BBC One is leaning into smart surveillance with Doorbell Detectives, a new factual series fronted by Matt Allwright that launches Monday, 2 June at 2:00 PM. The five-parter opens with a look at how ordinary citizens—armed with nothing more than doorbell cameras—are playing an outsized role in neighbourhood crime-fighting.
The daytime series kicks off with Anton Sullivan, a former police inspector, walking viewers through the dos and don’ts of using smart doorbells to secure the home front. The show’s hook is simple but effective: surveillance footage shot by everyday Brits becomes the backbone of police investigations, offering up first-hand crime stories with the receipts to match.
Shot in and around an Incident Room in Manchester, Doorbell Detectives isn’t just about doorbell footage—it’s about the growing network of domestic CCTV across the UK, now installed in more than 20% of homes. That shift isn’t lost on Allwright, who guides the series with a clear eye on the tech’s impact on community policing and personal security.
Expect a mix of expert commentary and real-world anecdotes, including the premiere’s standout case: a vulnerable pensioner targeted by doorstep scammers, only to be saved when neighbours’ doorbell footage caught the suspects in the act.
With its focus on practical crime prevention and a public increasingly wired for surveillance, Doorbell Detectives slots cleanly into the daytime mix—highly watchable, lightly procedural, and tapping into a growing fascination with the digital eyes on our front steps.
