9 Best British Female Detective Shows
Gillian Anderson at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con, the same year she began starring in "The Fall," a feminist take on the British mystery genre.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons/Photoscape
Prime Suspect and Beyond
If you love crime TV genre and British shows, you know there are plenty of dedicated, strong women characters who make up part of the crime solving teams. For those who have yet to see women take the helm, here is a short list of some of the best ones to watch.
Some I have discovered on Netflix, some on PBS, and others through Amazon. In my present addiction to British style detective series, I have found the women characters to be some of the most fascinating. There is a wide range of subject matter, and the range is from gritty to humorous, but the entertainment value is always top notch.
9 Great British Female Detective Series
- Vera (2011–present)
- Prime Suspect (1991–2006)
- Broadchurch (2013–17)
- The Fall (2013–16)
- The Bletchley Circle (2012–14)
- Murder in Suburbia (2004–05)
- Happy Valley (2014–16, 2023)
- Agatha Christie's Marple (2004–13)
- Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012–15)
1. Vera (2011–present)
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Jon Morrison, David Leon, Riley Jones
Not your usual heroine, DCI Vera Stanhope is a middle aged, rather disheveled career policewoman. She is something like your mum, and plays that maternal side to get to the bottom of even the most difficult cases. It doesn't hurt at all that DS Joe Ashworth, her sergeant, is so dishy.
The show has gained an international audience, which is testimony to the staying power of a heroine who is mature, matronly, and no-nonsense holding the top billing of the competitive TV Crime drama genre.
You've got to love the British for giving us so many great women crime solvers of quite ordinary looks, and extraordinary brains. Vera has become my top favorite British detective show. There are new episodes in the present season.
2. Prime Suspect (1991–2006)
Starring: Helen Mirren, John Benfield, Tom Bell, Jack Ellis
Helen Mirren, of course, brings sex appeal and glamour to any role she plays, but this one has an edginess and grittiness that gives us the flawed hero realism of our favorite crime shows. Fighting her way up the ladder in a predominately male dominated time and career has left its marks, but her intelligence and focus gives this character a believable persona.
Helen Mirren as Detective Superintendant Jane Tennison is believable. You know she has paid her dues and has the ability to win her place in the macho world of crime and detectives. I think Prime Suspect is one of my all time top picks for great TV, especially in this genre.
Prime Suspect: Tennison
For those of us who became fans of the gritty portrayal of Jane Tennison, Prime Suspect: Tennison held a lot of promise during its six-episode run in the spring of 2017. The show was a prequel, telling us the back story of how the Mirren character became a strong leader, with Stefanie Martini playing the title role.
It was interesting as a longtime fan of Prime Suspect, but it lacked the spirit of the original. While the series did a great job reenacting the time period, the characters, including Jane, fail to connect with either each other or the viewer.
3. Broadchurch (2013–17)
Starring: David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan
You might be drawn, as I was at first, to watching a show with your favorite Dr. Who in the starring role, but this is a dark show with the focus on the development of Detective Sgt. Ellie Miller. At first passed over in what might have been her investigation, she grows into the driving force in finding the perpetrator of a child's murder.
Not just the impact on the family, but upon an entire community is dramatically portrayed with spot-on acting and filming. The transformation of individuals, families, and town is sometimes grueling and gruesome, and sometimes redemptive and strong. It makes for a compelling story with many threads and entanglements.
This remote Dorset resort town may not have provided much opportunity for crime work, but Miller evolves as a person and as a detective within her tight knit community. The interaction between her and Detective Inspector Alec Hardy grows into a balanced respect and admiration, but not without its turns and pitfalls, all the while trying to find the truth about a most perplexing murder.
With two seasons of Broadchurch, one wishes for more Sgt. Ellie Miller and D.I. Alec Hardy crime solving exploits.
4. The Fall (2013–16)
Starring: Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, Bronagh Waugh, John Lynch
Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson is a long way from Dana Scully. Tough and brittle in manner, she is drawn in clearly feminist terms. In fact, the show was named "The Most Feminist Show on Television" by Amy Sullivan of Time magazine.
