Reception
The show has been generally well received, although it has not been without detractors.
Michelle Nagy in her Editorial Review of the program writes: "Crime Investigation Australia presents an impressive package, using re-enactments, montages of real evidence, locations, maps, photos and real footage – not to mention leading Australian anchor Steve Liebmann, who lends weight and integrity to the series."
Similarly: "Producer Graham McNeice's Crime Investigation Australia program revisits landmark crimes that once shocked and that remain embedded in the memories of many of us. Hosted by stern, gravelly voiced Steve Liebmann, McNeice's films skilfully dramatise the stories behind these cases, though in disturbing the past he sometimes creates a sense of dismay... It's all very noir, very tabloid, and very conspiratorial. McNeice, with his just-the-facts method, unashamedly gives us criminality, violence, gritty realism, horror and psychopathology. There is no apology and no shame here, which is what makes it such riveting TV."
A recent review by David Knox explains that: "True crime television is hitting us from all corners lately. Sitting at the top of the heap, at least in Australian productions, is Crime Investigation Australia. Hosted by Steve Liebmann, it shies away from emotive, sometimes even racist, sensationalism of other players. CIA has also triggered viewers to come forth with new information – surely a measure of success for any in this genre. Hopefully, this week’s case study ... will elicit the same response."
Another review asks the question: "What is it about the true crime genre that's so addictive? A showcase of the worst elements of human nature should be repellent, yet so often it's darkly compelling... Crime Investigation Australia has all the hallmarks of a pay-TV documentary – lots of stock footage, dodgy re-enactments, eerie music and talking heads – but nevertheless tells an engaging tale."
The re-enactments featured on the show are very often gratuitously portrayed, as for example the Anita Cobby episode in which the moment of the murder is replayed over and over again.
Read more about this topic: Crime Investigation Australia (TV Series)
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)