There’s nothing quite like an exceptional detective drama to get stuck into, especially one that fans have called the most gripping series in years. Despite being five years since The Tower arrived on ITV, it’s stood the test of time thanks largely to Gemma Whelan’s star turn as Detective Sarah Collins, who investigates the dark side of policing – and fortunately for detective drama fans, it’s available to watch tonight.
The drama kicks off when a long-standing police officer and a teenage Libyan refugee plummet from the top of a south-east London tower block. While PC Lizzie Adama (Tahirah Sharif) and a five-year-old boy are left alive on the roof, hours later Adama vanishes. The question is, can Sarah uncover the truth behind the grisly deaths – and Adama’s disappearance?
With the detective drama available to binge now (there are three series!), here’s everything you need to know about The Tower, including the plot, cast and how to watch it.
What is The Tower about?
ITV
Based on Kate London’s Metropolitan book series, the series introduces us to Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins (Gemma Whelan), a long-serving cop in the Met who solves shocking and often complex cases. In series one, two people have fallen from the top of a tower block in south east London – a veteran beat cop and a teenage girl. Left alive on the roof are rookie police officer Lizzie Adama (Tahirah Sharif) and a five-year-old boy.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, within hours, Lizzie has disappeared, and it’s up to Sarah to lead the investigation. Not only does she have to track down Lizzie before she comes to serious harm, she must also uncover the mystery behind the grisly deaths. She has no idea what chain of events took two police officers and two children to the roof of that tower block, or why two of them died.
ITV
Two further series aired in 2023 and 2024, the first of which, The Tower II: Death Message, sees the return of our lead characters and tells two stories of violence against women, one in the past and one in the present. Series three picks up nearly two years later with Sarah being called to the brutal stabbing of a teenage boy, which brings her into conflict with a major, high-stakes undercover police operation.
Star Gemma Whelan told ITV that she knew very little about being a Detective Sergeant before she took on the role – not that you’d know it from watching the series. “I spoke to Kate London at length about it and there was a detective on set, Claire Job, we could talk to,” she said. “We also had quite a lot of extras who were ex-detectives, ex-police and ex-paramedics so they had seen it all. It was really great to nibble their minds and ask all the questions that we all want to ask about their job and what they’ve seen and how they behave.”
“For instance, I didn’t know what happens when you take a forensic suit off so we were doing something slightly wrong. One of the coppers said, ‘We wouldn’t have done that. It would have gone straight into the evidence bag.’ I learned a lot about the chain of command and the correct way to do things so items don’t get contaminated.”
Who’s in the cast of The Tower?
The cast of The Tower includes:
Gemma Whelan (Killing Eve) as DS Sarah Collins/DI Sarah CollinsTahirah Sharif (The Haunting of Bly Manor) as PC Lizzie Adama/DC Lizzie AdamaEmmett J. Scanlan (How To Get To Heaven From Belfast) as Inspector Kieran ShawJimmy Akingbola (Bel-Air) as DC Steve BradshawMichael Karim (Jekyll and Hyde) as PC Arif JoharLaurie Delaney (The A Word) as Mary ShawKarl Davies (Happy Valley) as DCI Tim Bailie/DCS Tim BailieElla Smith (Ray & Liz) as DC Elaine Lucas/DS Elaine LucasBobby Lockwood (House of Anubis) as DC Lee CouttsRobin Morrissey (Cloud Atlas) as PS Fred ThompsonIs there a trailer for The Tower?
Yes, you can watch the trailer for The Tower below.
Is The Tower any good?
ITV
Yes – if you enjoy a pacy detective drama with genuinely compelling mysteries at the heart of it, you’ll like The Tower. It’s as gripping as fans have suggested, with some even comparing it to Line of Duty, and the performances from Gemma Whelan and Tahirah Sharif in particular are fantastic.
How can I watch The Tower?
You can watch all three series of The Tower now on ITVX.
What other detective dramas can I watch now?
UKTV
If you’re a Shetland fan, you’ll enjoy Case Histories, which follows the complex character of former soldier and policeman, Jackson Brodie (Jason Isaacs) as he helps crack a range of unconventional cases. You can watch Case Histories now on U. An equally engrossing detective series is Scrublands. Investigative journalist, Martin Scarsden (Luke Arnold), finds himself in the remote, fictitious Australian town of Riversend in pursuit of a story one year after a young priest killed five parishioners – but he soon learns there’s a bigger mystery to uncover. Scrublands is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.