Channel 5 is leaning into its high-impact factual slate this weekend with a 90-minute special of Cause of Death, returning Sunday, May 25 at 9:00 PM GMT with a traffic collision episode built around one of the largest joint inquests in recent UK history.
Fronted by senior coroner Dr. James Adeley, the Season 3 special investigates the deaths of four pedestrians killed in separate but disturbingly similar crashes—each involving drivers with critically impaired eyesight. The episode puts Britain’s driver licensing system under the microscope, raising blunt questions about whether current protocols are “fit for purpose” or structurally broken.
The victims—Marie Cunningham and Grace Foulds in Southport, Anne Ferguson in Lancashire, and Peter Westwell, who had already surrendered his license due to sight issues—are at the centre of a case that Adeley and his team argue may be just the “tip of a national iceberg.”
The special leans heavily on forensic casework, pathologist reports, and testimony from police collision investigation units. Eyewitnesses and first responders recount the immediate aftermath of each crash, while grief-stricken families speak to a lack of oversight that allowed clearly unfit drivers to remain on the road.
Produced by ITN Productions for Channel 5, Cause of Death has carved out a niche in the crowded true-crime doc space with its procedural access, coroner-led format, and a forensic focus on public accountability. The network is betting on the extended runtime—and the timeliness of the road safety angle—to break out in a Sunday 9pm slot that’s become a home for C5’s issue-led factual programming.
