KILL AN EVENING WITH A THRILLER
CRIME SHOWS TO DIE FOR Line Of Duty iPLAYER
Now we’re sucking diesel! Northern Irish actor Adrian Dunbar became an unlikely hero as Superintendent Ted Hastings, the officer in charge of investigations into police corruption at AC-12. Martin Compston and Vicky McClure star as his underlings on the trail of the mysterious ‘H’. Five series
Sherlock iPLAYER/NETFLIX
Benedict Cumberbatch brings the archetypal detective up to date, with smartphones and nicotine patches instead of the classic briar pipe. Martin Freeman is his Dr Watson, and writer Mark Gatiss tries to upstage both of them as Sherlock’s prissily camp big brother, Mycroft. Four series
Killing Eve iPLAYER
An international thriller in the tradition of 1960s cult classic The Avengers packed with improbable murders and stylish superspies. Jodie Comer plays Villanelle, the Russian fugitive who kills for kicks and blows her pay-offs on designer couture. Sandra Oh is the British agent determined to stop her, and Fiona Shaw is Oh’s boss. Two series
Death In Paradise iPLAYER/NETFLIX
Ben Miller was Richard Poole, the first fish-out-of-water British detective on the Caribbean island of St Marie. He was followed by gangling Humphrey Goodman, played by Kris Marshall, who handed over to Ardal O’Hanlon. The baton has now passed to Ralf Little as DI Neville Parker. Each detective is a misfit, riddled with quirks but supremely gifted at solving quirky crimes. Nine series
Wallander iPLAYER FROM MAR 30/NETFLIX
Sir Kenneth Branagh is the veteran detective fighting rising crime in Ystad, Sweden, while trying to recover from a brutal divorce. The world isn’t how it used to be, and Wallander isn’t getting any younger. But he can’t afford to give in to despair: someone has to stop evil from taking over. Four series
The Missing/Baptiste iPLAYER FROM MAR 31
Julien Baptiste, the mournful, obsessive policeman with a limp who specialises in abduction cases, won an ardent following from two series of The Missing, which earned actor Tcheky Karyo a spin-off series set primarily in Amsterdam. But there’s so much else that is great about these shows. James Nesbitt surprised with the power of his performance as a father who loses his child in the first series of The Missing, but David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes are arguably even better in the second as the parents of a daughter who unexpectedly appears after years held captive by a monster. Three series
The Mallorca Files iPLAYER
Ready for some escapism? This is a gloriously sunny show in every sense. Julian Looman is the German policeman taking it easy on the Balearic island, until he’s assigned an uptight new British partner (Elen Rhys). They detest each other, which just makes their chemistry all the more intense. One series
Poirot/Miss Marple ITVHUB/BRITBOX
No one embodies Poirot more than David Suchet. Every one of Agatha Christie’s novels and short stories featuring the pompous little Belgian sleuth has been adapted for him. BritBox has three Miss Marples for you too — Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie. 27 series
Father Brown UKTV PLAY/BRITBOX
Mark Williams has never been better than as the portly priest from G.K. Chesterton’s 1950s detective stories. There’s a humanity to this character that’s rare in crime series — Father Brown wants to catch the killers so that he can save their souls. Seven series
Endeavour BRITBOX Inspector Morse/Lewis ITV HUB, BRITBOX
Inspector Morse came first in the 1980s and 1990s, with John Thaw as the operaloving grump, with a taste for real ale and cryptic crosswords, solving crime in Oxford. Sidekick Lewis (Kevin Whately) graduated to his own series after Morse died, and now Shaun Evans is exploring Morse’s early years in the meticulously detailed Endeavour. 25 series
Broadchurch BRITBOX
David Tennant is an embittered Scottish detective in a south coast town when a child is found dead at the foot of cliffs. Olivia Colman, in the role that made her a household name, is the detective sergeant who sees the best in everyone and pays a terrible price. The second and third series of Chris Chibnall’s thriller divided opinion, but the verdict on the first was magnificent. Three series
The Sopranos NOWTV/SKY
What a brilliant concept. A Mafia boss suffering from panic attacks goes to see a shrink, and enjoys talking about himself to the female psychiatrist so much that he stays in therapy for years. It’s not his work that’s causing the stress, it’s his family, especially his vindictive mother and smug uncle, who barely treat Tony (James Gandolfini) as an adult. And as fast as he solves one psychological problem, another arrives. It’s enough to drive a gangster crazy — whatcha gonna do? Seven series
Top Of The Lake NETFLIX
Elisabeth Moss plays traumatised policewoman Robin Griffin, returning to the rural New Zealand town where she grew up after a difficult case. She discovers that the family who used to throw their weight around when she was a teenager are still in charge — and now she’s older Robin can see layers of corruption and criminality she had only sensed before. But how can one off-duty officer bring down the local kingpin? Peter Mullan is especially menacing as the greedy, vicious gangster. In the second season, Robin returns to Australia and is paired with Gwendoline Christie to investigate a case with undercurrents of human trafficking, with a barely recognisable Nicole Kidman in a terrific cameo. Two series