Best crime shows and detective series
From Until I Kill You to Slow Horses, dramas to keep you hooked
- Until I Kill You
- Slow Horses
- Ludwig
- A Confession
- The Jetty
- Sherwood
- Eric
- Presumed Innocent
- Baby Reindeer
- The Responder, series two
- Prisoner
- Blue Lights
- After the Flood
- The Way
- Criminal Record
- Irvine Welsh's Crime
- Top Boy
- Hijack
- Wolf
- The Nurse
- The Night Agent
- Six Four
- A Town Called Malice
- Redemption
- The Gold
- Murder in Provence
- Black Bird
Until I Kill You
This "extraordinary portrait" of Delia Balmer is rare, fearless and "values viewers' intelligence", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. The "relentlessly confrontational" drama is based on the true story of Balmer's experience surviving repeated physical and sexual assaults by her boyfriend, convicted serial killer, John Sweeney. Anna Maxwell Martin delivers "the best performance of her career" as the free-spirited, socially awkward Delia. Shaun Evans as Sweeney is equally compelling, giving an "altogether terrifying" portrayal of the killer. In some ways, "Until I Kill You" is a classic domestic violence drama, but the "magnificent treatment of a damnable, unending subject" ultimately illuminates the heartbreaking experience from a fresh angle.
Where to watch: ITVX
Slow Horses
The British spy thriller is "such a breath of fresh air in a TV landscape dotted with low-effort nonsense", said Erik Kain in Forbes. Based on Mick Herron's "Slough House" series, the "masterful" drama follows a team of dysfunctional MI5 agents, led by the iconic Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). A thriller at heart, "Slow Horses" can also be "so funny, so suspenseful and so emotionally poignant all at once". The fourth season begins with David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce), former MI5 heavyweight succumbing increasingly to dementia, while Lamb is dealing with a London bomb. The show is "swaggering and well-defined", wrote Nick Hilton in The Independent, and across-the-board stand-out performances "make this one of the best series on TV".
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Where to watch: Apple TV+
Ludwig
In this "very gentle" BBC six-parter about a puzzle creator with the pseudonym of Ludwig, David Mitchell is "as brilliantly awkward as ever", said The Guardian. He plays John, who reluctantly poses as his twin brother to find out why he has disappeared, at the request of his semi-estranged sister-in-law, Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin). Of course, "John would no more fool James' colleagues than a stuffed rabbit would", but "Mitchell being the master of social agony", the deception "plays out as excruciatingly as you could wish". Although stressed by modern life – "Buildings, offices, computers! Everyone talking at once: moving around with no structure, no purpose!" he exclaims with Mitchell's "trademark baffled fury" – he nevertheless manages to solve murders that his twin's team are working on "thanks to his talent for puzzles and a rigorously logical mind".
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
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A Confession
Based on a real 2011 police investigation, "A Confession" traces how detective superintendent Steve Fulcher (Martin Freeman) caught a serial killer, risking his reputation and career. Believing that 22-year-old Sian O'Callaghan had been abducted but was still alive, police put suspect Christopher Halliwell under surveillance. Because of the case's urgency he could be interviewed without caution, and he confessed to the murder. At the "spot where he buried her", the police team thought the case was drawing to a close, when Halliwell "uttered four haunting words: 'Do you want another?'" He admitted to murdering another young woman, Becky Godden-Edwards, eight years earlier, and took the team to her grave site. "Eager to close a cold case" and "bring peace and closure to Becky's family", Fulcher failed to "read Halliwell his rights", said Country & Town House. In court, Halliwell was found guilty of Sian's murder – but his confession to the earlier killing was thrown out, because he wasn't interviewed with a solicitor present, and so "a man who freely confessed to two murders could only be tried for one of them". Fulcher was reported to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, found guilty of gross misconduct and eventually resigned, although he didn't regret his actions.
Where to watch: ITVX
The Jetty
Cat Jones's "gripping" four-part crime thriller on BBC One follows Detective Constable Ember Manning (Jenna Coleman) as she "uncovers a web of sordid secrets" in her Lancashire hometown, said Emily Baker on the i news site. What starts off as an investigation into an arson attack on a local boathouse leads her to the cold case of a missing teenager, Amy, who vanished decades before. Coleman is the "glue that holds the series together" but it's the flashbacks to Amy's story in the 1990s that breathes life into the action.
Things "really start to heat up" when true crime podcaster Riz (Weruche Opia) turns up to make a series about the case, said Vicky Jessop in the London Evening Standard, and Manning is forced to re-evaluate her past.
