Viewers will vote on criminals' fate in BBC crime day

Television viewers will be able to vote on the sentences they think should have been imposed for real-life crimes, when BBC1 devotes a whole day's programming to crime next month.

The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, has agreed to discuss viewers' concerns as part of the debate about crime in Britain.

In anotherexperiment, BBC cameras will go to the bottom of the ocean for an evening's broadcasting from one mile beneath the waves.

Lorraine Heggessey, controller of BBC1, signalled a change in direction when she announced the channel's autumn season yesterday. In an apparent move upmarket, she unveiled a series of natural history documentaries to mark Sir David Attenborough's 50th year as a broadcaster, and a number of arts programmes, perhaps to answer criticism that BBC1 had ignored the arts in recent years.

The £243m season also includes one notably curious piece of casting. Greta Scacchi will play Margaret Thatcher in a semi-comic drama about Jeffrey Archer. Damian Lewis, who recently appeared as Soames in The Forsyte Saga on ITV, will play Archer. Ms Heggessey was asked if Scacchi, whose film career includes several nude scenes, would appear naked in the drama. She replied: "You will have to wait and see."

A question mark remains over the long-term future of Angus Deayton, the presenter of Have I Got News For You, who was recently the subject of press reports about his involvement with a prostitute.

Ms Heggessey said Deayton would definitely be presenting the programme this season, adding: "His private life is his private life. He more than got his comeuppance on Have I Got News For You." But asked about the long-term prospects for Deayton, Ms Heggessey sounded less certain, saying: "In the end we will see how it goes in the future."

The series of programmes concentrating on crime will be hosted by the Crimewatch UK presenters Nick Ross and Fiona Bruce. "Cracking Crime" billed as "a detailed investigation into the true picture of crime in the UK"', will be backed up by radio and internet contributions.

One programme will feature reformed criminals showing how easy it is to break into a house. Ms Heggessey said: "I am hoping that viewers will heed the advice of the two former criminals, and help them to burglar-proof their house. The whole night will be very similar to Your NHS, allowing viewers to take part and give their views on what they think of the justice system today."

Factual series include Pyramid, which will apply to ancient Egypt the technology used in the movie Gladiator.

There will also be special programmes to mark the first anniversary of the 11 September attacks.

Dramas include adaptations of George Eliot's Daniel Deronda and Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. There will also be Omnibus programmes on Lord Byron, the novelist Patricia Cornwell and the Art Deco movement.