'Amanda Knox: The Untold Story' - a review of the Channel 5 TV show

Beware of any TV show with the title 'Untold Story'. For those who have been following the case, there was nothing new revealed in the Channel 5 show. I suppose the title draws in the viewers. One day Trading Standards will catch up with TV Executives and they will change the title to 'Amanda Knox: nothing new but quite slickly edited, go on, give it a look'.

Here's a quick summary of the case for the uninitiated. British student, Meredith Kercher, was murdered in Perugia in 2007. Her flatmate, Amanda Knox, and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were accused. Under interrogation, Knox accused a bar owner. He had an alibi. DNA and fingerprints pointed to a man called Rudy Guede. The police and prosecution decided Rudy, Amanda and Raffaele were all in on it. All three were convicted of murder. Amanda and Raffaele were released on appeal.

There was an expert in DNA and a criminologist on hand to give their views, interviews with Knox's family and reconstructions. The Channel 5 show was slickly edited. No interview clip was allowed to stay on screen for more than five seconds at a time. If Jason Bourne had jumped through a window at one point, I would not have been surprised.

I've always fancied myself as a soothsayer. And I predict that they will still be making shows about this case for years. Because that's what happens when police, the forensics team and the prosecution botch a case so badly that any view on what happened is valid.

Let's start with the forensics team. The important thing about collecting DNA is to maintain the purity of the samples. The team in Perugia made fundamental errors. They didn't change gloves or instruments between collecting different samples, which can lead to contamination of the evidence. The DNA expert was quite clear about this. He had white hair, so he must be a wise man. And I've heard this before too.

The prosecution team were as bad. They concocted a story that the murder was the result of a sex game gone wrong. As all the participants in this case are attractive, it was an appealing idea to the public imagination, and especially to some of the more salacious newspapers. There's no physical evidence to support this. It's just a rattling good yarn.

What the show touched upon, but never fully explored, is the real problem with this case - Amanda Knox herself. How do I put this? Well, to put it kindly, the girl doesn't help herself.

I can accept that her accusing of an innocent man was a result of an over-zealous lawyer-free interrogation. But her behaviour afterwards: getting steamy shopping for underwear the next day, supposedly performing gymnastics at the police station; was bizarre. Her sister called her 'quirky'. There are other names - 'insensitive', 'stupid', 'immature'.

But that doesn't mean she's a murderer. If they filled the prisons with people like this there would be more in than out.

I feel like doing a Kevin Costner impression at this point: 'Let's stick to the evidence, people.'

'Amanda Knox: The Untold Story' was settling on the idea that the court of appeal got it right until the programme makers realised that this was not a very dramatic ending for a show called 'The Untold Story'. So, to end it, they dragged back that criminologist who averred that Rudy Guede was not a lone killer. There was a third person involved. Who, what or why was left hanging. If they had more evidence, they weren't telling.

Of course the real untold story is the commercial exploitation of this story yet to come. Knox is about to become a multi-millionaire.

Fine, I say. Sue the authorities for wrongful arrest. Take them to the cleaners.

But if the money comes via the glamour and glitz of Hollywood, or a rehearsed, full make-up, soft soaped interview on a glossy network magazine show, many will consider that a 'crime' in itself, irredeemably tarnishing the memory of her friend, Meredith Kercher.