"They say that dead men tell no tales..." wrote the late American poet Haniel Long. That�s probably because he missed out on the crime-based shows on the tube. The latest to join these audio visual outlaw hunts is the Dainik Jagran-promoted Channel 7 with its show called Raaz. The programme (telecast at 8:30 pm every Wednesday), is a factual forensic show based on real-life incidents. To elaborate, it�s about how forensic science helps the police nab culprits by turning unseen clues into concrete evidence.

Forensic science-based shows are a big draw worldwide. Forensic Files (on Courtroom Television Network, more popularly known as Court TV) is the number one crime show on American television. Besides this, there are others such as Crime Scene Investigation (CBS), Autopsy (HBO), The New Detectives and The FBI Files (both on Discovery). Arcane scientific techniques also figure prominently on NBC�s Boomtown and Fox�s John Doe, while prime-time news magazines routinely present true-crime cliffhangers that hinge on forensic evidence. While these TV dramas feature fictitious characters, the techniques used to analyse evidence on these shows are real.... more