Since it was British TV that introduced the first crime show to a wider audience, it is only natural that crime dramas are a very popular and well-established genre in Great Britain. Throughout the years, they have produced some of the best crime shows that had us wondering who did it and what it would take for the protagonist to find them.
Britain gave us some iconic detectives even before television became a thing. Later, most of their stories were adapted for the silver screen. And after the development of streaming services, British shows on Netflix, including suspense and crime series, continued to conquer audiences.
One major factor that works for a good crime show is the opportunity it gives us, its viewers, to exercise our deduction skills and test our intuition. Watching the protagonist uncover the mystery is undoubtedly fun, but it is even more entertaining to guess who the perpetrator is all by yourself, even before the great detective gets there.
In the list below, you will find some of Britain’s finest shows in the genre of crime and murder mystery. Give them all a try, and see how many mysteries you can solve before the answer is revealed.
#1 Unforgotten
Unforgotten
2015 | Seasons: 4
Detective Chief Inspector Cassie Stuart and Detective Inspector Sunny Khan lead a team of detectives in London. They take up cases of murder and disappearance that have been unsolved for a long time. Even though it might not always be possible to hold the criminal accountable, DCI Stuart mentions that solving a cold case will give closure to the living, who deserve to know what happened to their loved one. Each season of Unforgotten focuses on one case, exploring not only the investigation process but also the emotional impact it leaves on everyone involved.
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#2 Broadchurch
Broadchurch
2013 | Seasons: 3
Set in a small fictional town, Broadchurch addresses the issue of child murder and how it can affect a small community. All three seasons are somewhat connected to each other. As the identity of the killer is one thing that is absolutely essential for all murder mystery TV shows if you want to keep your audience glued to the screen, the creators took this one step further and made sure none of the cast and crew would disclose the “whodunnit” before the series aired, even accidentally. Some of the actors got the big reveal only just in time to get ready for filming and not a day earlier.
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#3 Endeavour
Endeavour
2013 | Seasons: 9
When your beloved character appears in front of the audience as a middle-aged man, at some point you are going to wonder what he was like in his younger years. Starting as a spinoff of one of Britain’s most popular crime shows, Endeavour introduces its viewers to the time when Inspector Morse had just started his career in crime-solving. Soon becoming equally popular, this show works on its own as well, so you can enjoy it even if you haven’t seen the original.
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#4 Sherlock
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#5 Shetland
Shetland
2013 | Seasons: 6
Shetland started out as an adaptation of Ann Cleeves’ novels, but by season three this BBC TV show, while keeping the principal characters, had an original script, written specifically for TV. As the name suggests, the action mainly takes place in the Scottish archipelago and follows detective inspector Jimmy Perez and his team as they solve murders. Shot almost entirely on location, the series offers not only intriguing plotlines but also magnificent northern landscapes to admire.
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#6 Line Of Duty
Line of Duty
2012 | Seasons: 6
Not all crime shows deal with external perpetrators. Line of Duty tackles the issue of corruption within the police force. The more Steve Arnott and Anti-Corruption Unit 12 dig into individual cases, the more they realize how intertwined they are, going into a depth they didn’t expect. Ultimately, they come across a persona everyone refers to as H. While no one can say anything definitive about this character, even whether it is one person or a group of people, Arnott and his team know two things for a fact: H plays a key role in the activities of an organized crime group, and now they have to find him among police officers.
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#7 Luther
Luther
2010 | Seasons: 5
There is a fine line between dedication and obsession. Crossing that line may lead to unpredictable consequences. DCI John Luther experiences this firsthand, when in dealing with his grief after his wife’s murder, he is haunted by the idea of finding her killer. He forms an unlikely alliance with a brilliant criminal and psychopath, Alice Morgan, who promises to help him achieve his goal. She keeps her word, but Luther dangerously falls under her psychological influence. If you like psychological thrillers, don’t miss out on Luther.
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#8 Vera
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#9 Happy Valley
Happy Valley
2014 | Seasons: 2
Catherine Cawood loses her teenage daughter when the latter gives birth to a child she conceived after she had been raped and commits suicide. As a police sergeant, Catherine will go to any length to find the man responsible for the crime and make him pay. Dealing with her own family and performing her everyday duties, Catherine tries to address the trauma she carries. In 2015, Happy Valley was nominated and won the Best Drama Series BAFTA Award.
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#10 The Night Manager
The Night Manager
2016 | Seasons: 1
Jonathan Pine works as a night manager at a luxury hotel in Cairo and truly believes that he has put his past as a British soldier behind him. His quiet life is interrupted when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office task force comes to recruit him. This specific task force specializes in illegal arms deals, and they want Pine to go undercover into the inner circles of arms dealer Richard Roper. What follows is a tense, suspense-packed story of loyalty, principles, love, and justice. With A-listers like Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, and others, The Night Manager will surely keep you invested right until the final credit roll.
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#11 Inspector Lewis
Lewis
2008 | Seasons: 9
Some characters, initially created to support the main lead, turn out to be so compelling and universally liked by the audience that they eventually become protagonists. Lewis is a spinoff of another famous British detective series, Inspector Morse. Inspector Lewis started out as sergeant to Inspector Morse but was later promoted to the position of detective inspector – and a titular character in his own show.
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#12 Scott & Bailey
Scott & Bailey
2011 | Seasons: 5
Women in the police force are not a curious exception but a normal occurrence. That’s why it is refreshing to see a police show with two female protagonists for a change. Detectives Janet Scott and Rachel Bailey work in the Major Incident Team of the Manchester Metropolitan Police. The creators admitted that compared to their other similar works, Scott & Bailey was more gritty and real. To make sure the show portrayed the details of the life and work of a police detective with utmost accuracy, a female former detective was invited to consult on the show, not only when it came to police procedures but also the typical behavior of an officer.
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#13 Grantchester
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#14 The Fall
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#15 Hinterland
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#16 Foyle’s War
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#17 Midsomer Murders
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#18 Manhunt
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#19 DCI Banks
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#20 Wire In The Blood
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#21 Death In Paradise
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#22 Marple
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#23 Wallander
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#24 The Bletchley Circle
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#25 Silent Witness
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#26 Whitechapel
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#27 McDonald & Dodds
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#28 Annika
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#29 Murder In Provence
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#30 Waking The Dead
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#31 And Then There Were None
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#32 Dalziel And Pascoe
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#33 Safe
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#34 The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
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#35 Rebus
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#36 Peaky Blinders
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#37 White House Farm
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#38 The Stranger
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#39 Killing Eve
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#40 Life On Mars
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#41 Criminal: UK
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#42 Paranoid
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#43 Spooks
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#44 The Sweeney
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#45 Bloodlands
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#46 The Missing
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#47 Vigil
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#48 The Barking Murders
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#49 Informer
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#50 Smother
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