Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "af8e394ef9bbd29a292443c386ea8d6b" );document.getElementById("ffed5a7639").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Get updates on new shows, premiere dates, new British TV lists, & more! On TV there are more British detectives than you can shake a stick at. David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Olivia Colman (Rev) star in this small-town coastal mystery about the investigation into the murder of a young local boy. From Miss Marple to The Fall - the rise and rise of women detectives… This series follows the personal and professional lives of a couple of female detectives working in Manchester, England. She's the sort of woman who just gets on with things…until her life is flipped upside down by the release of a man who may have killed her daughter. While trying to stay strong for her family, she begins her own investigation into how well she actually knew her husband. The 25 Best British TV Shows You Need to Binge This Year. What kind of Scot are you?” And that scene at the end of the first series, when Alec has to tell Ellie the child abductor was her own husband, was one of the most moving pieces of ensemble acting I have ever seen. As for the latter, women have always written great crime, but even they haven’t always given the leading role to a leading lady. There's a cast shakeup between the two seasons, but both are great. While some might argue that the mystery narratives may be somewhat derivative of the genre (as many mysteries as we watch, none of it ever gets old), the lead provides for refreshingly strong character reversal (also see 'Annika Bengtzon' (TV, 2001-12), 'New Tricks' (TV, 2003-13), & 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (2009/11), among others). Unfortunately, the one recently disappeared from streaming services, but you can get it on DVD HERE. Cagney was a working-class mom, Lacey single, gruff and ambitious, but they both knew how to kick crook butt on the street and then laugh about it together in the john (which they called “the jane"). It is not uncommon in certain circles to prefer the better foreign detectives & thriller tv shows over British & American crime tv shows. One of the best known police dramas on British TV … This 2019 mystery is set around Morecambe Bay, and it's been renewed for a second series (no word on release date yet). And if Dakota ever fancies playing a more contemporary Oxford detective, I may have just the role for her…. This daytime drama follows a coroner working alongside her one-time childhood sweetheart in a coastal town in south Devon. Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter) stars as Denise Woods in this unique crime drama set over the course of three decades. Brave, hard-edged, and unrelenting—and I’m talking about Tennison just as much as the show. Stream it HERE. Joanna Scanlon stars as DI Viv Deering in this highly colourful Manchester-based detective series. Accuracy: A team of editors takes feedback from our visitors to keep trivia as up to date and as accurate as possible. Róisín Connor, played by Victoria Smurfit. And how many 20th-century male crime writers can you think of who had a woman in the central role? In 1920s Melbourne, Phryne Fisher stands out. Husband Rupert is a novelist, and the pair live in an enormous Yorkshire mansion, occasionally venturing out to solve cases together. The series follows Frankie Drake, a Toronto woman with her own PI firm, along with her trusty partner Trudy Clarke. In that spirit, here’s a list of my favorite female detectives on British TV, both past and present. Miranda Blake (Elen Rhys) teams up with German detective Max Winter (Julian Looman) to solve crimes on the island of Mallorca. Set in Stratford-upon-Avon, this light detective series follows ex-DI Frank Hathaway and his investigating partner, former hairdresser Luella Shakespeare. Let's Go British Television! Or as Mo bitterly concludes when they fail to nail him, ‘Mans-laughter’. Jump to navigation . Police officers are notably absent from Annie Lennox’s list, and the reason may be more than what fit in the line. Her Unique Selling Point? Safe – Michael C. Hall tries on a British accent for his role in this series about a widowed surgeon whose teenage daughter goes missing. Claire Goose (Casualty) and Matt Bardock (Casualty) star. List of the latest British TV series in 2021 on tv and the best British TV series of 2020 & the 2010's. So how refreshing to find WPC Shirley Trewlove at the heart of the police team in Endeavour (though I’ve never fathomed why the supporting police characters all have names like the seven dwarves—Trewlove, Bright, Strange, Fancy….). It's time to spice up your Netflix queue with a few programs from across the pond. Lancashire is terrifyingly good as the decent, dogged and undaunted Sergeant Cawood, who has as much trauma and pain to contend with in her own life as she does on the Yorkshire streets. Stream it HERE. The series was filmed along the Dorset coast, and you can read more about Broadchurch filming locations here. Here are more than 30 of your favorites! That means we've left off some great characters like Shirley Trewlove on Endeavour or DS Barbara Havers in Inspector Lynley Mysteries. By Chanel Vargas. Helen Mirren stars as Detective Jane Tennison in this series about a woman making her way through the ranks of the police force in a time when sexism was a given. Watch it: Streaming: Netflix or Amazon | DVD. Sheridan Smith (Gavin & Stacey) stars. But if 'Downton Abbey' is all you know of British TV, you're missing out. Miss Marple – but the one from the 80s/90s with Joan Hickson. Julia Foster and John Stride starred. Lucy Lawless stars as retired detective Alexa Crowe, a woman recovering from tragedy and