Channel 5 has commissioned a new documentary that goes behind the scenes of a coroner”s office, including a look at the autopsies performed during a cause-of-death investigation.

Working with the Royal Hospital Preston, Lancashire Constabulary and Lancashire County Council, Inside the Coroners is produced by Candour Productions. The 3 x 60 series follows the body from the moment it is found or brought into the mortuary to the inquest months later.

Each self-contained episode looks at a number of different stories and the families at the centre of them, with each episode following the same coroner, officers, and precinct, as they work to establish the cause of death.

Anna Hall, executive producer at Candour, said: “We are so excited to be working on this truly ground-breaking series. Packed full of drama and unfolding intrigue, these stories give an insight into a world rarely seen on television – the mortuary and the decisions taken in real time by each of the highly skilled professionals working on the ground.

“This is a new way of telling a detective story with a whole new cast of professionals – from the pathologist to the detectives to the mortuary staff to the doctors at the hospital piecing together what has happened – and of course the Coroner himself.”