British Crime Shows Worth Watching

Tyson · « **on:** 19 Jul 2013, 05:05 am »

The British love their crime dramas almost as much as we do. Sometimes they get it wrong, like an butch dyke (Prime Suspect, I'm looking at you). Other times it's stodgy old doddery crime solving (Pierrot, Marple, Wire in the Blood, Waking the Dead) that is just plain boring. But sometimes they get it just right and knock it out of the park. Specifically Wallander, Sherlock, The Fall, and Luther, all are simply outstanding. And, bonus, if you are a netflix subscriber, you can stream them for free.

asliarun · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 05:21 am »

Loved watching Inspector Morse.

coverto · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 05:31 am »

"Cracker" with Robbie Coltrane from the mid-1990s was quite excellent. And don't forget the one-off Sherlock Holmes with Rupert Everett. Brilliant.

persisting1 · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 06:40 am »

I enjoyed Foyle's War. A lot more lighthearted than other shows.

Diamond Dog · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 11:36 am »

We're also big Luther fans here but thought the first season was better than the second - not enough of that psychopathic woman in season 2 ! Season Three just launched here last night. I also was a devoted Spooks watcher ( MI-5 in the US ).

D.D.

ArthurDent · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 12:06 pm »

+1 on MI-5 DD, great stuff, and probably closer to the truth of things than we know. There were a couple of older series in that vein, Sandbaggers, and Game, Set, & Match, that were excellent imo.

Inspector Morse was great, and so far Inspector Lewis has been a good followup. Have also started watching a new 'precursor' to Morse called Endeavor. Appears it is Morse in his early days on the force. Haven't seen Luther, will have to do some looking.

Found a secondary PBS channel out of Tacoma that runs all sorts of international news programs, but also the mHz network broadcast. International Mystery & Drama. While not the biggest fan of subtitles, there are some very interesting & entertaining shows from Italy, Sweden, and France. Fog & Crimes, Montalbano, and Don Mateo from Italy are all well done. For classic movie fans Terrence Hill is Don Mateo, from the classic spaghetti western 'My Name is Nobody', and a couple of others.

Wallander & Sherlock are both very well done, am looking forward to the new seasons on both. Am still catching up on Foyle's War, and will throw Zen in as a good one as well.

Great thread Tyson.

SoCalWJS · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 01:12 pm »

I liked the first season of Copper. I've set the second season to record, but haven't started yet.

It's an interesting look at early American Police in New York during the Civil War. Gritty, to say the least.

Philistine · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 01:45 pm »

I've just watched a recent Swedish series on the BBC - Arne Dahl, even though it doesn't classify as a 'British Crime Show' it's probably the most enjoyable crime show I've seen on the Beeb in years.

Devil Doc · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 01:58 pm »

I'm a big fan of Rumpole of the Bailey. "No vice is worth giving up for an extra two years on a geriatric ward." He's a hero many of us can relate to. He's fat and out of shape, drinks too much, smokes, and henpecked. He's the antithesis of the Western hero.

Doc

rooze · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 02:13 pm »

Having read all the Kurt Wallender books, I thought the TV version was a travesty.

I'm also a big fan of Prime Suspect, which is right up there with Cracker.

The Miss Marple stuff is too quaint and syrupy for my tastes.

None beat The Sweeney of course(the original), though that shone in its era and isn't so easy to watch nowadays.

Wasn't so keen on the OP's reference to Helen Mirren's character in Prime Suspect, 'course I'm a stodgy old Britt who drinks tea at 4pm every day and wears socks in bed.

doorman · « **Reply #10 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 03:05 pm »

+1 on "Cracker", also, Pascoe & Dalziel,, Inspect Linley, & the Whitechapel series, which is outstanding.
There's also "Vera" which has it's moments!
Don

Freo-1 · « **Reply #11 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 03:06 pm »

When I lived in Oz, I got hooked on "Spooks". Now that I am back state side, Netflix has available for streaming as "MI-5". Great shows, very intense.

I find the UK shows more realistic than the US counterparts. The US shows are too predicable. Not so with MI-5.

