True Detective on HBO is really excellent and check all the OP boxes and then some.
Does it absolutely have to be a crime show? Doc Martin is quite good but is basically Dr. Gregory House in private practice in the UK.
I watched both the British-French version (“The Tunnel”)–three seasons of it, each with a season-long mystery–and the US version (“The Bridge”). I liked both.
Another season-long mystery with UK origins—Scottish, in this case—is “The Victim.”
Really well done, I thought.
The closest thing to Broadchurch is the American remake, Gracepoint.
It even stars David Tennant just like Broadchurch, with a not particularly convincing American accent. There are a few tweaks to the plot and they drink coffee at the station rather than tea, but it is very close to a scene by scene remake.
Anna Gunn is no Olivia Coleman, unfortunately. The chemistry between Coleman and Tennant, which was a big reason the show was so successful, is lacking between him and Gunn.
We loved “Broadchurch” as well.
“True Detective” season 1 is the best TV in a long time. Season 2, however, was a serious disappointment. I would skip this and only come back when you have nothing else to watch. Season 3 comes back to form. Not quite as good as season 1, but still very good. Each is a standalone story, so you don’t need to have seen season 2 to watch season 3.
“Unbelievable” (NetFlix) is a single season investigation of a serial rapist. Even though not a murder, it is extremely well done (realistic), and based on true events.
The Victim is the one I first thought of … if you want a limited series with one crime. It was completely gripping, very emotional. And it didn’t have a cop-out ending.
I’d also like to second the recommendation for Scott and Bailey. I really liked the nuts-and-bolts of the police work, and the personal lives of the detectives are realistic and integrated without getting too soap opera-y…
For another episodic series, I love Vera. I’ve been a huge Brenda Blethyn fan for a long time now. In the same vein are Inspector George Gently and Foyle’s War. The latter is interesting because it’s a cop show set in wartime (WWII) England.
Midsomer Murders has been going for over 20 years, and it’s pretty creaky. Usually too easy to identify the murderer, and I never really warmed to Tom Barnaby. I’ve found I prefer cousin John (who was a suspect in an early ‘Tom’ episode).
I’d love to rewatch Homicide, but as far as I can tell it’s not available to watch anywhere. It’s on no digital streaming services, you’d have to find a used DVD somewhere.
I don’t know if I’d recommend The Killing, the first season pissed me off so much that I never continued with season 2.
I enjoyed HBO’s The Outsider, an adaption of Stephen King’s recent book. **Dark **on Netflix is also pretty good, though that’s not in English.
Safe, another Netflix mystery show that’s set in the UK but stars Michael C. Hall is also similar.
And yes, absolutely agree with everyone else that True Detective season 1 is excellent!
I dont think so. Just a character study of two detectives on the road to hell.
Fallet (Netflix) - British and Swedish cop team up to solve a case. A bit on the lighter side, but endearing. For some reason the Netflix close captioning on this particular show is silly, so for every episode if you would like captioning only when Swedish is spoken you’ll have to click close captioning off, then on again to English. I can’t add much without ruining for you why I liked it.
It’s worth it.
Miss Fishers Murder mysteries and Murdoch are both good.
If she liked Broadchurch, she will like Hinterland. I think it’s on Netflix.
For something lighter and offbeat, try Hamish Macbeth or The Last Detective. Also, Shetland is very good.
Well, regardless of what the OP ends up with, I just started off on Unforgotten (Because Nicola Walker, essentially) and you are so right, it’s excellent (also - major difference from the last role I saw her in, which would be the child abuse survivor from the last season of Scott and Bailey - she’s a great actor). And the rest of the cast hold their end up pretty good too.
Case Histories is two seasons based on the excellent books by Kate Atkinson. Stars Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie, a Scottish series set in Edinburgh about a former cop and soldier, turned PI. Amazon Prime.
The OP is looking for a season-long arc, like Broadchurch. Some of you are recommending single-episode arch shows like Miss Fischer, **Murdoch **and Midsomer Murders. Those are all top-notch shows but long long mysteries.
To be fair, Miss Fisher has at least one multi-episode arc. The last third of the first season, IIRC.
Of the ones I’m familiar with, The Sinner, The Night Of, Unforgotten, Crime Story, Bodygard, Shetland, The Tunnel, True Detective and The Killing all have a season long arc.
We’re presently watching Hinterland, which is a pretty dark series situated in Wales. But each episode (90 minutes) is pretty much its own story.
And **Murdoch **has arcs and connections between shows but still not the same as Broadchurch.
It’s lawyers, but Goliath is quite a good mystery. 3 seasons and each is an independent story. Billy Bob Thorton as a somewhat disgraced layer trying to take on the big bad guys.
That just seems so…unnecessary. And making David Tenant act without is distinctive Scottish burr is just a waste of everyone’s time.
Although the plot of Broadchurch is notionally a procedural centering around the investigation of a crime (the resolution of which is frankly not particularly plausible or well developed) the focus of it is really what the death and investigation does to the community and the people within it. The murder itself is almost incidental. So I’d guess that the o.p.’s daughter really likes the drama, which is very well done, and yes, the interaction between Tenant and Olivia Coleman is the centerpiece of the show and really the only thing that keeps it going for three series. Either of those actors could be entertaining reading from the phone book. To that end, I would recommend Happy Valley with Sarah Lancashire and Siobhan Finneran which has a similar kind of police procedural on top of family and community drama. I believe it is on Amazon Prime.
Stranger