Series Creator Paul Dowling Talks About the Old and the New
Up until now, seeing a new Forensic Files meant discovering one of the 406 original episodes you missed or didn’t quite remember because you were falling asleep on the tail end of an eight-hour HLN marathon.
Now wake up and hear this: HLN has produced 16 new episodes and is rolling out the first one on Feb. 23 at 10 p.m. eastern standard time.
The new shows will feature the same 30-minute whodunit format with a few minor changes like theme music with softer guitar chords. And one giant difference: the narrator.
Beloved voice-over artist Peter Thomas — one of the two most popular male narrators of the World War II generation (the other was Don LaFontaine) — left us at the age of 91 in 2016.
So HLN hired actor Bill Camp to do the off-camera narration for the remade version.
Where Peter Thomas spent his career as the narrator of shows like Nova and national TV commercials like Tang and Listerine, Bill Camp made his name as a player in tense Hollywood dramas like Joker, The Night of, and 12 Years a Slave.
After watching previews of two episodes of Forensic Files II, I’m still getting used to Camp’s more baritone, authoritative voice. Mostly, though, I was relieved to find that he sounds nothing like the My Pillow guy or the Shake Weight for Men shill.
And there’s more good news. The original Forensic Files will continue to be available to stream (YouTube, Tubi, Hulu, Amazon Prime) and watch on TV networks around the world. Series creator Paul Dowling is still signing contracts with channels that want to air classic Forensic Files a decade into the future.
Ahead of the premiere of the reboot, Dowling, who’s CEO of production company Medstar Television, answered some of my questions about both the original Forensic Files and Forensic Files II:
How did you prepare yourself emotionally for watching Forensic Files II? Sitting down to watch the first Forensic Files II episodes was actually very familiar since my righthand No. 2 Vince Sherry is on board for these episodes as senior producer, so this was no different than the originals — but without Peter Thomas.
How would Bill Camp sound?
Bill doesn’t imitate Peter. He makes the storytelling his own, and he’s very good.
What was it like to hear the slightly revised opening FF II theme music? I thought the opening music was a little fresher, brighter, but very familiar. I’m not sure viewers will notice it’s different, frankly.
How does your family feel about your starting this new chapter? Two of my three children were actually in the Forensic Files pilot in 1996 playing the children of the victim and her husband, so they’ve literally grown up with the series and lived with it all their lives.
In junior high, a parent asked my daughter if she sees much of her father. She couldn’t understand the question. She said, “I see him every day! Why do you ask?” “Oh, I thought he was in Hollywood shooting the show, and you didn’t see him much.” “Oh no,” she said. “He comes to all my sporting events, and he’s home for dinner every night.”
To them, TV is Dad’s job just like other kids’ dads have jobs. Nothing special.
But they’re happy I’m not as involved [in the show] as I used to be, and can relax a bit.
My favorite original Forensic Files episodes featured respectable-seeming people (Craig Rabinowitz, John List) no one would suspect of horrible crimes. Will we meet anyone like that on Forensic Files II? Yes, sadly, lots of new stories about killers you’d never suspect if they were your friends and neighbors. But what motivates them to commit these horrible acts? Greed, jealousy, revenge — someone who covets what another person has and takes it. Sad.
The original Forensic Files featured cases way before they caught fire in popular culture — like that of Michael Peterson. Do you think he’s guilty? I don’t know; I wasn’t there.
There’s a guy who had a secret life.
I never thought his story added up. I’ve seen people fall down stairs but never like that.
How about Darlie Routier, who Forensic Files did in 1999 and The Last Defense featured in 2018? I myself never felt she was treated fairly by the state. We did a re-creation of the defense’s case, and we almost couldn’t do it because it was so ridiculous. She was so sloppy.
The husband’s first words to police after his two boys were dead and his wife was in the hospital were, “Did you see her breasts?” And all her stab wounds [which were suspected of being self-inflicted] were around her breasts.
But what do you think Darlie Routier’s motive was? She had just had a baby, and her husband had him upstairs because he was worried Darlie would do something to the baby.
I’m sympathetic to her having depression, but she and her husband should have gotten help.♠
That’s all for this week. Next time, it’s back to the original Forensic Files with a post about killer Fred Grabbe‘s grandson.
Until then, cheers. — RR
HLN will air Forensic Files II every Sunday at 10 p.m. eastern standard time until April 12
I’m super excited for this weekend!! I’ll embrace the narration and musical changes; I’m just ready for more cases. I hope the new season is uploaded to a streaming service as well. Regarding the Q&A, I’ve always felt Darlie had PPD given she also had an 8 month old at the time but believe she is guilty. I’m not sure of the trial details but I wonder if PPD was mentioned…
Glad you’re looking forward to FFII, too! I don’t remember PPD being brought up on the FF episode…but it does seem like a factor.
