Factual entertainment channel CBS Reality, a joint venture between AMC Networks International – UK and ViacomCBS Networks International announced that it has commissioned two exclusive local original productions, Criminal Investigations in Communist Poland and Season 2 of Inspector Biskupska’s Crime Files for its Polish feed, to debut later this year.

Sam Rowden, Executive Producer for CBS Reality and VP of Content and Production at AMC Networks International UK said, “These exciting premieres represent an important milestone in the rollout of CBS Reality’s local original strategy in Poland. Building on the successes of our UK true crime original content and previous Polish originals such as DNA of Polish Crimes, Children of Sister Bernadette and the first successful season of Inspector Biskupska’s Crime Files, we continue to establish CBS Reality as the home of expert-led true crime programming.”

Criminal Investigations in Communist Poland offers a nuanced insight into the extraordinary challenges detectives of the Citizen’s Militia faced during an era dominated by censorship, corruption and nepotism, in the face of immense political pressure and public distrust. Working with extremely limited resources, often without a telephone or a camera, and relying on basic forensic techniques, these officers managed to solve some of the most complex murder cases of the Polish People’s Republic (PPR).

The 5×60 series features archive footage and interviews with renowned experts alongside police officers who personally worked on the cases presented. Among them are Jan Gołębiowski, Poland’s top profiler, Przemysław Semczuk, a journalist specialising in PPR’s history, forensic scientist Joanna Stojer – Polańska, crime writer Michał Larek and Marcin Myszka, creator of the 1 criminal podcast in Poland. Both Gołębiowski and Myszka are recurring contributors to CBS Reality original true crime productions.

The series was created by Olga Siama of Blueberry Media, whose atmospheric representation of the communist era is central to the production.

Grażyna Biskupska, who is recognised as Poland’s most formidable and respected female police officer to ever serve, resumes her role as the host of Inspector Biskupska’s Crime Files. The 5×60 series returns to CBS Reality after a successful first season which premiered in autumn 2020. Before retiring from the Polish police force in 2011 after a 21-year-long service, Biskupska supervised the largest police investigations in Warsaw. In the series she guides the viewer through carefully selected criminal cases that shook Poland by interviewing her former colleagues and visiting the scenes of the crimes, while also providing her own insight and expertise on the investigations.

Inspector Biskupska’s Crime Files was produced by ATM Grupa.