Television series

Vexed

Vexed is a comedy-drama about two metropolitan police detectives who bicker their way through investigations with the energy of a long-married couple. Lucy Punch and Toby Stephens have genuine chemistry as they clash over procedure, morality, and whether their witness is actually lying. It's workplace comedy with actual stakes: funny without punching down, clever without being smug.

TVMaze rating3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like odd-couple partnerships where the sparring is the main pleasure, and you don't mind a joke landing close to something bleak.

Skip it if the comedy leans on a rivalry that can wear thin over nine hour-long episodes if you want plot to carry you more than personality clashes.

What it asks of you: Nine hour-long episodes that run on dialogue and mood rather than plot machinery, so it asks you to settle in with two people who irritate each other.

If you liked this

Brooklyn Nine-Nine2013

A police procedural that loves its characters as much as its jokes. The ensemble clicks, the cases matter, and it finds humour in absurdity rather than cruelty. Sharp, warm, genuinely funny.

But Nine seasons is a commitment, and the tonal shifts between comedy and sincere drama don't always land cleanly. Some people find it relentlessly upbeat.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine poster

The Good Place2016

A comedy about smart, morally complex people trying to do the right thing. Genuinely surprising, constantly rewriting its own rules, and capable of making you care about the characters and the stakes they face.

But The philosophical elements intensify as it progresses—if you want pure comedy, it gets progressively heavier. The final season splits opinion.

The Good Place poster

Fleabag2016

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's fractured family comedy is painfully sharp and impossible to stop watching. It's about terrible people being honest about it, and somehow that honesty makes them irresistible. Two seasons, perfectly formed.

But The fourth wall breaks and meta-comedy aren't for everyone. Some find the protagonist too self-absorbed to root for, even knowing that's partly the point.

Fleabag poster

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Thin Blue Line1988

Both use the mechanics of detection and investigation as a frame for exploring how characters navigate ambiguity and moral disagreement. What do you do when the evidence contradicts your beliefs?

Errol Morris's documentary about a wrongful conviction uses animation, interviews, and a pulsing electronic score to create something like a detective story told in reverse. Mesmerizing proof that documentary can be as formally daring as fiction.

But It's deliberately fragmented and sometimes obscure. You'll need to hold complexity in your head. Modern viewers accustomed to explained-plot documentaries may find it challenging.

The Thin Blue Line poster
More like this (8)

The Fall2013

A serial killer procedural with genuine unease and a detective (Stella Gibson, brilliantly played by Gillian Anderson) who's as compelling as the killer. Slow-burn, intelligent, difficult in the best way.

But It's dark without the comedic relief. Some episodes drag, and the final season divides viewers. Not a comfort watch by any measure.

The Fall poster

Rectify2013

A man released after nineteen years on death row tries to rebuild a life that may never fit again. Methodical, gorgeous, and genuinely about human grace. Deeply humane.

But It's slow and meditative to the point where plot barely exists. If you need momentum and clear answers, this will frustrate you intensely.

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Happy Valley2014

Sarah Lancashire as a Yorkshire police sergeant hunting the man who destroyed her family. Morally complicated, brilliantly acted, funny without losing its teeth. Character-driven procedural done perfectly.

But The violence is real and disturbing. It asks you to sit with genuine darkness and trauma. Not light viewing, and the pacing occasionally stutters.

Happy Valley poster

Taskmaster2015

Five comedians a season compete in absurd tasks with no obvious solutions. Unscripted, genuinely funny, and weirdly touching. Funny people being funny without cruelty. Endlessly rewatchable.

But It's heavily dependent on liking the contestants and host. Some series have weaker lineups. If you don't like improv or lateral thinking, it won't click.

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Line of Duty2012

Police corruption procedural that grabs you immediately and doesn't let go. Taut writing, tremendous ensemble cast, and mysteries that actually hold together. The anti-corruption unit vs internal suspects framework is addictive.

But Later seasons become increasingly convoluted and the fandom turns toxic. The ending disappointed many devoted viewers. It collapses under its own mythology.

Line of Duty poster

Bodyguard2018

A taut six-part thriller about a war veteran assigned to protect a politician he despises. Tense, twisty, and genuinely held me on the edge. Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden are exceptional.

But The plot hinges on increasingly implausible coincidences. Once you start picking at the logic, it unravels. One-watch wonder rather than rewatchable.

Bodyguard poster

Ghostland2018

Like Vexed, it's about two women forced into a partnership by circumstance, disagreeing at every turn. Here the stakes are life and death instead of solved cases, but the dynamic—tension masking care—is identical.

A French-Canadian horror film that could destroy you if you let it. Two sisters survive a home invasion; years later, a new terror emerges. Genuinely shocking, formally inventive, and defiantly uninterested in comforting the audience.

But It's violent and upsetting in specific ways that will upset some viewers deeply. The tonal shifts between mundane and horrific can feel jarring. Not entertainment; it's ordeal cinema.

Ghostland poster

Schitt's Creek2015

A different genre (sitcom not procedural), but the same engine: opposites forced together, discovering they can't live without each other. Where Vexed is bickering partners on a case, this is a family relearning how to be a family. The warmth underneath the conflict is identical.

A wealthy family loses everything and moves to a small town they once bought as a joke. It's a sitcom that could've been mean-spirited but instead becomes genuinely about people learning to see each other. Warm without being saccharine.

But The first season is rough; it takes time to find its voice. If you're impatient with character development over plot, it'll feel slow. Some find the optimism cloying.

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