Crime drama is "riding high" on British television, said Den of Geek. Whether it's a "national curiosity about the murkier side of life" or "the fact that detective stories have a built-in dramatic structure with mystery, tension and resolution", we can't help but "eat them up". Here are some of the top crime series on TV at the moment.
The Waterfront
The Waterfront | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube
Set on the coast of North Carolina, "The Waterfront" follows the Buckley family, who head up a seafood empire – and a drug-running business on the side. Kevin Williamson, creator of the Scream movies and "Dawson's Creek" is "at the top of his game" here, said Samuel R. Murrian on Collider. This new family crime drama "echoes a lot of what's made shows like 'Yellowstone' and 'Ozark' modern sensations while retaining the DNA of what's made Williamson's output so distinct for decades". It has everything you want for a "good time": "wicked twists and unusual albeit appealing characters". Holt McCallany plays the patriarch Harlan and Maria Bello stars as his wife, Belle. "Williamson's trademark dialogue rips; it's wise and eloquent, lived-in, and often quite funny (though never jokey, thank God)." It's quite simply "one of the best and most deliriously entertaining new shows of 2025". Netflix
Adolescence
Adolescence | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube
This four-part mini series, created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, is a "chilling examination of murder and toxic masculinity", said Variety. The action follows a family whose lives unravel when 13-year-old Jamie (Owen Cooper) is accused of murdering a girl at his school. The "dark and brilliantly written" British crime drama explores the rise of the "manosphere" and its disturbing impact on young people's lives. "Gutting, raw and stunningly acted", "Adolescence" is a "nightmarish" tale that's a gripping, and important, watch. Netflix
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Booker-prize-winning novelist Marlon James' first television drama is an "impressive piece of work", said Carol Midgley in The Times. The action follows Millie-Jean Black (Tamara Lawrance), a Scotland Yard detective who leaves the Met and returns to Jamaica to work in the missing persons department. Much like a novel, each episode is narrated by a different character, adding to the show's "freshness and originality", and there's more story packed into the "first 300 seconds" than some series manage in an entire episode. Channel 4
Matthew Goode gives a "terrific lead performance" as Detective Carl Morck in "Department Q", a cold-case unit in Edinburgh working out of a "grungy" basement office, said The Hollywood Reporter. He's "adrift and unhappy" following a "botched investigation", where he was shot and his partner was partly paralysed. It's not "hugely funny" like "Slow Horses", but the dynamics are "very amusing" and the "entire cast is pretty superb". In particular, DC Rose Dickson (Leah Byrne), "whose shock of unruly ginger hair suggests nothing so much as Strawberry Shortcake as a homicide detective", gives a "lively and intelligent" performance. Based on the book series by Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen, "Dept. Q" establishes a "rich world and a group of diverse voices with ample room for growth" – and there are still "nine more Adler-Olsen novels to adapt". Netflix
The Residence
The Residence | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube
"Like a locked-room mystery, do you? How about a 132-locked-rooms mystery, with more than 150 murder suspects?" said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. "Settle in for some uber-Christie with comic knobs on". Uzo Aduba, known for her role as Crazy Eyes in "Orange is the New Black", stars in this "bonkers whodunnit" set in the White House. She plays private detective Cordelia Cupp, brought in to investigate the death of the president's chief usher during a state dinner with Australia's leaders. It's a "wild yet perfectly controlled caper", with "cartoonish cutaway visions" interrupted by Cupp's interviews with an "array of fabulously idiosyncratic characters". This "gorgeous, gleeful romp" is infused with the "spirit of uplifting generosity and joy". Netflix
Out There
Martin Clunes is "perfectly cast" in ITV's "very watchable" crime drama "Out There", said The Telegraph. He plays Nathan, a Welsh farmer whose vulnerable son Johnny is drawn into a county-lines drug-running operation. The first episode is "slow and steady", introducing us to various characters, including Eiry Thomas as a "determined local bobby", and Gerran Howell and Carly-Sophia Davies, who play the siblings responsible for "getting Johnny involved in this mess". But over the course of the series it "ramps up to great effect, turning into a thriller". ITV
This "glossy" BBC detective drama is set and filmed entirely in Bradford, said Radio Times. The action follows detective Virdee (Staz Nair) as he hunts down a killer who is targeting the city's Asian community, while struggling with his chaotic personal life. Crafted in a "meticulous manner", viewers are given an insight into each of Virdee's family members' inner worlds; it isn't easy to pack "all of that richness" into just six episodes, but the series' writer A.A. Dhand "pulls it off in spectacular style". There's "no wasted dialogue" or scenes crammed with too much information. Instead, "Virdee" delivers all the "action and twists you'd expect in a high-budget blockbuster". BBC iPlayer
This "extraordinary portrait" of Delia Balmer is rare, fearless and "values viewers' intelligence", said 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. ITVX
Hollie Clemence is the UK executive editor. She joined the team in 2011 and spent six years as news editor for the site, during which time the country had three general elections, a Brexit referendum, a Covid pandemic and a new generation of British royals. Before that, she was a reporter for IHS Jane’s Police Review, and travelled the country interviewing police chiefs, politicians and rank-and-file officers, occasionally from the back of a helicopter or police van. She has a master’s in magazine journalism from City University, London, and has written for publications and websites including TheTimes.co.uk and Police Oracle.
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