Television series
Collision
Other titles called Collision: the 2004 film.
Collision is a sharp ITV police drama centred on a detective returning from leave who inherits a complex hit-and-run case. It's intimate and procedural, anchored by Douglas Henshall's quietly troubled performance. For viewers who want crime drama that values character over spectacle, and aren't afraid of moral ambiguity.
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The Fall2013
A detective pursues a killer with meticulous focus while her own life fractures. Stella Gibson is riveting—intelligent, damaged, magnetic. The cat-and-mouse game is taut and psychologically layered.
But Extremely dark throughout. It dwells on violence against women in ways some viewers will find relentless and difficult.
Vera2011
Brenda Blethyn's rumpled detective solves violent crimes through stubborn intelligence and acute observation. Each case is a locked puzzle; the character work runs deep. Consistently excellent over many seasons.
But The formula can feel familiar if you've seen several episodes. Some crimes are brutally affecting, which isn't for everyone.
Luther2010
Idris Elba as a detective on the edge of collapse, hunting serial killers through London's dark streets. Stylish, intense, propulsive. The psychological toll on the detective is the real story.
But It lurches toward melodrama in later seasons. The first two are pristine; commitment beyond that is optional.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Collision
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Knick2014
Both examine a gifted professional scaffolding their competence around private collapse. Work becomes the only structure holding them up.
Steven Soderbergh's miniseries about a brilliant surgeon unraveling in 1900s New York. Kinetic, gorgeous, darkly funny. It's crime procedural with the moral architecture flipped—the genius is the wreck.
But Visually fussy in ways that distract from character. The drug addiction subplot becomes the plot, which not everyone wants from medical drama. Cancelled after two seasons.
More like this (7)
Broadchurch2013
A child's murder fractures a small seaside town. David Tennant and Olivia Colman navigate impossible compromises and secrets. Shocking, precise, utterly absorbing—one of the best crime dramas made.
But The second season exists and diminishes what came before. Stick with the first. Also: you will be devastated.
MINDHUNTER2017
Two FBI profilers interview serial killers in the 1970s, building behavioural science from scratch. Methodical, intelligent, darkly fascinating. Each conversation reveals as much about the hunters as the hunted.
But Deliberately slow. There's minimal action; if you need plot momentum this will frustrate you. The second season trails off.
Happy Valley2014
Sally Wainwright's masterpiece. A Yorkshire police sergeant investigates her daughter's killer while grieving. Raw, tender, furious—a character study wrapped in a crime plot. Sarah Lancashire is extraordinary.
But The violence is intimate and shocking. If crime drama is your escape, this one pursues you into it.
Line of Duty2012
Anti-corruption cops interrogate suspects with surgical precision. Tense, clever, genuinely surprising. Each season plays like a locked room mystery where everyone could be guilty.
But Later seasons rely heavily on convoluted conspiracies. The early ones are tight; the plot becomes bloated. Midway is peak.
Endeavour2012
A young Oxford detective solves elegant mysteries in the 1960s. Beautifully shot, intellectually satisfying, with Russell Lewis's scripts and Shaun Evans's performance creating something rare: crime drama as character study.
But It's slow and procedural by design. If you want quick resolutions and action, this is contemplative. Some find it precious.
Marcella2016
Anna Friel plays a detective with fractured memory tracking a serial killer she once pursued. Tense, twisty, anchored by a lead actress giving everything. The premise keeps you off-balance.
But Plot holes accumulate as it goes on. The later seasons lose coherence. The first two are solid; beyond that you're gambling.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri2017
Like Collision, it asks whether solving a crime means anything if the system that handles it is rotten. Both resist easy answers about closure.
Martin McDonagh's savage meditation on grief and justice. Frances McDormand vs. a small town's complacency. Hilarious and devastating by turns—a film that earns both without flinching. A masterpiece about how cases corrode the people chasing them.
But The tonal shifts are radical. It moves from comedy to brutality without warning. Some viewers hate being whipsawed. Also: it's very dark about who gets justice and who doesn't.
