20 Must-Watch British Crime Shows For Mystery And Thriller Fans

British crime TV is a must for those looking to explore mysteries that grip you and keep you on the edge of your seat with its suspense. These 20 top-tier series range from gritty realism to polished detective work, with each introducing a unique structure of storytelling.

Broadchurch

A peaceful seaside town is shattered by a tragedy. “Broadchurch” explores the ripples of a young boy’s murder through some tight-knit community secrets. This slow-burn suspense series is marked by powerful performances and emotional depth. It’s not just a whodunit but a portrait of loss.

Line Of Duty

The anti-corruption unit AC-12 unravels webs of deception within the police force in “Line of Duty.” Through interrogations and twists, the show exposes the gray lines between justice and loyalty. The answer is rarely black or white to the question: Is the system protecting us or betraying us?

Happy Valley

Trouble brews in rural Yorkshire as Sergeant Catherine Cawood confronts drug offenses and personal grief while she tackles hardened criminals. The show digs into why crime takes root in everyday places. When desperation meets duty, Catherine shows that strength can be both quiet and fierce.

Sherlock

In this slick BBC adaptation, Holmes decodes a world buzzing with smartphones and encrypted files. His bond with Watson anchors the storm as mysteries grow darker and stakes become more personal. Beneath the brilliance lies a man still discovering one mystery even he can’t quite solve.

Luther

“Luther” grips you with its dark palette and moral complexity. In this series, Detective John Luther tackles London’s most twisted lawbreakers while wrestling his own demons. Each scene builds on tension, not time. You might recognize yourself if you introspect for too long, as Luther does.

Peaky Blinders

At its core, “Peaky Blinders” is a power tale cloaked in blood and class. Here, Thomas Shelby rises through Birmingham’s criminal ranks, manipulating both politics and family. He’s dangerous and magnetic. In a world built on smoke and whisky, he controls everything except the safety of his loved ones.

Vera

“Vera” delivers classic British detective storytelling set in Northumberland’s remote villages and windswept coasts. Each episode features a standalone murder mystery led by the sharp and unflinching DCI Vera Stanhope. Her empathy, intuition, and no-nonsense approach elevate the series into a thoughtful, character-driven series.

Marcella

When the mind fractures, can the fight for justice still be fair? A detective disappears from the force, only to return with blackouts and buried secrets. “Marcella” defines chaos in layers and explores themes beyond motherhood, including both trauma and identity. As she hunts a killer, she questions her own actions.

The Fall

Strikingly quiet yet deeply disturbing, “The Fall” pits a methodical detective opposite a charismatic predator. It isn’t about the chase but about the psychology of it all. Gillian Anderson’s icy poise squares off against Jamie Dornan’s magnetic violence. Every moment pulsates, yet without any rush.

Bodyguard

David Budd is assigned to protect someone whose politics he despises. “Bodyguard” opens with this ethical tension and explodes into a tangled political thriller. Each decision feels like a detonator. It is action-heavy but thoughtful and never lets you catch your breath for long.

Grantchester

Sometimes, violence and unlawful activities happen in the most gentle of settings. In “Grantchester,” a vicar and a detective joined forces to solve cases in the 1950s in Cambridgeshire. Their friendship is tested by faith and guilt during wartime. But behind the church doors, morality is less clear-cut than it seems.

The Capture

“The Capture” starts with a disturbing piece of CCTV footage and offers a layered story about surveillance, truth, and how the media controls society. The show asks its audiences, “If images can lie, what can we trust?” It’s modern and unnerving, with brilliant timing in the age of deepfakes.

Ripper Street

Set in post-Ripper London, “Ripper Street” follows detectives confronting brutal crimes amid social unrest. As the city reels from trauma, investigators tackle corruption, reform, and personal loss. The series blends historical realism with procedural grit, highlighting how justice struggles to emerge from a shadowed Victorian past.

Karen Pirie

Not every cold case stays cold. “Karen Pirie” brings a whip-smart young detective to dig into a decades-old mystery where gender and memory intertwine with class. She challenges assumptions with curiosity, not ego. Her quiet determination proves that fresh eyes can disrupt old narratives.

Manhunt

“Manhunt” starts with a murder, followed by another. It doesn’t glorify the chase by the method. Martin Clunes plays a humble and dogged detective who builds a case from the ground up. “Manhunt” has less action but a lot more grit. You’ll see that justice here is not flashy. It is persistent.

Silent Witness

Pathologists see the story, whereas others just see the consequences. “Silent Witness” follows forensic experts as they reconstruct the lives of the deceased through their bodies. The show is procedural but deeply human. Bones speak louder than words here, and science walks hand-in-hand with empathy.

Criminal: UK

A locked-room format changes everything. Every episode of “Criminal: UK” unfolds in an interrogation room. The drama comes from the psychological exchange between the police and the suspect to see who cracks first. It is a performance-driven study of deceit and human instinct under pressure.

Whitechapel

Old murders but new crimes. “Whitechapel” channels the horror of historical killings into modern-day mysteries. As detectives mirror the past, the paranoia builds up. It blurs timelines in a way that feels eerie and urgent. The series made it obvious that yesterday’s offenses never truly die; they echo in the now.

Trigger Point

Some heroes don’t shoot. They defuse under pressure with a ticking countdown. “Trigger Point” centers on bomb squad officers racing against time in London when every second counts. The emotional toll is explosive beneath the adrenaline in the form of quiet exploration of trauma and duty.

The Responder

“The Responder” follows a beat cop spiraling through Liverpool’s underbelly, being the first on the scene, night after night. Martin Freeman’s raw performance captures his exhaustion and anger, coupled with a fleeting hope. Chaos feels intimate here because the streets are not just streets but a pressure cooker.