016.

The series began on the TLC Network in April 1996 as Medical Detectives. Old episodes of Medical Detectives now air on TruTV under the Forensic Files label. Overseas, the show airs under these two titles, and others, on various channels in over 100 countries. It is distributed by CABLEready.

For the first four seasons under the Medical Detectives name, the format of the show was generally the same as it would be in later seasons under its "Forensic Files" name, but there were slight differences. During the opening credits and after the title display of the show, the titles of the episodes appeared and they were each displayed distinctively. For example, "The Disappearance of Helle Crafts" depicted a jigsaw puzzle coming together that displayed a picture of Helle Crafts and this picture lead into the episode (under the Forensic Files name, this picture was replaced with another), and "Raw Terror" depicted the words in big red letters against a black screen. The titles were sometimes featured in a visual representation to accommodate the subject at hand. For example, "The Southside Strangler" depicted black and white buildings coming down the screen; the buildings were displayed there in order to represent the "southside" of wherever the crime happened in and Season 2's "The Common Thread" displayed the title through a use of small "thread" strands that dangled in full-view and formed the title. The re-enactment scenes for the first couple of seasons were displayed in black and white and an eerie music score with a tunnel-like echo voice was used in order to provide a more terrifying feel to the show.