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We begin with a brief case study of a prisoner convicted on eyewitness testimony alone. This leads in to an exploration of the reliability of eyewitness testimony and what this can tell us about the nature of memory itself. Police and lay accounts are supplemented by expert analysis from Michael Eysenck, Phil Banyard and crime expert, Julie Harrower.

The programme is divided into 3 self-standing sections:

1. The Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony: A Case Study

This section begins with film of a robbery and goes on to explore students' ability to remember details of the criminal and the crime. This student-based example illustrates the lack of consistency and unreliability of most eyewitness accounts. To understand this however, we need to know more about memory itself.

2. Memory and Imagination

Using a combination of expert and lay insights, this section examines the concept of schemas, the nature of constructive memory and, using witnesses' evidence, illustrates the effect of leading questions and planting false information.

3. Improving Eyewitness Testimony?

In the final section, using police and psychological analysis, we look at three ways of trying to improve eyewitness testimony: hypnosis, police reconstructions and the cognitive interview.