Quarter of Brits believe they could commit ‘perfect crime’

Nearly a quarter of Britons who watch TV detective dramas believe they could get away with the perfect crime because they are so clued up on the mistakes criminals make in the shows.

A study of 2,000 TV crime fans commissioned by Fox to celebrate the launch of series four of NCIS: New Orleans revealed that a quarter think they could solve a crime because of the knowledge they’ve accumulated from episodes of detective dramas.

One in five think they would know whom to befriend to remain undetected if they were to break the law, and a similar number reckon they would find the ideal location to carry out their “perfect crime” without being traced.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

“With crime dramas proving ever-popular, it is not surprising that avid fans pick up key investigative techniques, allowing them to help solve the gritty and complex cases they revel in watching,” said a spokesman for Fox. “These are the true armchair detectives.”

TV crime dramas may also be acting as a boon for police recruitment. The survey found that three in ten people have thought of changing careers to a profession which allows them to live the life of a TV show detective.

Of these, nearly half have looked into a career as a forensic scientist and 36% have debated retraining as a detective.

A quarter have contemplated a future as a criminologist, and an equal number have thought of following in the footsteps of James Bond and applying to be a spy.