Unless you’ve sat in front of the telly yourself, addictively trying to figure out whodunnit before some UK character actor does, the slew of British detective dramas can seem a tad formulaic. BritBox subscribers know what’s good, though, with an enormous library of episodes all about crooked cops and charming old villages with morbid murders lurking around every corner.
Here are our 10 favourite British crime dramas that you can binge on BritBox, from the darkly comedic to the downright disturbing…
Broadchurch: Series 1-3
Watch on BritBoxNone of its consequent seasons lived up to the devastating first blow of Broadchurch, which began with the murder of an 11-year-old boy in the fictional titular Dorset town. But as long as powerhouses David Tennant and Olivia Colman are on the case, you’re at least in for some tremendous acting. The not-so-sunny coastal vistas are as beautiful as the town’s secrets are ugly.
The Fall: Seasons 1-3
Watch on BritBoxWe’ve seen Gillian Anderson as a hyper-capable investigator before: the real surprise of this dark serial killer series is Jamie Dornan, genuinely disturbing us as a murderer of young women before we saw his funny and sexy sides. Over three seasons the sickening bond between the superintendent and her suspect will keep you compelled, and happily, creator Allan Cubitt hasn’t ruled out any further instalments.
Happy Valley: Seasons 1-2
Watch on BritBoxThere’s always been a fine line (of plastic yellow tape) between comedy and horror, and this robust BBC One crime-drama has managed to draw wise, wry laughs out of horrific situations for three seasons. Sarah Lancashire stars as the most pragmatic cop on the planet, gritting her teeth as she witnesses shockingly graphic crime scenes and processes the suicide of her teen daughter.
Magpie Murders: Season 1
Watch on BritBoxA relatively young project on a streaming service full of long-running fave detective series, BritBox exclusive Magpie Murders stands out by layering its whodunnit twists and turns in both the real world and in literary fiction. Oscar nominee Lesley Manville is the sharp book editor tasked with finding the sinister overlap between the two.
Midsomer Murders: Season 22
Watch on BritBoxWho on earth would still want to live in Midsomer?! Unless you’re Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) or one of his replacements, you’ve gotta weigh the benefits of a whimsical village life against the extremely high risk of getting violently offed. Ever since 1997, the spooky theremin theme music and parochial, darkly comedic tone of the show has survived through a frankly bonkers body count.
Line of Duty: Season 1-6
Watch on BritBoxThis wildly popular cop corruption drama led to Netflix commissioning creator Jed Mercurio’s Bodyguard, as well as earning the BBC their highest viewership numbers of the 2010s. Each season only drives home why, with new and returning stars such as Thandie Newton, Lennie James, Stephen Graham and Kelly Macdonald forced into the troubling position of challenging their own system.
Luther: Season 1-5
Watch on BritBoxIt’s lovely to hear very handsome man Idris Elba’s natural accent in this alluring series: he plays an inspector in the “Serious and Serial” crime unit who can’t help but find himself possessed by the dark details of each case. Especially the murders of Ruth Wilson’s seductive killer Alice, with whom he quickly falls into a toxic cat-and-mouse codependency.
Prime Suspect: Season 1-7
Watch on BritBoxThe great Helen Mirren busts up the boys club of detective work by becoming London’s first female DCI. The Dame would leave the role in 1996, not wanting to be typecast as a bulletproof “strong female character”, but it’s pretty telling that she returned for further episodes in the mid-2000s: her character’s ongoing struggles with alcoholism, her own reproductive rights, and institutional sexism were too meaty to resist.
Shetland: Series 1-7
Watch on BritBoxOne of many “small-town-with-big-secrets” crime dramas based on a bestselling series of novels, Shetland distinguishes itself with its shaggy Scottish setting. The stories follow Daniel Henshall’s rugged DI on a new standalone mystery. The thrill lies in how those seemingly closed chapters might come back to haunt him and his fellow archipelago dwellers in later episodes.
Vera: Seasons 1-11
Watch on BritBoxTaking up the frilly mantle of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, Vera Stanhope (Brenda Blethyn) always overcomes her doddering, dishevelled persona to close in on each case’s devilish details. Each episode of the long-running, addictive drama gets around seven million viewers in the UK. Once you’ve fallen victim to Vera‘s charms (like the countless international audiences breathlessly watching the show in syndication), you’ll learn why.
