Television series
The Gentle Touch
The Gentle Touch follows Maggie Forbes, a widow juggling single motherhood with her role as a detective inspector in the London police. This 1980s ITV drama balances procedural crime-solving with the human cost of ambition and grief. It's for anyone who loves character-driven shows where the personal and professional collide, and where competence under pressure feels earned.
If you liked this
Cagney & Lacey1982
Two female detectives navigate homicide cases in New York while dealing with institutional sexism and complicated lives. Sharp, funny, and genuinely moving about what it costs women to do this work.
But The first TV movie pilot is uneven, and the show took time to find its footing. Some episodes feel dated in their approach to gender politics.
Prime Suspect1991
Helen Mirren as a DCI fighting her way through a male-dominated Met to solve a serial killer case. The standard-setter for British police drama, with forensic attention to both crime and institutional corruption.
But Mirren's character is not likeable, which some find exhausting. The sexual violence depicted is brutal and not softened for comfort.
Hill Street Blues1981
Ensemble cop show that treats police work as procedural, moral, and deeply human all at once. Invented the template for serious prestige television about institutions under pressure.
But Sprawling cast means not every thread lands. American 1980s TV pacing can feel slow to modern viewers used to quicker edits.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Gentle Touch
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Play for Today1970
Both are ITV dramas from the same period committed to showing women's labour—emotional and physical—as real work deserving the same dramatic weight as men's stories.
Single Play about a female bus driver in industrial conflict, shot with documentary realism. Same era as Gentle Touch, same channel, same commitment to showing what women's work actually looks like without sentimentality.
But Not a crime drama at all—it's social realism about class and labour. Only fifty minutes. If you're looking for procedural plot, you won't find it.
More like this (7)
The Secret Policeman's Ball1979
Mike Leigh's darkly funny ensemble about a police charity event that becomes a portrait of institutional attitudes and masculine culture. Bruising and honest about complicity.
But Barely a plot in the traditional sense. If you want crime-solving, this is social observation instead. Leigh's style requires patience with awkward moments.
Between the Lines1992
BBC drama about an internal investigations unit probing corruption within the Met. Tighter and sharper than most police procedurals, with genuine moral complexity rather than easy answers.
But Only two seasons before cancellation. Can feel like it's just hitting its stride when it stops, which is frustrating.
The Professionals1977
Action-heavy crime drama with fantastic central chemistry. If you love sharp banter mixed with real danger, this is essential 1970s British television at its most confident.
But Heavy on action sequences that have dated. The emotional stakes are thinner than the stunts; it's entertainment first, character second.
Dixon of Dock Green1955
The foundational British cop show. Gentle and procedural, treating police work as part of the fabric of community. Essential viewing for understanding how Maggie Forbes's show evolved from this.
But Half an hour, so very brisk, and the moral universe is remarkably tidy. Post-war assumptions about policing feel quaint now, which makes the genre's evolution visible but the show itself dated.
Melting Me Softly2019
BBC police drama that bridged Dixon and the modern era. More serious than its predecessor, it treats investigation as intellectual work and officers as fallible humans.
But Early colour TV sometimes looks muddy. The pacing is deliberate to the point of slowness by today's standards, and some episodes feel padded.
Nikita1990
Both centre women operating within institutional hierarchies that were never built for them, forced to be harder and lonelier than their male counterparts to survive.
Luc Besson's film about a woman conscripted into a secret government assassination squad after a botched robbery. Stylish, tense, and genuinely interested in how institutions corrupt and control women.
But French film, and requires subtitles. The tone lurches between art-house cool and action thriller. Nikita is not a traditional protagonist—she's dangerous and unreliable.
The Road Home1999
Like Gentle Touch, it's fundamentally about a woman's life caught between duty (to family, to history, to work) and the personal griefs those duties compress. It asks what remains when you do everything right.
Chinese film in two timelines: a contemporary story of a woman grieving her father, interwoven with scenes of her parents' courtship during the Cultural Revolution. Achingly beautiful, about how personal lives survive historical catastrophe.
But Not a procedural, not English-language. Moves between chronology and emotional logic rather than plot logic. Some find the sentiment overwhelming.
People
Cast
Writing
- Terence FeelyCreator