I love a good Criminal Minds episode as much as the next person, but as anyone who has watched true-crime TV shows knows, there’s just something special about British crime dramas—specifically British detective series. Maybe it’s the accents or the famously gloomy England weather. Regardless, one thing’s for certain: the Brits know how to make a good mystery.
It’s not all that surprising that British detective series are so good. We are talking about the culture that birthed the most iconic detective in pop culture history, Sherlock Holmes, after all. But, in case you still have your doubts, the best British detective series on Netflix should set the record straight. Full disclosure before you start your binge-watch: Not all of these shows are strictly detective shows. Some are spy thrillers, others twisted mysteries. We've even thrown in some true crime documentaries for good measure. But they are all British crime shows, and they all share a certain je ne sais quoi. Whether you prefer soapy thrillers, detective series, or murder mysteries, you’ll find what you’re looking for below.
1. Killing Eve
Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer play a chilling game of cat and mouse in Killing Eve, a BBC series created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge about a serial killer (Comer) and the detective desperate to catch her (Oh). The show was huge all over the world for a reason: its addictive twists and turns will have you glued to the screen for hours on end.
2. Treason
Loyalties are tested in this British spy drama about an MI6 agent, Adam Lawrence (Charlie Cox), whose past relationship with a Russian spy (Olga Kurylenko) puts him in a complicated situation both at work and at home.
3. Fool Me Once
In this soapy mystery-meets detective show, a recently widowed woman, Maya (Michelle Keegan), gets the shock of her life after seeing her supposedly murdered husband, Joe (Richard Armitage), on a nanny camera in their daughter’s room. Suspicious of her husband’s death, she begins an investigation, which puts her in the crosshairs of detectives looking into Joe’s murder.
4. Bodies
This new British crime drama on Netflix is twisty AF and gaining new fans by the minute. It's about London detectives in multiple time periods who all discover and investigate the death of the same man. How is that even possible? Guess you gotta watch to find out.
5. Dracula
Murder on a show called Dracula? I'm gonna take a wild guess and say the vampire did it. The series was developed by Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat, who you might recognize as the co-creators of a little show called Sherlock. This show is less of a detective series and more of a supernatural crime thriller, but fans of the whodunit should be satisfied.
6. Who is Erin Carter?
Have you ever wondered if one of your ordinary teachers had a secret life? Well, according to Who is Erin Carter?, you really never know. The show is about a British teacher who moves to Spain and causes chaos when she goes all Jason Bourne during a robbery, causing a flurry of unwanted attention and a renewed spotlight on a past she'd rather stay hidden.
7. Requiem
This six-part series has it all: crime, supernatural thrills, and that top-notch BBC production quality. The story goes like this: when the mother of an accomplished cellist dies by suicide, her daughter finds an unusual link between the death and the disappearance of a young girl more than 20 years ago.
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8. The End of the F***ing World
This one goes out to all the dark comedy lovers out there. In this show, 17-year-olds Alyssa and James set out to find Alyssa's estranged father. James (a self-diagnosed psychopath) has already killed animals and thinks he needs to move onto something bigger...and he's got something (er, someone) in mind... I think you can see where this is going.
9. Get Even
A group of girls at an elite private school form a club with the purpose of getting back at their bullies, and they call it DGM (short for Don't Get Mad). But when one of their targets is murdered and found holding a note that says DGM, they realize someone's REALLY got it out for them, to the point of trying to frame them for murder.
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10. Kiss Me First
The show jumps between the real world and an animated VR world, so it never gets boring. It follows the story of Leila, who comes across a secret paradise hidden in one of her favorite games. But as these things seem to go, Leila realizes it may not be so perfect when her friend from the game goes missing. Dun dun dunnnnnn.
11. Bodyguard
This much-loved sexy thriller features Richard Madden as protection officer David Budd, a war veteran who is assigned to a security detail for a conservative parliament member (Keeley Hawes). Prepare for a lot of twists, jaw-dropping action, and Madden saying, "Mum" (that's "Ma'am" with an accent).
12. Stay Close
A picture-perfect soccer mom (Cush Jumbo) has a bunch of dark secrets, and they all come out when a man goes missing, prompting a detective from her past to go looking for answers. Based on the book by Harlan Coben, Stay Close is a twisty detective series that'll have you on the edge of your seat.
13. The Stranger
Another British crime drama based on a Harlan Coben novel, The Stranger begins when a total stranger (Hannah John-Kamen) confronts Adam Price (Richard Armitage) and reveals a secret about his wife, sending him spiraling down a rabbit hole as he tries to uncover the truth.
14. The One
If you love your British crime with a side of sci-fi (or even if you don’t), this show is a must-watch. When a DNA researcher believes she’s found a way to genetically match you with your perfect partner, she sets up a matchmaking service to help pair people off with their soul mates. Everything seems super exciting and great, until someone turns up dead.
15. The Irregulars
Any fans of Sherlock Holmes (aka the British detective) will love this show since it's a totally new take on the classic Sherlock tales. It's about a ragtag group of teens in Victorian England who come together to help a sinister Dr. Watson and his mysterious partner, Sherlock Holmes, solve supernatural crimes.
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16. Top Boy
Out in London’s East End, the drug trade isn’t exactly hidden. And Ra’Nell, whose mother was just admitted to a mental hospital and whose father died after Ra’Nell killed him, is figuring out how to navigate it all.