With a truly creepy criminal, a set of missed cues allows him to murder and live his double life. All the while the police are trying to get their act together. Eventually Gibson gets her investigation team and plan together to close in.
Fraught with tension of harrowing scenes and missed opportunities, eventually Stella gets her man. She is not the most likable, but she is definitely effective. Be forewarned that there is plenty of "language" and sex in this show.
5. The Bletchley Circle (2012–14)
Starring: Rachael Stirling, Julie Graham, Sophie Rundle, Anna Maxwell Martin
Women of different temperaments who proved to be a formidable team of decoders, later are reunited in an amateur group who use their skills in detective work. The backstory of their feelings of meaning and usefulness while working in the war effort, and their search for its replacement in their post war lives gives an added layer of plot to their efforts to catch a killer.
The story hinges strongly on the personalities and interactions of women who find strength in themselves and in each other. The struggles of women who have tasted meaningful work and are then expected to sublimate their talents and dreams into the lives of men. More a celebration of the individual women than the blatant feminist moralism that it might sound like, interest ranges from their codebreaking days to the good detective story at its heart.
I liked the period feeling that is carried throughout with costume, manner, and the general color palette. Surprising how using certain color, and filming technique instantly transports us into a time period. The women of Bletchley took on new challenges and put their talents together in San Francisco in a new series.
I am sorry to report I didn't like it near as well as the original, but if you are fans of the first series you might overlook the comparison and enjoy this new version.
6. Murder in Suburbia (2004–05)
Starring: Caroline Catz, Lisa Faulkner, Jeremy Sheffield, Glen Davies
I always like actress Caroline Catz, who plays one of the leads, Inspector Kate Ashurst. In this one she plays the posh side of a customary formula of police partners from contrasting class backgrounds. Her partner Scribbins is working-class and saucy.
Interesting and fast moving, the criticism I would give this series is the lead actresses are a bit too frivolous and light hearted while going about their crime solving duties. It gives a feeling of smugness to the show.
But this is one of those detective series that doesn't take itself very seriously, the very opposite of one like Prime Suspect. I'd compare it to Midsomer Murders, but more modern and urban. Lots of humor and a sense of fun are the earmarks of this set of mysteries.
7. Happy Valley (2014–16, 2023)
Starring: Sarah Lancashire, Siobhan Finneran, Shane Zaza, Charlie Murphy
Happy Valley is anything but, of course. This gritty police drama centers around policewoman Catherine Cawood as she seeks justice for her daughter, tries to pull her family together and struggles as a grandmother who must now raise her grandson.
Tough, and sometimes misunderstood, she garners respect and bulldogs it through some harrowing experiences. All the characters grab the imagination and attention of the viewer, Even Cawood's sister, who is sometimes on and sometimes off her latest rehab is a fully fleshed out profile of a woman with both strengths and weaknesses.
The streets of the town which has seen better days, the inside workings of those whose job is to keep those streets safe, and the heartache of a strong woman who sometimes finds "keeping it together" a challenge gives this series its hook. I give this show top rating for those who love crime shows.
2023 Revival
A third and final season of Happy Valley aired in 2023, seven years after the conclusion of the second series. The six new episodes show Sergeant Cawood preparing for retirement while trying to have a relationship with her now-16-year-old grandson, Ryan.
According to the show's executive producer, Will Johnston, "It definitely isn't coming back—and again this is from Sally (Wainwright, the show's creator) and Sarah (Lancashire) who completely and rightly feel that you can have too much of a good thing."
8. Agatha Christie's Marple (2004–13)
Starring: Geraldine McEwan, Julia McKenzie, Stephen Churchett, Greg Bennett
In this incarnation of the Marple Character, Geraldine McEwan plays a very chatty, spry Miss Marple. She is elderly, but with quite a bit of energy and lively curiosity. Agatha Christie was such a marvelous crafter of story that even though we know how the plot turns out, the power of the story and the beloved protagonists ensure great programs. We want to see the interplay of the characters and the display of human psychology.