"The Jetty" certainly doesn't "reinvent the crime drama", said Nick Hilton in The Independent. But it has "far more good stuff in it than your average 'defective detective' drama" and makes for "compulsive" viewing.
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Sherwood
For the second series of the story drawing on two real-life murders that took place in Nottinghamshire in 2004, the cast is joined by Robert Lindsay "as a billionaire magnate with a previous life as a sort of ultra-spy cop", said The Guardian. The focus is on "the growing ripples of violence, how revenge takes on its own momentum and eats everything in its path". As with all second series, it is "for ever destined to be compared with the first. And the problem is that, while the second series was very, very, very good, the first was perfect." James Graham's reveal at the end of series one was perfect, with "episode after episode of hints and red herrings finally followed by a flashback episode that hit like a hammer". This element "elevated Sherwood from being a great show to being a classic". That said, the second outing of "Sherwood" will still "tower above most of the competition".
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Eric
In Abi Morgan's six-part drama, the son of a brilliant puppeteer Vincent Anderson (Benedict Cumberbatch) goes missing in 1980s New York. "It's a city riddled with squalor, homelessness, racism and rampant crime," said Adam Sweeting at The Arts Desk, and Vincent's mental health is suffering. "Constantly swigging from small bottles of what might well be gin, he's intolerant, aggressive, arrogant and sexist, liable to greet the mildest of comments with a sarcastic tirade of abuse."
Vincent sets about creating a "hairy, seven-foot-tall blue monster" sketched out by nine-year-old Edgar before he disappeared. The character, named Eric, becomes Vincent's "lifeline" throughout the ordeal, "materialising with three-dimensional vividness". "Eric" is a "strange beast in more ways than one, by turns fascinating, baffling and ludicrous".
Where to watch: Netflix
Presumed Innocent
Scott Turow's 1987 legal thriller was adapted for the big screen in 1990, starring Harrison Ford as prosecutor Rusty Sabich, accused of murdering his colleague. Now it has come to Apple TV+ as an eight-part series with Jake Gyllenhaal in the leading role. Written by David E. Kelley, known for "Ally McBeal" and "Big Little Lies", the "story provides the perfect blend of mystery wrapped with legal intrigue that showcases his talents well", said Max Covill at RogerEbert.com.
Sabich's "intense desire to prove his innocence" drives the show, but viewers are left in the dark. "It only works because of Gyllenhaal's intense, caterwauling performance – in one instance, he can be the smartest guy in the room, completely unhinged in the next." His wife Barbara, played by Ruth Negga, "is given a lot of agency in this adaptation", allowing the actress to show off her "innate talents". It might not be a "compelling mystery" the whole way through, but it "makes up for it in spades with a fantastic ensemble and a captivating feud between two egotistical lawyers".
Where to watch: Apple TV+
Baby Reindeer
"Baby Reindeer" has become a phenomenon since its Netflix debut, and is now one of the streaming platform's most watched shows ever. The series focuses on bartender and aspiring comedian Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd) who inadvertently becomes the subject of stalking and obsession by Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning) after he offers her a free cup of tea out of sympathy.
The series is "darker and more disturbing" than suggested by its "trailers and marketing", said Erik Kain at Forbes. At its core, it tackles difficult issues including sexual abuse, victimhood and mental health, and its claim to be a true story has caused real-life dramas outside the series. Be warned, said Kain, "it's not an easy watch".
Where to watch: Netflix
The Responder, series two
The first series of "The Responder" gave us "five of the most riveting and harrowing hours of television there have been for many years", said Lucy Mangan at The Guardian, and the second series "feels earned by the quality of what went before and also unforced".
The series focuses on Chris Carson (Martin Freeman), a frontline urgent-response police officer who is "clearly just trying to keep his head above water" after "years in the force left him struggling with his mental health", said Wales Online. The second series picks up with Carson "heavily traumatised" by the events of series one, said writer, and former police officer, Tony Schumacher, and he's "looking to do it differently this time".
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Prisoner
In this six-part series from the Danish production company that created "The Killing" and "The Bridge", Sofie Gråbol ("The Killing") stars as a prison officer struggling to keep control.
It is "superbly shot" with "sensational performances throughout", said The Telegraph, and the only thing that might stop you from binge-watching "will be the fact that it is utterly unrelenting – but then you don't head to chokey for oranges and sunshine".
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Blue Lights
Series two of the "Belfast-set drama about police trainees" is set a year after the first. As well as "our regular 'peelers'", Jen (Hannah McClean) is retraining as a solicitor "and exploring a certain historical bombing case)", and there's an "ambitious new officer (Frank Blake)", said The Guardian.
