Over the last decade, forensic science has emerged as a fully-fledged pop culture phenomenon, the subject of many prime time TV programmes. Yet even as the field is portrayed as nearly infallible, the real-life science of forensics has been challenged as never before.

Stricter legal standards, combined with the advent of DNA analysis, have exposed the shaky scientific foundations of a number of forensic techniques, from bite mark comparisons to handwriting analysis. Even fingerprint examination, once thought to be infallible, has come under fire, challenged as more of an art than a science.

This episode of Naked Science takes a hard look at fire investigation and firearms analysis, two of the most venerable and vulnerable forensic disciplines, and asks whether the same methods that make such good TV also make good science, and in turn, good justice.