UK & Ireland Crime Shows
by jaydk_tv | created - 10 Jan 2023 | updated - 3 weeks ago | PublicA comprehensive list of all UK & Irish crime shows I've seen, or will potentially see, typically shown on BBC, ITV and Sky.
Excluded: comedy, fantasy, spies, etc.
Also noted: Location & any actors I'm particularly interested in seeing.
See Also:
UK - Detective Knocking About
US - Detective Knocking About
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Marcella (2016–2021)
TV-MA | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Marcella Backland left the Metropolitan Police for the sake of her family, only to have her husband leave her. She returns to her job on the murder squad, investigating a case that seems disturbingly familiar to her.
Stars: Anna Friel, Ray Panthaki, Jack Doolan, Jamie Bamber
Votes: 37,250
Location: London, England & Lisburn, Northern Ireland
Featuring: Anna Friel
2. Luther (2010–2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
John Luther is a brilliant homicide detective with a knack for getting inside the minds of murderers. Unfortunately, his unconventional methods and personal demons put him at odds with his team.
Stars: Idris Elba, Dermot Crowley, Michael Smiley, Warren Brown
Votes: 154,352
Location: London, England
Featuring: Idris Elba
3. The Tunnel (2013–2018)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A prominent French politician is found dead on the border between the U.K. and France, and two agents must work together on behalf of their respective countries to find the murderer.
Stars: Stephen Dillane, Clémence Poésy, Cédric Vieira, Angel Coulby
Votes: 10,660
4. Unforgotten (2015– )
TV-MA | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
London detectives investigate crimes from the past, unravelling secrets left buried for years.
Stars: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Jordan Long, Carolina Main, Nicola Walker
Votes: 30,516
Location: London, England
Featuring: Nicola Walker
5. Hidden Assets (2021– )
TV-14 | Crime, Drama
A year on there is a new boss and old enemies. Criminal Asset Bureau's Claire Wallace finds herself at odds with CTU's Christian De Jong when CAB is drawn back to the Antwerp investigation. A familiar face returns but can she be trusted?
Stars: Simone Kirby, Wouter Hendrickx, Cathy Belton, Aaron Monaghan
Votes: 3,480
Location: Limerick, Ireland
6. Fortitude (2015–2018)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle, Fortitude is one of the safest towns on earth. There has never been a violent crime here. Until now.
Stars: Richard Dormer, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Sienna Guillory, Mia Jexen
Votes: 23,607
Location: Svalbard, Norway
Featuring: Sofie Gråbøl
7. Deceit (2021)
47 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Follows the true story of a controversial honeytrap at the heart of the 1992 police investigation into the murder of a young mother in London.
Stars: Niamh Algar, Eddie Marsan, Harry Treadaway, Rochenda Sandall
Votes: 6,462
Location: London, England
Featuring: Niamh Algar, Eddie Marsan
8. Rillington Place (2016)
TV-MA | 58 min | Crime, Drama, History
A three-part drama about serial killer John Christie and the murders at 10 Rillington Place in the 1940s and early 1950s.
Stars: Tim Roth, Nico Mirallegro, Samantha Morton, Jodie Comer
Votes: 4,235
Location: London, England
Featuring: Tim Roth, Samantha Morton, Jodie Comer
9. C.B. Strike (2017– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
War veteran turned private detective Cormoran Strike solves brutal murders with the help of his trusted partner Robin Ellacott.
Stars: Tom Burke, Holliday Grainger, Kerr Logan, Jack Greenlees
Votes: 24,677
Location: London, England
Featuring: Holliday Grainger
10. The Capture (2019– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When a British soldier is charged with a crime, the tenacious young detective handling his case begins to uncover a conspiracy.
Stars: Holliday Grainger, Ben Miles, Lia Williams, Cavan Clerkin
Votes: 22,873
Location: London, England
Featuring: Holliday Grainger
11. Traces (2019–2022)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
While attending an online forensic course, young lab assistant discovers that the fictitious case study has a link to her past. With the help of two female professors she works on bringing a killer to justice.
Stars: Laura Fraser, Michael Nardone, Jennifer Spence, Andrea Hart
Votes: 6,751
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Featuring: Laura Fraser
12. Vigil (2021– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The mysterious disappearance of a Scottish fishing trawler and a death onboard a Trident nuclear submarine bring the police into conflict with the Navy and British security services.
Stars: Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Gary Lewis, Orla Russell
Votes: 27,924
Location: Submarine & Naval Base, Scotland
Featuring: Anjli Mohindra
13. Whitechapel (2009–2013)
TV-14 | 817 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A fast-tracked inspector, a hardened detective sergeant, and an expert in historical homicides investigate modern crimes with connections to the past in the Whitechapel district of London.
