# The best British crime dramas

From Inspector Morse and Prime Suspect to Line of Duty and Happy Valley: Britain's best crime series, from TVLine, Looper and Screen Rant.

- 2 votes · 15 items
- Jul 15, 2026 · Jade Jones
- https://even.best/en/l/3793/the-best-british-crime-dramas

## Top 15

1. **Broadchurch (2013-2017)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — David Tennant and Olivia Colman in a Dorset town.
2. **Line of Duty (2012-2021)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — AC-12 investigates corrupt police officers; number one for TVLine.
3. **Inspector Morse (1987-2000)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — John Thaw in Oxford; voted the greatest British crime drama by Radio Times readers.
4. **Prime Suspect (1991-2006)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison.
5. **Peaky Blinders (2013-2022)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby in Birmingham.
6. **Luther (2010-2019)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson's Alice Morgan.
7. **Endeavour (2012-2023)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Young Morse in 1960s Oxford.
8. **Sherlock (2010-2017)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in modern London.
9. **Cracker (1993-2006)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Robbie Coltrane as a criminal psychologist.
10. **Life on Mars (2006-2007)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A modern detective wakes up in 1973.
11. **Unforgotten (2015-)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Cold cases reopened by Cassie and Sunny.
12. **Shetland (2013-)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Murders on the Scottish islands.
13. **Vera (2011-2025)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Brenda Blethyn as DCI Vera Stanhope in Northumberland.
14. **Top Boy (2011-2023)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Drug dealers on a Hackney estate.
15. **Happy Valley (2014-2023)** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Sarah Lancashire as Sergeant Catherine Cawood in Yorkshire.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.