Television series
Cadfael
Derek Jacobi plays a Benedictine monk with a soldier's past and a herbalist's patience, solving murders in and around a 12th-century Shrewsbury abbey. It's unhurried, humane, and quietly moral — mysteries solved by observation and compassion rather than deduction theatrics. Perfect for a Sunday evening, especially if you like your crime gentle and your history lived-in rather than lecture-hall dry.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like a mystery solved through patience, herbs and listening to people, set in a twelfth-century abbey where the detective is a monk who has already seen war.
Skip it if you want fast reveals and modern pacing; these are slow, gentle 75-minute episodes where the investigation moves at a walking pace and the medieval setting is the point.
What it asks of you: Settle in for a long, unhurried watch: thirteen episodes of roughly seventy-five minutes each, with quiet scenes of garden work and conversation carrying as much weight as the crimes.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Father Brown2013
Another clergyman-detective, another village full of secrets, but sunnier and more comic. Mark Williams brings a twinkly warmth that scratches the same itch as Jacobi's Cadfael.
But Considerably lighter and sillier — the stakes rarely feel real, and the mysteries are gentler than Cadfael's.
Inspector Morse1987
Swap the abbey for Oxford colleges, but keep the melancholy, the classical music, and a detective who thinks his way to the truth rather than punching it out of anyone.
But Bleaker and more adult in its preoccupations — less cosy, more weighed down by regret.
Midsomer Murders1998
The quintessential English village murder show — absurdly high body counts, gorgeous countryside, and a detective more interested in people than procedure.
But Far campier and less historically grounded; the murder methods get increasingly ridiculous as the seasons pile up.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Cadfael
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Name of the Rose1986
Same monk-detective, same medieval monastery — but where Cadfael offers comfort, this offers dread. It's the version where faith curdles instead of heals.
Sean Connery as a Franciscan friar investigating murders in a medieval monastery — the same premise as Cadfael, played with genuine menace, theological dread, and Umberto Eco's ferocious intelligence underneath.
But Much darker and slower, with a bleak ending and heavy philosophical weight that Cadfael never touches.
More like this (7)
Foyle's War2002
A quietly moral detective navigating a world at war, much like Cadfael navigates a world recovering from one. Michael Kitchen is superb at saying everything with a raised eyebrow.
But WWII setting brings a heavier, more political weight than Cadfael's medieval cloister ever carries.
A Touch of Frost1992
David Jason's rumpled, compassionate detective shares Cadfael's belief that understanding people matters more than catching them out cleverly.
But Contemporary and often grittier — domestic violence, addiction, and urban decay replace the abbey's herb garden.
Lovejoy1986
A roguish antiques dealer stumbles into mysteries across the English countryside with the same fondness for old objects and older secrets that Cadfael has for his herbs.
But Much more comic and cavalier — Lovejoy is a charming rogue, not a moral centre like Cadfael.
Sister Boniface Mysteries2022
A wine-making nun with a forensic science hobby solves 1960s crimes with the same blend of religious calm and sharp observation Cadfael brings to the 12th century.
But Broader and more whimsical in tone, with a comic sensibility Cadfael mostly avoids.
Wolf Hall2015
For the historical texture and the sense of a vanished England rendered with total conviction — different century, same appetite for period detail done properly.
But Political intrigue replaces murder mystery, and the pace is far more deliberate and dialogue-heavy.
Agatha Christie Poirot1989
A fastidious, principled outsider solving crimes through patient observation of human nature — David Suchet's Poirot is Cadfael's Belgian cousin in spirit.
But Interwar glamour and country houses replace the abbey; the tone is drier and more puzzle-box than pastoral.
Detectorists2014
Strip out the murders and Cadfael's real pleasure is unhurried English rural life and buried history — Detectorists is that pleasure distilled with nothing else attached.
Two metal-detecting hobbyists potter around the English countryside hoping to find something buried and meaningful. No crimes, no corpses — just the same tender attention to landscape, history, and quiet decency.
But There's no mystery plot at all — it's a gentle sitcom about friendship, which is a very different kind of watch.
