Television series

Bloodlands

Name: Bloodlands
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
Released: 2021
Cast: James Nesbitt, Lorcan Cranitch, Charlene McKenna, Lola Petticrew, Chris Walley

Bloodlands is a taut Northern Irish crime thriller that hooks you with a cold case and never lets go. James Nesbitt plays a detective whose obsession with catching a legendary assassin becomes uncomfortably personal. It's the kind of show that makes you cancel plans—propulsive, carefully plotted, and genuinely tense, with the dark undercurrents of sectarian violence always lurking beneath the surface.

TVMaze rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like crime drama where a detective's private history pulls as hard as the case, with the procedural grind and moral friction that made Line of Duty so gripping.

Skip it if you need a quick, self-contained case, since this is grim, talky and sprawling, with heavy emotional weight that rarely lets up.

What it asks of you: Ten hour-long episodes across two series, so you commit to a long stretch of grey, sustained attention; it moves in deliberate steps rather than bursts.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Line of Duty2012

The definitive British crime procedural. Intricate plotting, moral ambiguity, and that same relentless momentum as Brannick hunts his ghost. AC-12's investigations have that same claustrophobic, high-stakes intensity.

But Six seasons is a serious commitment, and some viewers felt the later reveals didn't land. The ending remains divisive.

Mare of Easttown2021

Kate Winslet as a small-town detective haunted by an old case she can't solve. Bruised, intelligent crime drama with the same intimate connection between detective and prey. The mystery unfolds with surgical precision.

But Deliberately paced and bleak. If you want your thrillers zippy and uplifting, this isn't it.

Bodyguard2018

A six-episode Netflix thriller that understands how to compress tension into a tight space. Political intrigue, personal stakes, and twists that genuinely land. Propulsive in exactly the way Bloodlands is.

But The final episode divides people hard. Some feel it betrays what came before.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Bloodlands

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Killing2011

Both are about detectives pursuing ghosts through compromised institutions, where catching the killer means accepting truths about the system that protects them. The obsession isn't about justice—it's about personal exorcism.

Danish original, not the remake. Sarah Lund's investigation of a murder spirals outward into politics, corruption, and moral compromise. Slower than Bloodlands but vastly more ambitious—the detective's pursuit of truth becomes an indictment of the entire system.

But Genuinely testing TV. The pacing is deliberately glacial. You cannot skim it or watch casually. It demands sustained attention.

The Fall2013

Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan in a cat-and-mouse game between detective and serial killer. Psychologically sophisticated, sexually charged, and utterly gripping. That same intimate stalking of an opponent across episodes.

But Quite graphic in places. The pacing slows in season two, and some plot threads feel abandoned.

Happy Valley2014

Sarah Lancashire as a Yorkshire police sergeant taking on organised crime and personal vengeance simultaneously. Raw, funny, brutal. Shows what happens when professional duty and private rage collide—Brannick's exact dilemma.

But Contains scenes of sexual violence. Very dark comedy might jar if you're expecting straight procedural.

Broadchurch2013

A small coastal community torn apart by a child's murder. David Tennant's detective is consumed by the case in ways that destroy him. Architecturally similar to Bloodlands—mystery, obsession, and the town as a character itself.

But The US remake exists and is inferior, which creates baggage. The pacing can feel slow if you know where it's heading.

The Fall of the House of Usher2023

Mike Flanagan's legal thriller with the same dark-past-catching-up energy. James Nestor's excellent, and the flashback structure reveals a conspiracy with real stakes. Gripping mystery wrapped in literary atmosphere.

But Nine hours is long for a revenge plot. Flanagan's sentimental streak might feel overwrought if you prefer spare storytelling.

Wallander2008

Kenneth Branagh as a Swedish detective in the grip of professional obsession. Methodical, atmospheric, and psychologically acute. The cases are solid, but it's really about watching a good man corrode under the weight of violence he sees.

But Very Scandinavian—which means grey and slow. If you need high-octane plot momentum, this will feel glacial.

Marcella2016

Anna Friel as a detective with dissociative episodes pursuing a cold case that involves her own past. Darker and more psychologically unstable than most British crime shows. That same obsessive, personal vendetta against an invisible enemy.

But Slips into soap opera territory occasionally. Some plot twists feel more arbitrary than earned.

In the Name of the Father1993

Both grapple with Northern Ireland's sectarian violence and how it corrupts law enforcement. Bloodlands treats it as subplot; this film makes institutional injustice the entire point. They're asking the same question from different angles.

Daniel Day-Lewis in Jim Sheridan's account of the Guildford Four and Irish injustice. Burns with fury at institutional corruption and false conviction. Two hours of compressed rage about sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, with real history making every frame matter.

But Not a thriller—it's an indictment. If you want plot, you'll be disappointed. The emotional weight is exhausting.

Eyewitness2016

Both explore the unreliability of investigation and how obsession blinds people to truth. Bloodlands trusts the procedural form; Eyewitness dismantles it. Different registers, same moral engine.

Yorgos Lanthimos-directed miniseries starring Luke Hemsworth as a janitor who witnesses a murder and becomes entangled in a twisted investigation. Formally strange and deeply unsettling. Not a police procedural at all—it's about how people fail each other and construct false narratives.

But Lanthimos's sensibility is alienating on purpose. It's uncomfortable, mannered, and rejects genre comfort. Some will find it precious.