Stars: Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis, Steve Pemberton, Sam Stockman
Votes: 14,798
Location: London, England
14. Ripper Street (2012–2016)
TV-MA | 59 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The streets of Whitechapel are the haunt of Detective Inspector Edmund Reid and his team of officers, who aim to maintain law and order in a place once terrorized by Jack the Ripper.
Stars: Matthew Macfadyen, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, Jerome Flynn
Votes: 22,508
Location: London, England
15. Annika (2021– )
TV-14 | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Witty, enigmatic DI Annika Strandhed heads up the Marine Homicide Unit, tasked with solving murders in and around the Scottish waters.
Stars: Nicola Walker, Jamie Sives, Katie Leung, Silvie Furneaux
Votes: 9,298
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Featuring: Nicola Walker
16. Collateral (2018)
TV-MA | 58 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Investigating the murder of a pizza delivery man, a London detective uncovers a tangled conspiracy involving drug dealers, smugglers and spies.
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Nathaniel Martello-White, Hayley Squires, Vineeta Rishi
Votes: 21,455
Location: London, England
Featuring: Nicola Walker, Carey Mulligan
17. Karen Pirie (2022– )
TV-14 | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After the promotion to Police Scotland's Historic Cases Unit, Karen Pirie reopens the cold case of a murdered barmaid. Her investigation unearths flaws in the original 1995 inquiry.
Stars: Lauren Lyle, Barrie Hunter, Ariyon Bakare, Chris Jenks
Votes: 9,434
Location: St. Andrews, Scotland
18. River (2015)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
John River is a brilliant police inspector whose genius lies side-by-side with the fragility of his mind. He is a man haunted by the murder victims whose cases he must lay to rest.
Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Nicola Walker, Adeel Akhtar, Lesley Manville
Votes: 27,248
Featuring: Nicola Walker
19. Bodyguard (2018)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Troubled war veteran turned Police Officer David Budd is assigned to the Metropolitan Police's Specialist Protection Branch.
Stars: Richard Madden, Sophie Rundle, Vincent Franklin, Ash Tandon
Votes: 147,907
Location: London, England
Featuring: Sophie Rundle, Anjli Mohindra
20. The Fall (I) (2013–2016)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A seemingly cold but very passionate policewoman goes head to head with a seemingly passionate father who is in fact a cold serial killer in this procedural out of Belfast. The only thing they share is their common complexity.
Stars: Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, John Lynch, Aisling Franciosi
Votes: 119,675
Featuring: Gillian Anderson
21. Happy Valley (2014–2023)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Yorkshire-based crime drama centering on the personal and professional life of Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood.
Stars: Sarah Lancashire, Siobhan Finneran, James Norton, Rhys Connah
Votes: 64,615
Location: Calder Valley, England
22. The Loch (2017)
Not Rated | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The search for a serial killer becomes a matter of life and death for detective Annie Redford, who is trying to cope with her first murder case.
Stars: Jim McMeekin, Laura Fraser, Siobhan Finneran, Don Gilet
Votes: 5,872
Location: Loch Ness, Scotland
Featuring: Laura Fraser
23. The Bay (2019– )
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Police in the Morecambe Bay area in Lancashire investigate missing persons and suspicious deaths.
Stars: Daniel Ryan, Erin Shanagher, Andrew Dowbiggin, Thomas Law
Votes: 11,304
Location: Morecambe bay, England
24. Shetland (2013– )
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A local police team investigate crimes within the close knit island community of Shetland.
Stars: Alison O'Donnell, Steven Robertson, Douglas Henshall, Lewis Howden
Votes: 25,890
Location: Shetland Isles, Scotland
25. Broadchurch (2013–2017)
TV-MA | 1,143 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart.
Stars: David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan
Votes: 127,312
Featuring: Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker
26. Better (2023)
59 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A corrupt police detective has a painful moral awakening and decides to put right 20 years of wrongdoing.
Stars: Leila Farzad, Andrew Buchan, Samuel Edward-Cook, Zak Ford-Williams
Votes: 2,822
27. Paranoid (2016)
TV-MA | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The murder of a female GP in a rural playground in front of numerous witnesses draws a group of detectives into an ever-darkening mystery that takes them across Europe, aided by mysterious notes sent by the "Ghost Detective".
Stars: Indira Varma, Robert Glenister, Dino Fetscher, Christiane Paul
Votes: 10,337
28. The Murders at White House Farm (2020)
TV-MA | 46 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Revolves around the true story of a fateful night in August 1985 when five members of the same family are murdered at an Essex farmhouse, and the ensuing police investigation and court case that follows.
Stars: Freddie Fox, Alexa Davies, Mark Addy, Scott Reid
Votes: 12,024
29. Little Boy Blue (2017)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, History
The true story of the 2007 murder of Rhys Jones in Liverpool. The story of the aftermath and police investigation.
