Sensing Murder

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Template:DMCA Template:Infobox television/Short description

Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.Page Template:Infobox television/styles.css has no content.

Script error: No such module "Infobox television".
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found.
GenreDocumentary Reality Television
Created byDavid Baldock
Directed byJohn Keir
StarringPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
Narrated byRebecca Gibney (Seasons 1-4); Amanda Billing (Seasons 5-6)
Template:Pluralize from text of originPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
  • Denmark
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes47
Production
Executive producerTemplate:Pluralize from textPhilly de Lacey
John McEwen (2006–2010)
ProducerTemplate:Pluralize from textCarolyn Harper
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time65 minutes
Production Template:Pluralize from textPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.

Ninox Television Ltd (2006–2010)

Original release
NetworkTVNZ 2
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
Template:If preview

Script error: No such module "Infobox television".Script error: No such module "Infobox television disambiguation check".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for deprecated parameters".

Sensing Murder is a television show in which three psychics are asked to act as psychic detectives to help provide evidence that might be useful in solving famous unsolved murder cases by communicating with the deceased victims.

The program format was developed in 2002 by Nordisk Film TV in Denmark,[1] and was sold to many countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Hungary, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the US. In 2004, Granada Entertainment bought the US rights.[2] The New Zealand (TVNZ 2) series first aired in 2006 and was hosted by Rebecca Gibney. On 17 January 2017, it was announced that Amanda Billing would be the host for the Australia/New Zealand version.

Format (Australia/New Zealand)

File:Sue Nicholson - Skeptics Conference 2013 2013-09-06 036 (cropped).jpg
Medium Sue Nicholson in 2013

Each episode included detailed re-enactments of the events leading up to the murder and of the murder itself. The producers stated that the psychics were given no information about the case other than a photo, which some psychics preferred to keep face-down, the idea being that the less information they had, the better their psychic abilities would function. Other psychics chose to look at the photograph.

To demonstrate their abilities, the psychics revealed their impressions of the case or person which might match details in the case file. They were then asked to provide any extra information they could. A private detective hosted the next section, in which he was asked to investigate any new leads suggested by the psychics and sometimes talk to the families of the deceased.

The show's producers claimed that, before each series, they tested 70-75 psychics and mediums in New Zealand and Australia by using a case that had already been solved. The most accurate psychics were then short-listed, from which the producers chose two or three to attempt to contact the spirits of the murder victims, to get impressions helpful to describe the victim, their circumstances of the murder, and the details of their death. The three that were most often chosen were Deb Webber (Australian), and Sue Nicholson and Kelvin Cruickshank (New Zealanders).

Producer David Baldock rejected any idea of objectively testing the psychics' abilities, although he said that if a third series of Sensing Murder was made, he might devise other tests of their alleged powers.[3]

The Australian episodes of Sensing Murder suffered numerous setbacks, including a budget overrun which threatened to bankrupt producer Rhonda Byrne.[4]

Episodes (Australia/New Zealand)

Season 1 (2006)

Script error: No such module "Episode table".

Season 2 (2007)

Script error: No such module "Episode table".

Season 3 (2008)

Script error: No such module "Episode table".

Season 4 (2010)

Script error: No such module "Episode table".

Season 5 (2017)

Script error: No such module "Episode table".

Season 6 (2018)

Script error: No such module "Episode table".

Awards and nominations

  • 2006 Qantas Media Awards
    • WINNER:Best Director, Non-Drama
    • WINNER:Best Reality Format
  • 2008 Qantas Television and Film Awards
    • WINNER:Best Format-Reality Series

Books

  • Sensing Murder (2008)
  • Walking in Light, autobiography of Kelvin Cruickshank (March 2009)

Case developments

The murder of George Engelbrecht was profiled in Season 1, the episode concluding with a shot of Engelbrecht's unmarked grave. The story generated a big public response, and the local community, monumental mason Glover Memorial, and JR Croft Funeral Directors decided to organise a tribute. On 5 July 2006, there was a public unveiling of a headstone for Engelbrecht.[5]