It is fun to see what different actresses have done with the stories, whether the more frail Hickson or this redoubtable rendition of why it is never a good idea to underestimate old ladies! If you are not familiar with the Agatha Christie stories or if you have not yet seen any of the televised series, it is time to become acquainted with them, starting with this series.
9. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012–15)
Starring: Essie Davis, Nathan Page, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Ashleigh Cummings
From the Roaring Twenties comes a humorous, slightly risqué, leading lady. Miss Phryne Fisher hails from Australia; she isn't British, per se, but close enough. Maybe that explains her crossover from humble beginnings to lady of wealth and leisure who has plenty of time to investigate all these mysteries while dressed to the nines!
Phryne has her own private detective career, and exemplifies the free wheeling "modern girl", without the American speakeasies or mobsters that we often equate with those times. That makes her character represent today's women, but allows her to retain some sense of unspoiled playfulness. Which is a part of the fiction, perhaps.
These are light, breezy episodes for the most part, although they occasionally touch on serious social issues. There is a certain amount of sexual tension between Fisher and her main contact in the police department, DI Jack Robinson. He is obviously smitten with her. Any sex in the show is alluded to, not portrayed.
Miss Fisher is a new take on TV's rendition of female detectives, although those who love mystery fiction recognize these as grownup Nancy Drew stories, I think. Always a fun adventure in sleuthing with a bit of danger thrown in.
Related Reading
- 5 Great English Detective Shows
Here is a list of five of the very best British detective TV series, including "Inspector Morse" and "Vera." - Top 12 Bewitching Shows Like "The Killing"
Are you looking for TV shows like "The Killing"? You've come to the perfect place. - Intriguing British TV Detectives to Investigate Tonight
Start your investigation of the best British detective crime TV shows, such as “Inspector Lewis,” “Endeavour Morse,” “Inspector George Gently,” and more.
Comments
ant on July 06, 2019:
Alison you mean The Bay?
Alison on May 11, 2019:
In Australia within the last 5-6 weeks I started to watch a British Police drama. I cannot remember the title unfortunately. On a girls night out the lead female detective has a quick fling with a man who turns out to be the stepfather of 2 missing teens. One is a boy who is found dead on the beach and the girl still missing. No one was aware he was stepfather as the mum did not think it important enough to mention.
Help please??
David on December 17, 2018:
@Kerri Moore - Is it Marcella that you are looking for?
Kerri Moore on October 27, 2018:
Trying to find the British crime short series about a female cop who is actually the murderer the series finished where she shot the young detective who was investigating a cold case the series was called her name and it started with M it aried earlier this year will have a follow up for sure please help
Ilona Erwin (author) from Georgia on March 16, 2018:
Mary, thank you. The British detective TV has a different vibe- much more character driven. I agree that Endeavor is a truly great series following in the Morse footsteps.
Mary Norton from Ontario, Canada on March 16, 2018:
We were just in the UK, in the north, for 2 weeks and enjoyed British television more than the North American one. The new series on Morse, The Endeavour, is great. Our daughter always bring us copies of the latest when she comes and visit because she knows how much we enjoy it. Am happy I found your hub today.
Ilona Erwin (author) from Georgia on February 18, 2017:
Alicia McKay, Thanks for your comment. I realize that, but watched it with along with similar British movies. It is hard to find a large number of movies of this genre to list under an entirely Australian category- but didn't want to leave her out!
It is so interesting to hear about the books incorporating Aussie history. I was only familiar with the stories through the TV series. Now I want to read the books :)
alicia mcKay on February 18, 2017:
I love Phryne Fisher too, and the atmospheric setting of 1928. But she is Australian, not British - the series was filmed in and around Melbourne by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (ABC) In the books, which are a bit different from the TV series, each episode incorporates some historical elements from Australian history. I love both the TV series and the books by Kerry Greenwood.
John Hansen from Australia (Gondwana Land) on June 06, 2016:
I love British Detective dramas, whether the detectives are male or female. Phryne Fisher is my favourite (Essie Davis is amazing.)
