The inaugural event was held on 3 October 2008 at the Grosvenor Hotel, hosted by comedian and Jonathan Creek actor Alan Davies.

[1] The ceremony was preceded by seven weeks of crime-thriller-related programming on ITV3.

A second "crime thriller season" was broadcast over six weeks on ITV3 before the awards were presented on 21 October.

The 2009 ceremony was sponsored by the high street optician chain Specsavers.

[2] The 2010 and 2011 awards ceremonies were presented by Marcus Brigstocke.