# Recommend some good quirky/funny/detective/cop shows on BritBox **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 8, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013 "2021-07-08T19:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/21 "2021-07-13T18:11:11Z")
Thank you so much for the _New Tricks_ suggestion. It’s so good-hearted in these angsty days, and very affirming to see the older actors get all the good parts. Love it! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/22 "2021-07-13T18:24:06Z")
Oh cool. My wife found it. Honestly she finds all the Detective type shows. The ones I listed here are the non-US ones where we both enjoy the show. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/23 "2021-07-13T18:27:15Z")
Not specifically Britbox, but on Sunday PBS started airing the fourth series of _[Unforgotten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unforgotten)_ in the 9pm Sunday Masterpiece slot. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/24 "2021-07-13T19:28:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Sunday PBS started airing the fourth series of _[Unforgotten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unforgotten)_ We watched the first 3 series on Acorn, now it seems to only be on _Masterpiece Mysteries_. Good solid show, we really liked it. > [@bobsmom101](#): > > Thank you so much for the _New Tricks_ suggestion This one falls directly into the quirky/good category. The first few seasons are fantastic, but we thought the latter seasons dropped in quality quite a bit. Absolutely worth watching. I wanted to add that we started watching season 8 of _Death In Paradise_ and found out > **Summary** > > Dwayne, the know it all, big mouth, ladies man local police sergeant is no longer on the show! He was always my favorite character, supplying most of the humor on the show. To make it worse, they replaced him with a big mouth, know nothing woman detective who helps to solve crimes by doing the wrong thing every time. And she’s not funny. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/25 "2021-07-13T19:59:29Z")
Did you ever watch Red Dwarf? I was surprised to learn Dwayne was Cat. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/26 "2021-07-13T20:14:10Z")
No, I’ve looked at that but never watched it. Are the early seasons fixed so you can watch them on widescreen, or do you get the little square box in the middle of the screen? That drives me nuts for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/27 "2021-07-13T20:33:19Z")
I can’t even particularly recommend it at this point. It is pretty dated now. I don’t know if there is fixed version. I watched it mainly back in the 90s and early 2000s. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/28 "2021-07-13T23:19:33Z")
I was going to recommend Broadchurch, but it’s definitely not light. Nor is Unforgotten, though, and that’s definitely a brilliant show. Agatha Raisin is very light-hearted and some of the acting is terrible, but if you like Shakespeare and Hathaway you’ll like this. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/29 "2021-07-14T00:58:25Z")
I’ve been binging Shakespeare & Hathaway since this weekend because it was recommended here. It’s embarrassing how long it took me to notice that the plot is often an homage to a Shakespeare play. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/30 "2021-07-14T01:11:59Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Dwayne, the know it all, big mouth, ladies man local police sergeant is no longer on the show! He was always my favorite character, supplying most of the humor on the show. To make it worse, they replaced him with a big mouth, know nothing woman detective who helps to solve crimes by doing the wrong thing every time. And she’s not funny. Yeah, I miss Dwayne (Danny John-Jules). The show lost a lot of sparkle when he left. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > Did you ever watch Red Dwarf? I was surprised to learn Dwayne was Cat. Holy cow! As with Dwayne in Death In Paradise, The Cat _made_ Red Dwarf, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Danny also played him. Now I’ll have to see if I can rustle up some old Red Dwarf episodes for the nostalgia. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/31 "2021-07-14T05:52:15Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Agatha Raisin is very light-hearted and some of the acting is terrible, but if you like Shakespeare and Hathaway you’ll like this. We actually enjoyed Agatha Raisin quite a bit but, yes, it was not really top notch acting or plots. That’s okay though, because that’s exactly what we are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/32 "2021-07-14T18:41:44Z")
iirc, in 1 episode of RD, it turned out that Cat was actually a character called Dwayne (Dibbley) ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/33 "2021-07-25T07:55:35Z")
Just found this today, “Murder on the Blackpool Express”. It’s the first of three TV-movies starring Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson. Couple running a tour bus where murders are … well, they keep happening, is the thing. They have spun it out into a tv series but the series hasn’t made it to the US yet. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/34 "2021-07-25T16:37:15Z")
Thank you, looks perfect and BritBox has the movies. ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/35 "2021-07-25T19:20:59Z")
Surprised no one has mentioned **Inspector Lewis,** always a fun watch. There’s also **Inspector Morse** and **Endeavor** , though those are a bit darker (sometimes a lot darker). These kind of shows are also the only common ground I have with my wife. It has gotten to the point where if I don’t see at least three British people murdered I can’t get to sleep. Australian folks getting murdered are an acceptable substitute, which brings me to Phryne Fisher and her niece, Peregrine. They were on Acorn. ( _ **Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries** _ and _ **Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries** _). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/36 "2021-07-25T20:25:03Z")
For an older series I recommend _Cracker_. We just bingewatched the entire series and after 28 years it’s held up very well, every bit as good as we remembered. The episodes are not stand alone, and must be watched in order. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/37 "2021-07-25T20:48:03Z")
[Life on Mars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_(British_TV_series)). The British original. Ran for two seasons but apparently a third is planned. I never watched the short-lived American remake but love this series. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/38 "2021-07-25T21:59:51Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > **Inspector Lewis,** always a fun watch. There’s also **Inspector Morse** and **Endeavor** , We liked _Lewis_, especially the blond sidekick guy, and _Endeavor_. I couldn’t get in to _Morse_ but my wife watched them all. > [@ethelbert](#): > > _ **Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries** _ and _ **Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries** _ ). We caught these on Acorn, loved the original series but the updated one paled in comparison so we stopped after the first season. > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > For an older series I recommend _Cracker_ Ooh, good one! I loved these back in the day, I’ll have to check if my wife has seen them. All seasons are on BritBox! I liked these so much I even tried to watch the US version. Man, did that lose something in translation. Probably one of the crappiest shows I ever tried to watch. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Life on Mars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_(British_TV_series)). Exact opposite of you, I’ve seen the US version. The only bright spot was Gretchen Mol, otherwise it sucked. I’ve always planned to watch the UK version so it goes on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/39 "2021-07-25T22:01:45Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Life on Mars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_(British_TV_series)). > > The British original. Ran for two seasons but apparently a third is planned. I never watched the short-lived American remake but love this series. Life on Mars aired fifteen years ago, and they’re thinking of continuing it? That sounds weird. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/40 "2021-07-25T22:11:01Z")
It’s seems not unusual in the UK to skip a few years here and there, but fifteen seems a little long. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013.md?page=3)