# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/41 "2021-07-25T22:18:21Z")
My favourite cop show was **The Sweeney** which was first broadcast in the 1970s so although at the time it was SHOCKINGLY gritty and tough, it’s very tame by today’s standards. It was always full of deliberate sardonic humour. It’s even more, accidentally, humorous now because the seventies setting seems positively historic. It was one of the main inspirations for **Life On Mars** which is mentioned above. It starred **John Thaw** who, acting very differently, went on to star in **Morse** also mentioned above. TCMF-2L ---
**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, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/42 "2021-07-25T22:26:46Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > It’s even more, accidentally, humorous now because the seventies setting seems positively historic. Is it a “only watch if there is absolutely nothing else available and you are a little bit drunk” kind of thing? I looked it up and it’s actually on BritBox but the pictures really scream 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/43 "2021-07-25T22:34:34Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > We liked _Lewis_ , especially the blond sidekick guy, and _Endeavor_ . I couldn’t get in to _Morse_ but my wife watched them all. The blond sidekick, Lawrence Fox, has now gone full loon and totally destroyed his acting career with comments and campaigns against vaccination, masks, footballers taking the knee, Pride, and just about everything really. He stood for Mayor of London (failed spectacularly) and has become the leader of a right-wing pro-Brexit party. He was fine in Lewis though! ---
**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, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/44 "2021-07-25T22:44:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Life on Mars aired fifteen years ago, and they’re thinking of continuing it? That sounds weird. According to the link, they announce a third season last year. First I’d heard of it too. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/45 "2021-07-25T23:00:16Z")
> **[Life on Mars creator confirms third and final series is in the works](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/apr/03/life-on-mars-creator-third-final-series-in-works-bbc)** > > Matthew Graham says new series of show will be set in 70s, 80s and an alternate present > [T]he final series would be set in Manchester and London, “set partially in the 70s, partially in the 80s and mostly in an alternate now.” ---
**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, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/46 "2021-07-25T23:01:58Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > > [@mordecaiB](#): > > > > We liked _Lewis_ , especially the blond sidekick guy, and _Endeavor_ . I couldn’t get in to _Morse_ but my wife watched them all. > > The blond sidekick, Lawrence Fox, has now gone full loon and totally destroyed his acting career with comments and campaigns against vaccination, masks, footballers taking the knee, Pride, and just about everything really. He stood for Mayor of London (failed spectacularly) and has become the leader of a right-wing pro-Brexit party. He was fine in Lewis though! He played Hathaway, detective sergeant to Inspector Lewis and at one point, they were going to continue with an Inspector Hathaway series. That was before Laurence Fox started with the politics. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/47 "2021-07-25T23:05:00Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > He played Hathaway, detective sergeant to Inspector Lewis and at one point, they were going to continue with an Inspector Hathaway series. That was before Laurence Fox started with the politics. I did think that, but Lewis ended in 2014, and Fox was still (at least outwardly) sane back then. He was on Celebrity Gogglebox for a while - (for anyone who doesn’t know, that’s where celebs sit around watching TV - better than it sounds!) and came across quite well there. His decline has been really sudden. ---
**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, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/48 "2021-07-25T23:14:17Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > The blond sidekick, Lawrence Fox, has now gone full loon and totally destroyed his acting career with comments and campaigns against vaccination, masks, footballers taking the knee, Pride, and just about everything really. He stood for Mayor of London (failed spectacularly) and has become the leader of a right-wing pro-Brexit party. Wow. I looked at his Wiki, what a fucking nutcase. So you have to put up a deposit to run for mayor? Is it your own money? Can’t say I’m sorry he lost it. Don’t send him this way, we have enough of our own. > [@Skywatcher](#): > > [T]he final series would be set in Manchester and London, “set partially in the 70s, partially in the 80s and mostly in an alternate now.” This seems like it could be a little messy. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/49 "2021-07-25T23:49:00Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Wow. I looked at his Wiki, what a fucking nutcase. So you have to put up a deposit to run for mayor? Is it your own money? Can’t say I’m sorry he lost it. Don’t send him this way, we have enough of our own. Your own money, or money from your party or your supporters. It’s £10k, which is a lot more than it costs to stand as an MP (£500), but if you can’t crowd-fund £10k then you have no hope of getting anywhere near winning anyway. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/50 "2021-07-26T02:29:23Z")
It’s a bit further on the dark and brooding film noir end of the spectrum from the formulaic whodunnit format of Death in Paradise, et al. But Luther is very good (it launched Idris Elba’s career) and on BritBox. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/m_Qg1pQSOa0/hqdefault.jpg "Luther - Opening Title Sequence - BBC One") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Qg1pQSOa0) ---