Stars: Sinéad Keenan, Brían F. O'Byrne, Matthew Devlin, Stephen Graham
Votes: 5,582
Featuring: Stephen Graham
30. Dark Heart (2016–2018)
Not Rated | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
DI Will Wagstaffe and his team investigate horrifying and brutal attacks.
Stars: Tom Riley, Joseph Teague, Anjli Mohindra, Charlotte Riley
Votes: 1,716
Featuring: Anjli Mohindra
31. Scott & Bailey (2011–2016)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Detectives Janet Scott & Rachel Bailey investigate murders with Manchester Police's Major Incident Team.
Stars: Suranne Jones, Lesley Sharp, Tony Mooney, David Prosho
Votes: 11,045
32. The Tower (2021–2023)
TV-14 | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After a long-serving cop and a teenage girl fall to their deaths from a London tower block, Detective Sarah Collins investigates the dark heart of policing.
Stars: Gemma Whelan, Emmett J Scanlan, Tahirah Sharif, Jimmy Akingbola
Votes: 6,076
33. Payback (I) (2023)
TV-MA | 287 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
When her husband is attacked, a woman becomes entangled in a police operation to topple a notorious crime lord.
Stars: Morven Christie, Peter Mullan, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Derek Riddell
Votes: 3,794
34. Bodies (2023)
TV-MA | 57 min | Crime, Drama, History
Four detectives, living in different eras -1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053 - find the body of the same murder victim in Whitechapel. They soon come to realize their investigations have them central to a conspiracy spanning over 150 years.
Stars: Amaka Okafor, Kyle Soller, Shira Haas, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd
Votes: 53,735
35. Above Suspicion (2009–2012)
46 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A team of dedicated detectives investigate gruesome murders across London.
Stars: Kelly Reilly, Ciarán Hinds, Shaun Dingwall, Amanda Lawrence
Votes: 3,473
Location: London, England
Featuring: Kelly Reilly
36. The Red King (2024– )
47 min | Thriller
Character-driven mystery-thriller, combining a powerful story of a knotty police investigation with chilling, atmospheric folk-horror through the island's eerie past devotion to a pagan God called the Red King and the cult of the True Way.
Stars: Anjli Mohindra, James Bamford, Lu Corfield, Adjoa Andoh
Votes: 170
Location: ?
Featuring: Anjli Mohindra
37. The Long Shadow (2023)
TV-PG | 49 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A desperate cat and mouse hunt ensues when Yorkshire is being haunted by a serial killer.
Stars: Jack Deam, Kris Hitchen, Lee Ingleby, Michael McElhatton
Votes: 7,423
Location: Leeds, England
Featuring: Toby Jones
38. Patience (II)
Crime, Drama | Filming
Patience catalogs evidence in the Yorkshire Police records department. A brilliant self-taught criminologist with keen crime scene instincts, her talent is spotted by Metcalf, opening new worlds for the archivist.
Stars: Laura Fraser, Tom Lewis, Ella Maisy Purvis, Christian Contreras
39. Cracker (1993–1996)
TV-MA | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Dr Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald is a criminal psychologist. He is rather anti-social and obnoxious but he has a gift for solving crimes. Thus he is employed as a consultant by the Manchester Police.
Stars: Robbie Coltrane, Geraldine Somerville, Kieran O'Brien, Barbara Flynn
Votes: 7,872
Location: Manchester, England
Featuring: Robbie Coltrane
40. Hinterland (2013–2016)
TV-14 | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A noir crime drama set in Aberystwyth, Wales, where troubled DCI Tom Mathias solves murders while searching for redemption.
Stars: Richard Harrington, Mali Harries, Alex Harries, Hannah Daniel
Votes: 15,117
41. The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2001–2007)
TV-14 | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
British crime investigation series based around aristocratic, Oxford-educated Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his working-class assistant Sergeant Barbara Havers.
Stars: Nathaniel Parker, Sharon Small, Lesley Vickerage, Paul Hickey
Votes: 5,747
42. Vera (2011–2025)
TV-PG | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
With her caustic wit and singular charm, DCI Vera Stanhope leads her team as they face a series of captivating murder mysteries set against the breathtaking Northumberland landscape.
Stars: Brenda Blethyn, Jon Morrison, Riley Jones, Kenny Doughty
Votes: 20,086
43. McDonald & Dodds (2020– )
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A shy and enigmatic Detective Sergeant is partnered with a wildly ambitious Detective Chief Inspector to solve crimes in the historic city of Bath.
Stars: Jason Watkins, Tala Gouveia, Lily Sacofsky, Jack Riddiford
Votes: 7,286
44. Case Histories (2011–2013)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Former soldier and policeman Jackson Brodie becomes a private investigator.
Stars: Jason Isaacs, Amanda Abbington, Zawe Ashton, Millie Innes
Votes: 4,857
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Featuring: Jason Isaacs
Tell Your Friends