17. Criminal
Criminal is a Netflix original detective series that hyper-focuses on police interrogations, with seasons set in a different country: France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The seasons are short—just three episodes long—but give you the chance to experience the investigation from three different perspectives: inside the police interrogation room, what happens behind the one-way mirror and, finally, the area outside the two rooms. Fair warning: This one will utterly mind-f*ck you.
18. Safe
A heartbreaking drama-slash-thriller about a dad whose daughter disappears in what is supposed to be a gated, secure neighborhood. As he desperately searches for her, he begins to realize that what he thought was safe is far from it. Be warned: this is the kind of show that’ll make you question whether your roommate is actually your friend or some unhinged person trying to get close to you so they can kill your entire family.
19. Peaky Blinders
I know what you're thinking, so I'll just come right out and say yes, this show 100 percent lives up to all the hype (and falls under "crime," even if said crime is old-timey). If you haven't heard of Peaky Blinders—either the show or the viral haircut trend—then please leave your bunker and start watching it ASAP.
20. White Lines
Okay, so this show is both completely wild and completely thrilling. An English woman heads down to Ibiza to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her brother. White Lines is for anyone who likes murder mixed with sex, drugs, and partying—or for anyone who just wants to escape real life for a while.
21. Giri/Haji
Giri/Haji follows a Tokyo policeman who travels to London to find a wanted murderer who also happens to be his brother. The Japanese-English series is a cross-cultural story that combines cops and family drama in a seriously thrilling show.
22. Marcella
If you plow through this list in order and loved The Fall, you’ll have no problem getting addicted to Marcella Backland and company. It’s another cat-and-mouse formula only with more baggage and blackouts that make it hard to separate reality from what’s going on inside Marcella’s head.
23. Paranoid
Fans of Ellaria Sand in Game of Thrones can breathe a sigh of relief: There is life beyond Dorne, and that life exists in the fictional town of Woodmere. Actress Indira Varma plays Detective Sergeant Nina Suresh, who is tasked with solving the murder of a physician found stabbed in a playground.
24. Collateral
Clear your schedule (who even has better plans anyway?) and binge Collateral: a four-part series centering on the murder of a pizza delivery driver in London. Mulligan is Kip Glaspie, an Olympic pole vaulter-turned-detective (yep, you read that right) who is desperate to get to the truth.
25. Inside Man
Although only four episodes, Inside Man will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Not only do you get to absolutely fan girl over Stanley Tucci, but it lets you see how life can easily be turned upside down with just one interaction. See how a prisoner on death row and a woman trapped in a cellar under an English vicarage cross paths in the most unexpected of ways.
26. Anatomy of a Scandal
This British miniseries is less detective series and more courtroom drama about the wife of a British Member of Parliament (Sienna Miller) whose husband is arrested and tried for sexual assault. But was it a crime or an affair? It's a case of he said, she said, the press said. Plus, Michelle Dockery, who you might recognize as Lady Mary from Downton Abbey, plays the prosecutor, so the cast is A+.
27. Behind Her Eyes
If you prefer your British crime shows with a psychological thriller and supernatural elements thrown in, then Behind Her Eyes is probably right up your alley. It's about Louise, a single mother, who starts an affair with her new boss aaaaand also becomes friends with his wife, which, yes, already sounds incredibly messy. On top of that, she soon finds herself caught up in a very dangerous (and deadly) web of secrets.
28. The Serpent
Based on the very real crimes of serial killer Charles "the Serpent" Sobhraj, this eight-episode series largely takes place in Thailand (with some scenes in India and France, too), BUT it's a BBC show with a cast full of British actors, so it still makes the cut. It retells the Serpent's terrifying crimes, as well as the story of diplomat-turned-detective Herman Knippenberg, who helped track him down.
29. Traitors
Picture this: It's 1945 in London, WWII has just ended, and you, a lowly civil servant, are approached by an American agent who wants you to spy on the British government to root out any Russian infiltration. Well, that's what happens to Feef Symonds, and she ends up agreeing to it. Regular crime shows are great and all, but there's something extra interesting about espionage-related crimes, ya feel?
30. You Don’t Know Me
When a man is accused of murdering a drug dealer and all of the evidence is screaming that he did it, he decides to fire his lawyer (!?) and use the closing argument at his own murder trial to tell his side of the story. He's adamant that he's innocent, but as we all know, it really comes down to what the jury believes.
31. Who Killed Jill Dando?
This documentary investigates the real and unsolved murder of a broadcaster who was killed in broad daylight. Princess Diana parallels abound, if that interests you.
32. Sophie: A Murder in West Cork
This docuseries is British adjacent, as it covers the murder of a French woman in Ireland. Much like a lot of the fictional British crime dramas we love, this murder happened in a beach community that had never experienced any kind of serious crime before. Sad!
33. Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story
After the death of this seemingly-beloved television presenter, hundreds of sexual assault allegations started to pour out, revealing decades of victims.
34. The Ripper
No, not that one. But the killer in this true crime story got his name due to similarities between his crimes and Jack the Ripper. This documentary series is about the Yorkshire Ripper – who killed over a dozen women in the late 70s/early 80s.
35. The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman
A con artist who woos and kidnaps women, and has also pretended to be an international spy? And this all really happened? And it's potentially still happening? You have my attention.
