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Obsessed w/ British Detective Shows

auntiehill

auntiehill

The Blooness
Premium Member
OK, I am posting one of those annoying "Recommend a Show" threads but I'm at a loss. I LOVE British detective shows. Maybe it's because Dad made us watch PBS every night, or maybe it's from spending time in England when I was young, but I love British TV. I think I like as much if not more than American TV. I am bonkers for a good detective show; God knows I've watched a TON. Some favorites are:

Happy Valley
Luther
Jonathan Creek
Midsomer Murders
Sherlock
Inspector Morse
Endeavour
River
Blue Murder
Wire in the Blood
Touching Evil
Death in Paradise
Broadchurch
The Last Detective
The Fall
Case Histories
Whitechapel
Grantchester
Poirot
Prime Suspect

Next on my Netflix list are Shetland and Jack Taylor. Any recommendations? I know a lot of BBC shows can now only be seen here in the US if you want to shell out even MORE (in addition to your Prime fee...gawd dammit) for Amazon 's BBC channel. If we come into some cash, I will consider getting it. I need my fix. :biggrin:

So...what should I watch next?
 
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Well...shoot. You've hit all the big ones I've seen and loved (Poirot, The Fall, Prime Suspect, Sherlock, Broadchurch, Luther) and the ones I've been meaning to watch (The Last Detective, Jonathan Creek).

The only thing that comes to mind at the moment based on your list is Miss Marple, although I've only seen one episode and that was many years ago. Likewise, I remember enjoying Foyle's War, but that was also many years ago.

Actually, scratch that. I would also suggest Law & Order: UK. While it maintains some of the staples of the American version, its British take is sufficiently engaging, at least for me. Plus, it's got a great rotating cast including Jamie Bamber, Bradley Walsh, Peter Davison, Freema Agyeman, Harriet Walter, Paterson Joseph, Ben Daniels, and Bill Paterson.

Also, you clearly love Jonathan Creek because you listed it twice. ;)
 
Ha! Oops. Better fix that.

Seen some of L&O: UK and have seen some of Marple. Haven't seen Foyle's War, except for a few snippets. Will add that to my list. Thanks!
 
I too would recommend Foyle but I think you've hit most of the highlights.

Line of Duty (which is still going) is a good one and I enjoyed Between the Lines back in the day too
 
Oh, definitely Line Of Duty. I'm not particularly fond of that sort of thing, but it's fantastic.

As I saw Death In Paradise in your list, you're obviously O.K. with the 'fluffier' stuff too. Have you considered the Father Brown series with the wonderful Mark Williams ?

Edit : and, more in the 'cop show' area than detectives, the classic 70's 'The Sweeney' might turn up a familiar face or two for you !
 
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Another one comes to mind (I haven't seen it but the family watch it), Vera. - Though that may be an issue according to wiki.
Season 1 was on netflix in the US, but it seems to be Amazon, Acorn(1-6), Britbox (1-3) or Hulu

The family also watch Marcella and Shetland. We also had The Tunnel (Based on The Bridge which is Swedish iirc)

You also mention Prime Suspect. There's a one season series of Prime Suspect 1973 too (based on the novel Tennison). I'm not sure if it is on netflix, but it hit PBS last year. I thought that was decent.

Looking up Line of Duty, it may be itunes (though it is on UK Netflix, so fingers crossed)

Strike is also returning here and that may suit you too. (That is going to Cinemax in June18 as C.B. Strike though)
 
Also, (although I've not seen that much of some of them), Ripper Street, Silent Witness, the Frost series, Rebus, Messiah and especially Cracker.
 
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If you're in the mood for something that's more about nicking stuff than murder, there's also Lovejoy.
 
I struggle with any UK cop show, even though I love the genre. I get too bogged down in over analysing practise, taking me out of the show, so when I do watch them I tend to veer towards the more ludicrous ones which force me to suspend ALL of my disbelief - a la Line of Duty, or River.

In fact my favourite UK police show of recent years has been Whitechapel because, being set in the Jack The Ripper period, it is so far removed from modern policing I can just enjoy the silliness of the plot, but also utterly revel in the character relationships. I think it is an Amazon show though.

I find myself more drawn to the US cop shows. Not the NBC type, but rather the likes of The Shield or The Wire and any detective/cop based drama on say HBO/Showtime/FX/Sundance etc that get aired over here always get a look in.

Mrs Rune on the other hand is addicted to them ALL. Our SKY planner is full of cop dramas, crime documentaries, killer behind bars shows... I have to throw on something like The Good Place just so she isn't watching endless grim shows about kidnapping and death.... err, oh...

If you are looking for more Detective/Cop dramas on Netflix have a look at this website: https://www.finder.com/netflix/genre-list

At the bottom you will see links to EVERY subgenre of show held on 'Flix including:

British Amature Detective Dramas
and
British Crime TV Dramas

It's worth flicking through all the sub-genres to see if something crops up that you may have missed. Just on my first search I saw Hinterland, which is supposed to be rather decent - and it's in Welsh Language to add a different flavour!

Hugo - looking for the next Wire
 
Relayer1 said:
Oh, definitely Line Of Duty. I'm not particularly fond of that sort of thing, but it's fantastic.

As I saw Death In Paradise in your list, you're obviously O.K. with the 'fluffier' stuff too. Have you considered the Father Brown series with the wonderful Mark Williams ?

Edit : and, more in the 'cop show' area than detectives, the classic 70's 'The Sweeney' might turn up a familiar face or two for you !
Click to expand...

Line of Duty? Will have to check around for that. Finished all of Father Brown via Netflix. I have heard lots about The Sweeney but never found it here. Must have a scrounge around.
 
^Yes, I LOVED that series.

Hugo Rune said:
.................
In fact my favourite UK police show of recent years has been Whitechapel because, being set in the Jack The Ripper period, it is so far removed from modern policing I can just enjoy the silliness of the plot, but also utterly revel in the character relationships. I think it is an Amazon show though.
..............
Click to expand...

I think you might have that a bit backward. Whitechapel , an ITV show, was set in present -day London, in the Whitechapel area. It starred Ruper Penry-Jones and Phil Davis. Ripper Street was also set in the Whitechapel neighborhood, but in the past, just after the Ripper killings-hysteria had died down. It starred Matthew Macfadyen and was available on Amazon.

I watched them both.
 
Yes you are correct. I meant Ripper Street.

I had just seen the picture for Whitechapel on Netflix and clearly got my wires crossed, given Ripper Street takes place in Whitechapel.

Hugo - long day
 
An easy mistake to make, since they are both set in the same place.


Eta..added Hinterland to my Netflix list.
 
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you've got Inspector Morse and Endeavor but have missed Lewis (or Inspector Lewis as it was called in the U.S).
 
I watched some of it but wasn't as interested. For some reason, it just didn't grab me.

I started watching it and somewhere along the line lost track of it and never went back.
 
Inspector George Gently is a good series. It's set in the 60s in the north of England starring Martin Shaw as Inspector Gently.
 
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