Cause of Death

NARRATED BY
Amanda Burton

SHOOTING AP
Harry Lock

DV DIRECTOR
Mat Heywood

EDITORS
Enda Mullen
Danielle Jones

SERIES PRODUCER & DIRECTOR
Annaliese Edwards

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Anna Hall

Cause of Death takes the viewer inside the world of the Coroner for the first time. Any sudden, unexplained or un-natural death means the Coroner must investigate. Working alongside the Lancashire Police and Royal Preston Hospital, Senior Coroner Dr James Adeley runs a team that work from the moment a body arrives in the Mortuary through to Inquest, where the cause of death is determined.

In this hard-hitting documentary series we follow real life Coronial investigations, unfolding the mysteries, following the medical processes and police investigations in a previously closed and taboo world.

Filmed over 6 months with unprecedented access, the series follows Dr Adeley and his team as they uncover the truth behind a series of cases as they come in, speak to the next of kin, coordinate medical enquiries, post mortems and CT scans, and police investigations leading up to the inquest. We are alongside Pathologists as they perform Post Mortems, with Mortuary staff and Radiologists as they perform and analyse Post Mortem CT scans, in the Laboratory as they analyse blood samples and pills of indeterminate origin, and we are with the next of kin as they come to terms with the death of their loved one, and find out the questions they need answers to before they can grieve.

Reviews

“It is a testament to the production crew’s sensitivity that they have been given permission to film such trying circumstances” …. and “These types of programme aren’t an easy watch but do give a window into a world we would otherwise know little about”

The Sun

“It is a respectful and unsensational series, offering a window into a process that usually takes place behind closed doors.”

Anita Singh, The Daily Telegraph

“…this is a compassionate examination of the work of Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire and Darwen.”

The Sunday Times

“In a strange way, this series may help to correct people’s perspective of death.”

Carol Midgley, The Times

“A coroner’s role is a combination of medical investigator and legal official, as this absorbing three-part series reveals, taking us inside a coroner’s office for the first time.”

The Telegraph

“Viewers will see the process undertaken by the coroner’s court to piece together evidence about how a person lost their life.”

Abigail Beaney, Lancashire Telegraph

“In a ground-breaking new series, Channel 5 has been given permission to go behind the scenes for the very first time and reveal their importance in the British justice system.”

The Metro

“Channel 5 goes to work with coroners in Cause of Death”

iNews

“This fascinating news observational documentary series follows the work of the coroner, lifting the veil on the formal process that investigates sudden, unnatural, and unexplained deaths.”

The Daily Mail

“…a dark but compelling documentary series.”

The Mail on Sunday

“This documentary series following the work of a Coroner is grimly fascinating, although you may want to watch with your eyes half shut”

Daily Mirror

“If you love Silent Witness then this stark new series will be right up your street”

Inside Soap

“Fascinating and hard hitting series”

Sun TV Magazine