What is the best British crime drama of all time?

From tense anti-corruption thrillers to atmospheric island whodunits, these detectives range from opera-loving Oxford dons to hard-bitten Manchester psychologists. Cast your vote for the definitive British sleuth saga.

1

Line of Duty

A tense anti-corruption police procedural following AC-12 as they investigate bent coppers across six gripping seasons.

1000pts

2

Prime Suspect

Helen Mirren stars as DCI Jane Tennison, a trailblazing female detective fighting sexism within the Metropolitan Police.

875pts

3

Endeavour

A prequel to Inspector Morse, following the young detective constable's early career in 1960s Oxford.

643pts

4

Midsomer Murders

A long-running whodunit set in the deceptively idyllic English county of Midsomer, where murder is disturbingly common.

642pts

5

Broadchurch

A small seaside town is torn apart by the murder of a young boy, investigated by two mismatched detectives.

577pts

6

Vera

Brenda Blethyn plays the gruff but astute DCI Vera Stanhope, solving murders across the Northumberland coast.

500pts

7

Silent Witness

A team of forensic pathologists uncovers the truth behind suspicious deaths in this long-running procedural.

500pts

8

Happy Valley

Sarah Lancashire plays a West Yorkshire police sergeant confronting the man responsible for her daughter's death.

409pts

9

Taggart

One of British television's longest-running crime dramas, following Glasgow detectives across three decades of cases.

409pts

10

A Touch of Frost

David Jason stars as the rumpled, irreverent Detective Inspector Jack Frost in this beloved long-running series.

409pts

11

Unforgotten

A cold case squad reopens decades-old murders, unraveling the buried secrets of ordinary people's pasts.

409pts

12

Shetland

DI Jimmy Perez investigates murders amid the stark, atmospheric landscapes of Scotland's Shetland Islands.

300pts

13

Sherlock

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman modernize Arthur Conan Doyle's detective duo for 21st-century London.

300pts

14

Luther

Idris Elba stars as a brilliant, morally compromised London detective who understands killers better than they understand themselves.

300pts

15

Cracker

Robbie Coltrane plays a brilliant but self-destructive criminal psychologist who helps Manchester police crack difficult cases.

167pts

16

Inspector Morse

John Thaw stars as the cerebral, opera-loving Oxford detective in this landmark classic of British crime television.

167pts

17

The Fall

Gillian Anderson plays a London detective superintendent hunting a serial killer in Belfast in this tense psychological thriller.

167pts