Great show always loved watching, but this new narrator puts me to sleep….or makes me not want to watch….his voice is terrible!!!!!! Please find another narrator.
Gina, are you related to the Frisbies from the Cook Islands?
Postpartum psychosis is the accurate term: PPD is much commoner than psychosis. Postpartum psychosis is a mood episode with psychotic features such as paranoid thoughts, auditory hallucinations, or disorganized thinking. It occurs in one to two mothers per 1,000 who give birth, according to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Although not all women who kill their children suffer from mental illness, of course, mothers who suffer from postpartum psychosis sometimes hurt themselves or their children during a psychotic episode.
One of Routier’s difficulties is her denial of killing. Where psychosis is in issue the mother has no will positively to disclaim the act. She may not recall it but she isn’t minded to deny, or continue to deny, it, as denial reflects ordered thinking, as opposed to the disordered thinking of psychotics (albeit the psychosis can wax and wain in the individual).
I would certainly expect psychosis to’ve been considered, even if dismissed, though its potential existence doesn’t seem to have figured prominently in R’s case. Where it has been found to apply to a case, or likely to have applied, the difference its made legally ranges from none to significant – but it’s never a get-out-of-jail-free card. Here in UK it would mean the mother can only be charged with manslaughter.
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Thank you for this great article about the Forensic Files. I am looking forward to the new episodes. I love the show and podcast.
Thanks for the kind words — I’m excited about Sunday’s big reveal, too!
Question about the reruns of the original Forensoc Files: Any chance of them being updated with new information on new developments if any, say a person’s remains having been found since the episode originally aired, or a perpetrator having been released or died in prison since?
Not that I know of — as of now, that’s my job.
Sat down and saw both new episodes of FFII last night. I felt they were done very well, a few new twists with the music and credits (and of course the narrator) but other than that well told, just like the original episodes.
*SPOILER ALERT* – my favorite part came at the end of Episode 1, the epilogue included a message “In Memorium, Peter Thomas” and his birth-death dates. 🙁
I’m glad they mentioned Peter Thomas — he will always be missed. But people seem to like Bill Camp’s voice. I watched FFII with a couple friends who never really watched the original, and they liked B.C.’s narration.
I agree with your friends. I liked Bill Camp’s voice I felt it was actually better than Peter Dean, he who did some of the special hour-long episodes of the original FF.
I am simply happy to have new FF episodes to look forward to. Haven’t been so excited for a Sunday night in a long time! 🙂
One more note – Thank you RR again for the great article on your blog. I loved the interview with Paul Dowling. As always you do a great job.
Thanks so much!
Watched both episodes and thought they were great. It was very thoughtful that they remembered Peter Thomas. Best show ever both old and new!
I can’t stand the new narrator’s voice. Please find someone similar to the late narrator!!!! Forensic Files is not the same without it.
I agree – do not like Bill Camp’s voice at all, to the point I don’t watch the new episodes but never miss an old re-run no matter how many times I’ve seen them. Bill Camp almost sounds like he’s about to laugh or unveil contest rules….his voice doesn’t fit a murder who dunnit show at all.
Why did not they use Peter’s son John as a narrator? I believe he does voice overs and is very good. You can visit his website and hear some samples of his work.
I think they did knock on his door, but he wasn’t interested.
I loved the original Forensic files, what a great show. It’s a smart show as I’m sure the new one is as well. I heard a while back that they were talking about this so I’m excited to watch. My family tends to watch several hours of the first Forensic Files. It’s like you can’t divert you eyes. Crimes and murders seem to captivate us and I work in crime scene cleanup. I guess it’s the way each crime is introduced and they lay out the plot and crime scene to give you so much information that it has you playing detective along with the show. I look forward to the new series and I’m sure it will be just as interesting but more current.
I have been watching FF since inception and am still watching. I guess I will until I die, I’m 74! One night I put my 2 1/2 year old grandson in bed with me and thought he was asleep so I changed the channel. He quietly said, JiJi, are we going to watch Forensic Files? I said yes, but don’t tell your parents. He still watches. And yes, we are both normal and well educated on keeping ourselves safe with all the tips we have gotten from watching the show and and a keen sense of knowing more and more about the importance of forensics! Thank you for such a wonderful show.
Lol, Jean, I guess people of all ages can’t resist the voice of Peter Thomas plus the great guitar chords.