As in the first series, they "switch on the lights and the sirens, bicker about snacks and shrug on protective clothing", and it's "business as usual (robberies, disturbances, turf battles), until it isn't". Although, "inevitably", this second season "doesn't feel quite so unexpected", it "continues to be big, brutal and vivid".
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
After the Flood
"The publicity made this one sound like a standard police procedural, with added water," said The Guardian, but it soon "gets really good". In the aftermath of a river bursting its banks, a murder mystery unfolds "sparked by the discovery of a man's body in a lift in an underground car park".
At first presumed trapped by floodwater, the post mortem revealed that he died at least three days before that. Out to investigate is Jo (Sophie Rundle), a heavily pregnant police officer who "races against the clock to solve the murder case before her baby arrives", said Radio Times. "You'll want to stick around to find out how this messy business concludes."
Where to watch: ITVX
The Way
Making his directorial debut, Michael Sheen also stars in this three-part drama, set in "his beloved hometown of Port Talbot", said the Mirror. The "dystopian drama" is the tale of a Welsh family forced to flee their small town for the English coast following civil unrest, originally broadcast "just weeks after real-life demonstrations" after Tata Steel announced its closure.
Adding to the narrative is "skilfully used" archive footage. The first episode is "different and fresh", said Mangan in The Guardian, with a "slightly dreamlike (or nightmarish) off-kilter quality" that "surely makes you sit up and take notice".
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Criminal Record
This "gripping police drama" is centred on two "warring star detectives", played by Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo, in a "twisting story" that explores institutional racism, sexism and malpractice in the Metropolitan Police force, said The Independent.
"Squaring off as adversaries", Capaldi and Jumbo are "mesmerising", said Mangan in The Guardian. "If ever there is going to be an award invented for best joint performance, make it this year, for them." The eight-parter leads us to ask "whether we should hold officers of the law, and whether they should hold themselves, to higher standards than the rest of us". This, of course, "resonates amid the onslaught of real-life headlines about police corruption and disregard for (particularly women's) rights and safety".
Where to watch: Apple TV+
Irvine Welsh's Crime
It's another "cheery tale of sex, drugs, death and madness", said Alison Rowat in The Herald, of the second series of Irvine Welsh's "Crime". Playing the lead role of DI Ray Lennox, Dougray Scott is the "best thing" in this Edinburgh-set thriller, "as he was in the first run".
Fans of "gritty storytelling" and "powerhouse performances" should turn to "Crime", said Anthony Morris on SBS. But "don't let the generic title fool you". With a story by "Trainspotting" author Welsh and with Scott in the lead, there's "more to this TV series than meets the eye".
Where to watch: ITVX
Top Boy
The final series of "Top Boy", Netflix's hit London street crime drama, has "gone down well with TV critics", said Paul Glynn on the BBC. This series picks up where the last left off: with the murder of an upstart who had been tipped to take over the drugs empire presided over by gangster Dushane (played by Ashley Walters).
Now, Dushane faces further problems with the arrival of a crew of fearsome Irish gangsters (led by Brian Gleeson and Barry Keoghan). At just six episodes, season three is a "frenetic final outing", said Morgan Jeffery at the Radio Times. The swan song is "pacy and powerful", but "leaves you wanting more".
Where to watch: Netflix
Hijack
This "intense" Apple TV+ series is set in "real time", said Alan Sepinwall at Rolling Stone, and sees Idris Elba's "ace negotiator" navigate a hijacked flight from Dubai to London. Created by George Kay ("Lupin") and Jim Field Smith ("Litvinenko"), "Hijack" is "no-frills fun", said Angie Han in The Hollywood Reporter.
Its premise is "as straightforward as its title", and were it not for, "you know, its terror-at-35,000-feet concept", the "24"-style seven-hour mini-series would be the "TV equivalent" of a classic plane read: "slick, exciting, unfussy". As it stands, it's "ideal for a lazy weekend planted firmly on the couch".
Where to watch: Apple TV+
Wolf
Based on the book by Mo Hayder, "Wolf" is easily "the most harrowing thing I've had to watch" in years, said Sean O'Grady in The Independent. The drama centres around Jack Caffery (Ukweli Roach), a young detective haunted by his brother's abduction when they were children.
As he tries to get to the bottom of what happened, he gets entangled in the kidnap and torture of a well-off family at their Welsh holiday home. "Appalling violence of an apparently motiveless kind is a leitmotif", but the series is worth sticking with – provided "you've the stomach for a fright".