Diamond Dog · « **Reply #12 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 05:12 pm »

Quote from: Freo-1 on 19 Jul 2013, 03:06 pm

When I lived in Oz, I got hooked on "Spooks". Now that I am back state side, Netflix has available for streaming as "MI-5". Great shows, very intense.

I find the UK shows more realistic than the US counterparts. The US shows are too predicable. Not so with MI-5.

Other than perhaps The Walking Dead, I can't think of another TV show with such a ferocious appetite for killing off major characters as Spooks had. Sorry, can't bring myself to call it MI-5. Just can't...

D.D.

Tyson · « **Reply #13 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 05:49 pm »

Yep, watched all of Spooks too, great, great show except for the first 2 seasons when they didn't let them have guns. "Stop, or I will be forced to yell Stop again!" Hahahaha.

The lesson I took from the show is that you do NOT want to be a field agent for Her Majesty's Secret Service. Very short life expectancy for that job....

Chazro · « **Reply #14 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 05:51 pm »

Big fan of Luther (HUGE fan of Luther & Alice!). What sux is the length of the seasons, 1st season was only 6 episodes (but an amazing six!), the 2nd and (currently being only broadcast in England) 3rd seasons are only 4 episodes per. The show's lead, Idris Elba (Stringer Bell/the Wire) is becoming a movie star but Luther is the best work he's ever done! It feels like an HBO/SHO show. Copper's a favorite also. Netflix is yr friend!

Diamond Dog · « **Reply #15 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 10:59 pm »

Quote from: Tyson on 19 Jul 2013, 05:49 pm

Yep, watched all of Spooks too, great, great show except for the first 2 seasons when they didn't let them have guns. "Stop, or I will be forced to yell Stop again!" Hahahaha.

The lesson I took from the show is that you do NOT want to be a field agent for Her Majesty's Secret Service. Very short life expectancy for that job....

Fun Fact : The infamous "deep fryer scene" from those early "non-violent" seasons generated more outraged complaints from viewers than anything the BBC had shown before or has shown since. My wife will watch walkers getting cleaved all day long but says Spooks is too dark for her...Perhaps too much wretched treachery for her. You really want to have a shower after some episodes of Spooks...24 it ain't.

Hugh Laurie is fantastic as the head of Six. The episode where he's at a Wagner opera is priceless.

Quote from: Chazro on 19 Jul 2013, 05:51 pm

Big fan of Luther (HUGE fan of Luther & Alice!). What sux is the length of the seasons, 1st season was only 6 episodes (but an amazing six!), the 2nd and (currently being only broadcast in England) 3rd seasons are only 4 episodes per.

Summer replacement season series so not many episodes. Season Three started airing in Canada already. Retaining your membership in The Empire has it's privileges...

D.D.

Tyson · « **Reply #16 on:** 19 Jul 2013, 11:17 pm »

Ah, DD, you seem like someone worth meeting in real life. Too bad you don't live in the best city on earth. By that I mean Denver. Oh well....

jqp · « **Reply #17 on:** 21 Jul 2013, 05:27 pm »

A retired friend just took a graduate course -Sherlock Holmes in Fiction and Film. They watched some of the Sherlock series. We have been discussing crime books, shows, and movies. Interesting point he brought up is that House with Hugh Laurie is a Sherlockian drama.

blutto · « **Reply #18 on:** 21 Jul 2013, 07:39 pm »

...Wire in the Blood is very very addictive....Rebus likewise....Hamish Macbeth is totally mad.....Life on Mars is dazzlingly loopy ( as is, surprisingly, the US copy, which is highly recommended.. )....State of Play is top drawer.....White Chapel is intense...and McCallum was another fine one...and...and....The State Within.....

....and of course there are the old wonderful standards.... Frost, Morse, and of course Midsummer Murders....

....all most totally awesome....

....and a newish one presently playing on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre, Endeavour....that showing real promise...

...and have to add the up-thread comments and recommendations are bang on...Luther, Sherlock, MI 5 are all as good as it gets these days...

Cheers

persisting1 · « **Reply #19 on:** 21 Jul 2013, 07:45 pm »

Has anyone finished Jack Taylor? I've only watched the first episode.