Television series
The Investigator: A British Crime Story
Mark Williams-Thomas, the detective who exposed Jimmy Savile, reopens a decades-old murder case that baffled police. This is investigative journalism as detective work: methodical, patient, sometimes startling. It's for people who love true crime but want the real process—the dead ends, the interviews, the slow accumulation of evidence—not dramatization. Gripping without theatrics.
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Making a Murderer2015
Netflix's landmark series follows the investigation and trial of Steven Avery with the same meticulous attention to evidence and procedure. It asks uncomfortable questions about how convictions happen and whether justice was served.
But The pacing is glacial by design, and some viewers find the series' framing frustratingly one-sided. It demands genuine investment across ten episodes.
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst2015
Andrew Jarecki's documentary series examines a real estate heir and alleged serial killer across decades. It has the same blend of detective work, human mystery, and genuine surprise that Williams-Thomas achieves—and a conclusion that genuinely shocks.
But The subject matter is extremely dark and unsettling. Some interviews are difficult to watch, and the series doesn't look away from brutality.
Gokukoku no Brynhildr2014
This Polish series follows detectives reopening a cold murder case with the same patient methodology. It's less flashy than American true crime but grounded in real investigative procedure and the human cost of unsolved crimes.
But Subtitled and set in a culture many Western viewers don't know well. The pace is measured, which some find slow rather than deliberate.
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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Spotlight2015
Both centre on one person or team refusing to accept official closure, using interviews and documents to expose what institutions wanted hidden. Both are about how truth takes patience, not inspiration.
Tom McCarthy's Oscar-winning film about Boston Globe reporters investigating Catholic Church abuse shares Williams-Thomas's obsessive methodology and moral seriousness. It shows institutional cover-ups and ordinary people doing meticulous work that breaks systems. The difference is that here, journalism works.
But It's a procedural about reporters, not a mystery. There's no whodunit element—you know the outline from the news. Some find it slow and unglamorous.
More like this (6)
The Staircase2022
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's documentary revisits a high-profile murder case with new evidence and courtroom footage. Like Williams-Thomas, it takes years of investigation seriously and reveals how much can shift when you look again.
But The central question—did he or didn't he?—never gets a satisfying answer. If you need closure, this will frustrate you.
Catching Killers2021
Former law enforcement investigators walk through real unsolved cases and cold cases. It's procedural and focused on how detectives actually work, without the melodrama many true crime docs rely on.
But The production is basic and occasionally cheap-looking. Some episodes feel more like police training videos than compelling documentary.
The Keepers2017
Documentary series investigating a nun's unsolved murder in 1960s Baltimore, uncovering institutional cover-ups and abuse. It's methodical, respectful to victims, and genuinely unsettling in what it discovers.
But Heavy subject matter involving institutional sexual abuse. The investigation raises questions it cannot fully answer, which some find unsatisfying.
Conviction
Follows a grassroots innocence project reinvestigating wrongful convictions in Nebraska. It has the same slow-burn detective work as Williams-Thomas but focuses on exoneration rather than reopened murder.
But Less dramatic than cases where guilt is ambiguous. If you're looking for genuine mystery and surprise, the trajectory here is often clearer.
The Devil Next Door2019
Netflix's investigation into whether an Ohio man was a Nazi war criminal, mixing detective work, courtroom footage, and survivor testimony. Meticulous and genuinely surprising, with real stakes.
But The subject matter—the Holocaust—is extremely heavy. Some viewers find the investigation inconclusive in ways that feel evasive rather than honest.
The Witness for the Prosecution2016
Both explore how investigations disrupt lives and the messy reality of seeking justice. Neither resolves neatly or celebrates the detective—they show the human cost of wanting answers.
This Danish series follows a detective protecting a witness in an ongoing investigation, blending crime procedural with intimate human drama. It has the investigative rigor you want but inverts the focus—not solving the crime but living inside its consequences.
But Subtitled, and the crime itself is less spectacular than typical documentaries. It's more interested in small moments than the murder itself.
People
Cast
Mark Williams ThomasPresenter