If you’ve ever felt like you’ve seen just about every detective drama going, we’ve got some news for you. Some of the best-kept-secret detective dramas are, in fact, hiding in the BBC’s rather large catalogue and we’ve done a deep-dive to bring you the very best – including one that’s as good as ITV’s Grantchester.
From a seriously underrated Anna Maxwell Martin series to one that’s still up there in the detective hall of fame more than a decade on from its release, we’re confident you’ll find something on this list that you haven’t watched yet – and more, importantly, that you’ll actually enjoy. So, remotes at the ready as these are the 7 best detective dramas to watch now on the BBC.
Hinterland
keith morris
Despite being released in 2014, Hinterland is still up there in the detective drama hall of fame. At the centre of the story is tormented detective Tom Mathias (Richard Harrington), who leaves London for Aberystwyth for a fresh start, which turns out to be quite the opposite. Before he’s even had a chance to unpack, he’s called to the scene of an attack at an isolated chalet in the sand dunes and he’s quickly drawn back into the world he thought he’d left behind. Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
In the Dark
BBC
One from the pen of Danny Brocklehurst (the genius behind Fool Me Once and Brassic), this four-part series features two very clever, very compelling stories that take place over the course of Manchester detective Helen Weeks’ (MyAnna Buring) pregnancy. We meet Helen when she discovers she’s pregnant, but before she can deal with the tricky issue of whether the child is her partner and fellow detective Paul’s (Ben Batt) or the result of an affair, she’s drawn into the most testing case of her entire career. Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
Dublin Murders
Netflix
This adaptation of Tana French’s bestselling Dublin Murder Squad novels is every bit as good as you’d hope. Set during the height of the Celtic Tiger financial boom of the millennium, our lead detectives are Rob Reilly (Killian Scott) and Cassie Maddox (Sarah Greene), who have two murder investigations on their hands that are seemingly unrelated. But we’ll soon discover that they have more in common that first anticipated – and that every tiny detail matters. Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
Rebus
BBC
Based on the bestselling books by Ian Rankin, Rebus is the sort of series you can get lost in for many hours. Set in Edinburgh, the drama reimagines John Rebus as a younger Detective Sergeant and has something of a dark edge. In series one, we see him drawn into a violent criminal conflict that turns personal when his brother Michael, a former soldier, crosses the line into criminality. Torn between protecting his brother and enforcing the law to bring Michael to justice, it ends on a major cliffhanger that fans are still waiting for answers to. Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
Granite Harbour
BBC
It’s off to Aberdeen for this one where former Royal Military Police officer Lance Corporal Davis Lindo (Romario Simpson) is a new recruit to Police Scotland. Having completed his final tour with the Royal Military Police, he dreams of being a detective at New Scotland Yard, but instead, finds himself being sent to train as a Detective Constable in the North East of Scotland and must quickly adapt to his new life, which is a world away from anything he’s known before. Fortunately, he has DCI Lara ‘Bart’ Bartlett (Hannah Donaldson) to help him along. Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
Ludwig
Colin Hutton
The first series of this brilliant comedy-mystery captivated over 9.5 million viewers and it’s easy to see why. The story introduces us to John “Ludwig” Taylor (David Mitchell), a puzzle setter who finds himself impersonating his missing police detective brother James in order to track him down. Both funny and extremely clever, the real star of the show is Anna Maxwell Martin, who plays James’s wife, Lucy Betts-Taylor, and is utterly brilliant in the role. If you enjoyed Grantchester’s cosy nature, Ludwig is just as good. Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
The Jetty
BBC
Jenna Coleman is as commanding as ever in this brilliant BBC series, which follows her character, DC Ember Manning, on a mission to uncover the link between a missing person’s cold case and a fire that destroys a house being developed into a holiday home. A brutally honest look at how women navigate a fundamentally male world, the case pushes her to her mental – and physical – limits as she works to find the links between the cold case, the arson attack and an illicit relationship between a man in his twenties and two underage girls. Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
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