**Author:** ![dummygladhands71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dummygladhands71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dummygladhands71)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/51 "2021-07-26T03:28:36Z")
Brokenwood. ---
**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 26, 2021, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/52 "2021-07-26T05:27:42Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > But Luther is very good Yep, we’ve seen those. Alice was a great character too. > [@dummygladhands71](#): > > Brokenwood This was our favorite NZ series. Everyone nails their roles perfectly. Too bad about the cast changes in the last year. Really missed having Jared gone in the last season and I don’t remember if they even gave an excuse for his absence. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/53 "2021-07-26T06:38:13Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > If you haven’t already watched it on Acorn, _Father Brown_ is another cozy mystery series, starring Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley in the _Harry Potter_ films) as a Catholic priest who solves murders. There is a spinoff of Father Brown in production, starring the nun who has a better crime lab than the police. They contacted me with a question about one of the shows. It got held up due to Covid. I’m going to have to subscribe to BritBox when it comes out. I’ve seen most of the shows mentioned here on Acorn or on local PBS stations, including the new Death in Paradise. ---
**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 26, 2021, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/54 "2021-07-26T06:57:56Z")
Okay, spill it. Did they ask you how to murder someone? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/55 "2021-07-26T07:02:58Z")
> [@pmwgreen](#): > > 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. It is chock-full of gags with a strongly local reference (Jane McDonald’s “Secretions”!) that may very well pass most Americans by. A coarser cousin of Shakespeare and Hathaway. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/56 "2021-07-26T07:55:31Z")
Hard to know whether it can be recommended to others and particularly hard to recommend to an American. I watched it as a child and genuinely loved it back then. It was ground breaking in depicting cops as tough and barely any different to the villains they were after. I would imagine (possible exaggeration here) for an American it was the difference between watching the old black and white **Lone Ranger** (if he is considered a law officer) and then watching **Hill Street Blues** or even **The Shield**. Before The Sweeney British people saw TV cops as **Dixon of Dock Green** where Dixon was a very old (he played the role for years, until the actor was over seventy years old) as an avuncular figure. The Sweeney regularly (although not as standard) had guns! Plus went out in their scruffy anoraks and duffle coats to ‘nick a few slags’ (apprehend some suspects for questioning) while puffing and panting from the exertion. And the fags (cigarettes) and the booze. I enjoyed it at the time. Still feel it holds up although that might be nostalgia playing a part. The 70s setting and attitudes are accidentally humorous. As noted if you like Life on Mars (British version) this is what directly inspired it. Also, if you enjoy other British shows, you can do the usual spotting actors from other shows. There’s also stuff true to the 70s but very odd now. Back then police did use police employed but civilian drivers. With no mobile phones an occasional plot point would be for one of the team to ask the driver to drop them off near a public telephone box so they can make a call. I like it a lot. It is very British (London based) and very much of its era. I would suggest giving a few episodes a go. Note the tone occasionally varies so some episodes are basically VERY comedic. There’s one episode with (famous in the UK) film star **Diana Dors** as a stereotype Mother in Law. Another episode built around legendary British comedy duo **Morecambe and Wise**. They are outliers though. Most episodes are drama with black humour never far away. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013/57 "2021-07-26T08:36:50Z")
I wonder whether John Simm’s character was responsible for the tipping point that led to the parallel universe? Accidentally delayed a young Margaret Thatcher on her way to an early political meeting? Crushed a butterfly while beating up a suspect? Endless possibilities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-quirky-funny-detective-cop-shows-on-britbox/946013.md?page=2)