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
The Nurse
If you're in the mood for a "chilling true crime drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end", then look no further than "The Nurse", said Morgan Cormack at the Radio Times.
This Danish thriller comes from the producers of another "chilling streamer hit", "The Chestnut Man". Much like "The Good Nurse" before it, the Scandi mini-series "dramatises the disturbing true story of one nurse's connection to a series of deaths at her hospital and how her crimes were brought to light", said Rebecca Cook on Digital Spy.
Where to watch: Netflix
The Night Agent
This political thriller, based on Matthew Quirk's 2012 novel, is "propulsive, slicker-than-slick fun", said Mangan in The Guardian. FBI agent Peter Sutherland (played by Gabriel Basso) saves a bunch of "ordinary joes" from a bomb on a subway train. Then he's put on desk duties in the basement of the White House, "doing admin while he waits by a helpline phone that undercover operatives can call to let the powers-that-be know they are in trouble".
Where to watch: Netflix
Six Four
"How do you create a unique police drama nowadays?" asked Charlotta Billstrom in the London Evening Standard. With the "ever-growing choice" of streaming platforms comes an "equal amount of crime shows". But this glut "isn't necessarily a bad thing", especially when the set-up is "as juicy as the one" in "Six Four". Inspired by Hideo Yokoyama's best-selling novel by the same name and set in Glasgow, it "follows a story of corruption, kidnappings and an uncompromising search for the truth". Kevin McKidd ("Grey's Anatomy") and Vinette Robinson ("Sherlock") star.
Where to watch: ITVX
A Town Called Malice
The 1980s "sound like a great time to be a criminal" – especially in the world of "A Town Called Malice", said Vicky Jessop in the London Evening Standard. The premise of the Sky Max show is that the police are "spectacularly incompetent", the outfits are "fabulous" and the music is "banging". And at the "first whiff of the law", you can "scarper off to Spain to avoid extradition entirely". This cocktail of crime thriller and family saga follows the Lords – a family of south London gangsters who've fallen to the bottom of the criminal food chain – and they're not happy about it.
Where to watch: Sky Max
Redemption
In this six-part crime drama set in Dublin, DI Colette Cunningham (played by Paula Malcomson) is determined to get to the truth when her long-estranged daughter is found dead. "Redemption" offers "all the tropes of crime drama we know and love", said Kate Rice in the London Evening Standard. While it is "by no means revolutionary", it's a "worthwhile contribution" to the much-loved genre.
Where to watch: ITVX
The Gold
BBC One's six-part crime drama "bubbles away with the vigour of a red-hot crucible", said Nick Hilton in The Independent. Its subject is the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, when a gang of thieves broke into a depot near Heathrow expecting to steal £1 million in foreign currency, but found £26 million in gold bullion instead.
The heist itself is swiftly dealt with: it's what happened next that interests writer Neil Forsyth. The thieves turn to Kenneth Noye (Jack Lowden) to fence the gold; he enlists a smelter (Tom Cullen), a crooked businessman (Sean Harris) and a dodgy solicitor (Dominic Cooper) to help. Can they outwit the law, in the form of DCI Brian Boyce (Hugh Bonneville)? "Filled with twists and turns, and a cast who veer between likeable and villainous, 'The Gold' is pure primetime fun."
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Murder in Provence
Roger Allam stars as investigative judge Antoine Verlaque, who along with his partner Marine Bonnet (Nancy Carroll), unpick the murders, mysteries, and dark underbelly of their idyllic home in the south of France.
Adapted from the Verlaque and Bonnet novels by Canadian author M.L. Longworth, the role of the judge "could almost have been created for Allam", said Sean O'Grady in The Independent. He makes this great drama "sublime". With three two-hour episodes, "Murder in Provence" is "chic, sun-dappled" and set in France, yet it is the "most English drama on TV", said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. The "beautiful backdrops" of Aix-en-Provence are "more scintillating than the pedestrian plots", but Allam is "as watchable as ever".
Where to watch: ITVX
Black Bird
The premise of "Black Bird" is so neat, it sounds like something dreamed up by scriptwriters; but in fact, it's rooted in a true story, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) "lived the high life as a drug dealer", until he was caught, and given a 10-year jail term. Then the FBI offered him a deal: if he elicited a confession from a suspected serial killer, he could walk free. Keene agreed to the challenge, and over six episodes, we find out if he pulled it off.
The Apple TV+ show weaves together two timelines: Keene's dealings with the killer, Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser); and the investigation into Hall. The most moving performance comes from Ray Liotta in his final TV role: his turn as Jimmy's "regret-filled father" is a powerful testament to his range as an actor.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
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