During the first episode of Season 2, ("Sensing Murder: Insight"), concerning Luana Williams, it was reported that,after the episode screened, Sue Nicholson received a threatening phone call from an unknown man claiming to know where Luana's missing remains were located. In the show, the psychics identified McLaren Falls as Williams' burial site. Afterwards, police received a report of a skull at the falls.[6] However, the skull was several kilometres from the site identified by the psychics, and was part of a historical burial of three people, not the remains of Williams.[6] Williams' disappearance remains unsolved.[7]

The case of Angela Blackmoore, a 23-year-old pregnant mother, was solved in 2019, with further arrests in 2023. David Hawken, Rebecca Wright-Meldrum and Jeremy Powell were all convicted. The relevant episode was "Fallen Angel".

The Australian series was filmed in 2003 and 2004, and none of the cases have since been solved. Later episodes in New Zealand generated unsubstantiated leads, although the episode that screened on TV2 on 16 October 2007 claimed to have identified the killer and the case was reopened by police.[citation needed]

Criticisms

Sensing Murder was based on a Danish television programme Fornemmelse for mord which is on record as having failed to produce any positive results.[8]

Australian police dismissed the show and said that they "only deal in factual evidence not psychic".[9]

A source within New Zealand police has said: "spiritual communications were not considered a creditable foundation for investigation".[10]

The findings of recent episodes are disputed by sceptics and police, who do not believe in psychic detection and are, in most cases, not willing to follow up investigations conducted by private investigators on behalf of the show's producers.[11]

The show was exposed on a 2007 episode of Eating Media Lunch, in a section called "Sensing Bullshit", which showed footage from the Australian TV show Caught on Hidden Camera in which Deb Webber answered questions about a presenter's fictional sister.[12] It was further satirised in the season finale, in which host Jeremy Wells humorously highlighted the fact that not a single case had been solved.[13]

Television New Zealand was criticised after the network used its Breakfast show to cross-promote the show, with vague claims about the whereabouts of missing toddler Aisling Symes.[14]

On 20 June 2012, New Zealand Police confirmed that a recent discovery of a body at a beach in Port Waikato (90 km (56 mi) from Auckland), was that of Jayne Furlong. Furlong's case had been featured during the second season of the Sensing Murder series in 2007.[15] The New Zealand Skeptics claimed that it was evidence that the TV psychics were incorrect about the location of Furlong's body, since they had claimed that it was either in the Auckland Domain or on a demolition site in Auckland.[16] Sceptics have highlighted that Sensing Murder reinforces the fact psychic powers are a myth, and that the failure of the program to solve any murders, find missing bodies, or come up with any factual evidence, is evidence of that.

References

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sensing Murder an Export Success". 17 May 2002. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Commissions - Sensing Murder Optioned For Us Market". 26 April 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sensing Murder Responds to $2 million Paranormal Challenge'". NZ Reality TV. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Decoding 'The Secret'". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 10 May 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Community Care..." www.glovermemorials.co.nz.
  6. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Tiffen, Rachel (7 February 2006). "Human skeletons found at falls". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Luana Williams". New Zealand Missing Persons. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Aftonbladet report - Sensing Murder". SWIFT Newsletter. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Crawford, Carly (26 September 2004). "Yard hunt for clues on Sarah". Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia). Retrieved 25 May 2007.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Police reject psychic advice". "Bay of Plenty Times" (NZ newspaper). Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  11. ^ Sensing Murder screened 17 October 2007
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."New Zealand Reality TV: Deb Webber Exposed on YouTube". Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  13. ^ EML Awards 2007 TV2 Series 7, Episode 9, 7 December 2007.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nippert, Matt (11 October 2009). "TV psychic row breaks out as police search for missing girl". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Police reveal mystery skeleton's identity". 20 June 2012. Stuff. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."TV psychics 'exploited' Furlong – NZ Skeptics". 3News.co.nz. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
Retrieved from "https://cosmopedia.co/index.php?title=Sensing_Murder&oldid=2257266"