occasionally helping out the local police. Law enforcement has always been a heavily male-dominated profession, and back in 1985 there weren’t many women in senior roles, either in fact or in fiction. This vintage ITV series from the 1970s follows Ruper and Amy Wilde, a husband-and-wife amateur detective team. In Bletchley Circle, four former Bletchley codebreakers team up to solve vexing local crimes, despite the fact that the men in charge would rather they not. Trial & Retribution is another oldie but goodie. So here are our picks for the three best British women detectives on TV right now! The culture at Cowley station may be a lot less macho than it is in Prime Suspect, but women are still up against the same stereotypes, and the same prejudices. There’s a lot here i haven’t seen yet so thanks, i need to get busy! I can't say she's a positive role model, but DCS Elizabeth Bancroft is certainly an interesting female detective – and the show itself is immensely watchable. So, The Bletchley Circle it is. Jan 7, 2019 Courtesy. Vexed – A young male and female detective team frustrate each other with their different attitudes and complicated personal lives. Who are the greatest female detectives of all time? These 2 series I watch over and over. Both those who write to female police shows deserve to be recognized and enjoyed too. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Light the blue touch-paper and withdraw. And while we love Jim Rockford, Peter Gunn and Thomas Magnum, it's about time we recognize the authoritative women that make our "streets" safe as well. You won't find this one streaming at the moment, but you can get it on DVD HERE if you have a region-free DVD player. To keep this list from getting truly insane, we've only included those shows where one or more female detectives are the primary focus, or where a female detective gets roughly equal screen time and billing when compared to her male co-lead. Two female detectives, one motherly, the other emotionally immature, have varying levels of success applying their eccentric outlooks on life to their police cases and private lives. Of course television plays an active role in directing the female gaze vis a vis the female detective. Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) stars in this Australian thriller about a detective obsessed with catching the man who killer her partner. Has to be *that* red parka. This fun, light series is sort of like a lighter, campier Canadian version of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. It's a fun new series and with any luck, we'll be seeing more seasons. This four-part crime drama is based on two Mark Billingham novels, Time of Death and In the Dark. Prime Suspect was a game-changer for the 1990s. 10. She's blunt but effective, and heads up a female-centric team tracking down some of the worst characters in the city. I love Rosemary and Thyme, too! Jess McCabe. To help pay for that time, we frequently use affiliate links in our posts. Anyone who’s seen my own Twitter account will know I am the hugest fan of Line of Duty. Dame Helen Mirren was the star of the ITV police procedural, Prime Suspect as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison, one of the first women to take the role in the London Metropolitan Police Service. These sleuths can crack any case – and bust any punk – in their wake. That's not to say we don't enjoy some of the newer or grittier shows, but they just don't make'em like they used to. Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire. Lesley Sharp and Suranne Jones star as the titular detectives, both of whom excel at their career in spite of challenging and complicated personal lives. There was also a later series set in San Francisco, but it's a far cry from the original. It was the first TV police investigation I actually believed in—the first that got its hands really dirty. Creator Paul Abbott *did* lay the groundwork for a fourth season, though, so perhaps we'll get lucky and someone will bring it back. Detective Inspector Mared Rhys is a dedicated career police officer with a few secrets of her own. So far, we've not heard anything on a second series. With 10 seasons already available and an 11th in the works, there's no shortage of episodes to enjoy if you like her style. Stream it HERE. Her finest hour? Both middle-aged, one has been sacked from her university job, and the other has been sacked by her husband. Rosemary and Thyme, Vera, Prime Suspect, Happy Valley, Scott and Bailey. As one of her son’s friends says, after she lambasts a group of intrusive press photographers, “Your Mum’s awesome.” Her one-liners have become legendary, my own personal favourite being her retort to Alec (David Tennant), when she offers to share her take-out: “You don’t eat fish and chips? There have been dozens of different Marples over the years, but no-one does Jane like Joan. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), The 15 Best Crime and Mystery Television Series of 2020, Every Mystery Writer Knows, You Can Kill Anyone But The Dog. 50+ Spooky British TV Shows & Movies to Watch this Halloween Season. With a truly creepy criminal, a set of missed cues allows him to murder and live his double life. This article is more than 9 years old . Sadly, their talents were no longer needed or respected in the years immediately following the war, and many of those women found themselves bored and in need of a challenge. Safe to say it’s a show-stopper. By Brigid Brown | 5 years ago. This new shift on Broadchurch got us thinking about recent shows that have put female detectives back into the driving seat—series like The Killing and Wire in the Blood still heavily rely on the male counterpart, but without pushing the female detectives into the background.