15 Recent British Crime Miniseries Youve Probably Never Heard Of

15 Recent British Crime Miniseries You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

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1 15 Recent British Crime Miniseries You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

While there are a ton of British crime shows out there to binge-watch, there are some newer ones you might have not heard of.

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America’s neighbor across the pond is responsible for some of the most riveting television series in recent history. Thanks to streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, Americans have better access to all the dramas and comedies produced by the best names in British television.

Police procedurals and crime thrillers are especially popular these days, and Britain gave birth to classic contributions like Broadchurch, Luther, and Prime Suspect. However, there exists a slew of under-the-radar shows and specials just as engrossing and creepy as their better-known companions. This list delves into recent British crime miniseries you probably haven’t heard of but should know.

Updated on April 4th, 2021 by Kristen Palamara: British crime miniseries can range from gritty and brutal to more comedic and anywhere in between. But they’re always engaging and mysterious as characters try to survive or track down ruthless killers within a few hours of television. Famous actors also appear throughout the miniseries, like Elisabeth Moss, Ben Whishaw, and Carey Mulligan, and ensure great acting throughout.

15 Top Of The Lake (2013-2017)

Elisabeth Moss stars as a newly appointed and inexperienced detective in this gripping crime drama that has 13 episodes in its 2 seasons. Top of the Lake follows Detective Griffin (Moss) as she attempts to find her footing in the position after the tragic disappearance of a pregnant teenager in a small New Zealand town.

It’s a completely gripping, and at times gritty, crime drama that isn’t as well known as it should be and is definitely worth checking out for anyone who hasn’t seen it.

14 And Then There Were None (2015)

And Then There Were None is a 3 episode miniseries based on the Agatha Christie murder mystery novel of the same name. The cast, from Aidan Turner to Sam Neill, portray the tension of several strangers stranded on an island during a storm with a killer on the loose.

It’s a completely engaging miniseries that gets lost among the countless Agatha Christie movie adaptations that have been put to film in the last century.

13 Paranoid (2016)

Paranoid is a little-known miniseries that follows a group investigating the violent murder of a well-liked local woman in a public park. The detectives think that the case will be a quick one to solve at the beginning until they realize that her former lover also died right before her death.

The 8 episodes delve into the mysteries of the town and the one death that began to unravel a string of conspiracies connected to the case.

12 Collateral (2018)

This Netflix original miniseries follows Detective Inspector Kip Glaspie (Carey Mulligan) as she investigates the murder of a pizza delivery driver as she thinks it wasn’t just a random act of violence but a more sinister planned killing.

There are other engaging storylines throughout the 4 episodes from a politician (John Simm) who is caught up in the case and a vicar (Nicola Walker) who attempts to hide an affair that is also connected to the murder.

11 A Very English Scandal (2018-2021)

Ben Whishaw and Hugh Grant star in this political thriller miniseries based on the true story of Jeremy Thorpe (Grant) in the 1960s who was accused of murdering his ex-lover, Norman Scott (Whishaw), after he was unsure whether Scott would expose their affair.

The Amazon original will be returning in 2021 for 3 more episodes following a new scandalous story turning this miniseries into an anthology series with a new story each season. The first 3 episodes is an engaging mystery while also being surprisingly funny as well.

10 Rillington Place (2016)

Rillington Place is a three-part BBC One miniseries based on the life of real-life serial killer John Christie. Tim Roth stars as Christie, and Samatha Morton plays his wife, Ethel. Gritty and eerie, the show doesn’t hold back in showing how Christie committed multiple murders in the 1940s and 1950s at his domicile, 10 Rillington Place in London.

Two of his victims were upstairs tenants in the complex, a 20-year-old woman named Beryl Evans and her 13-month-old daughter. Beryl is played by Killing Eve star Jodie Comer. The Evans cause was a major scandal at the time, and Beryl’s husband Timothy was wrongfully accused of both murders and hanged. Christie was the star witness in the case.

9 London Spy (2015)

This five-part BBC Two drama stars Ben Whishaw as a perpetual party boy named Danny who falls in love with a mysterious man named Alex. When Alex goes missing for a number of days, Danny searches his lover’s apartment only to find his dead body stuffed in a large trunk. As the circumstances surrounding Alex’s death become increasingly suspicious, Danny decides to uncover the truth at any cost.

Jim Broadbent co-stars in this compelling crime drama written and directed by Tom Rob Smith. Smith is known for writing Ryan Murphy’s award-winning series American Crime: The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

8 Fearless (2017)

This iTV six-part series delves into the world of a human rights lawyer named Helen McCrory. Played by Emma Banville, McCrory takes on a case that involves absolving a convicted murderer of his conviction.

McCrory believes the man, Kevin Russell, is innocent of murdering a schoolgirl 14 years earlier. Russell worked at the school the girl attended as a janitor, and she believes he was convicted out of convenience. The show follows her as she attempts to uncover the truth about the girl’s tragic death while freeing Russell from a sentence he doesn’t deserve.

7 Prime Suspect 1973 (2017)

The long-running police procedural Prime Suspect solidified Helen Mirren’s career, and it helped to establish the melodramatic nature of subsequent detective dramas. In 2017, iTV aired a prequel to Prime Suspect. This six-episode miniseries stars English actress Stephanie Martini as a young Jane Tennison, the character made famous by Mirren.

The series takes place in 1973 in a town called Hackney, where a 22-year-old Tennison joins the local police force. Like the show, the miniseries highlights the sexism and bureaucratic blockades Tennison is forced to deal with as she attempts to make a name for herself as an investigator.

6 Southcliffe (2013)

This harrowing miniseries uses a shooting spree as a starting point to explore how trauma affects a community and those connected to it. Told in four parts, Southcliffe takes place in a fictional town of the same name. Sean Harris plays a local man named Stephen Morton, who is responsible for the senseless act of mass violence that occurs in one day.

Roy Kinnear plays a journalist who returns to Southcliffe, his home, in order to cover the case. The series is directed by Sean Durkin, a Canadian man whose only feature film is 2011’s Martha Marcy May Marlene. Like the movie, Durkin employs an understated and atmospheric style to unravel the narrative in Southcliffe.

5 In The Dark (2017)

This four-part BBC One series is also based on books: Mark Billingham’s Time of Death and In The Dark. The miniseries stars MyAnna Buring as a police investigator named Helen Weeks. Weeks is a pregnant detective for the Manchester Metropolitan Police. The first two episodes pursue a unique crime, and the final two delve into another case.

In the first part of In The Dark, Weeks is tasked with investigating a case involving the husband of her best pal from childhood. The husband is accused of kidnapping two girls. The second part sees Weeks, now very pregnant, forced to dive into the seedy Manchester underbelly.

4 The Last Panthers (2015)

This gripping Franco-British series includes a star-studded cast and a historical basis. The Last Panthers fictionalizes the experiences of a group of jewel thieves known as the Pink Panthers. This group, active in the Balkans since 2003, is responsible for some of the most high-stakes heists in history. Interpol believes 200 to 250 people are implicated in the crimes.

The series, starring Samantha Morton and John Hurt, entails a heist in line with the Pink Panther style, and viewers are soon taken through the dark underworld of criminal Europe. The showrunner, Jack Thorne, is credited for writing on British series like Shameless and Skins.

3 Appropriate Adult (2010)

This is another miniseries inspired by the true story of serial killer Fred West. With his wife Rosemary as an accomplice, Fred was accused of killing multiple people, including his own daughter. When he was caught in 1994, police investigators, in order to ensure Fred understood the charges yielded against him, hired an appropriate adult, or trained person to guide him through the interrogation process.

In the miniseries, Emily Watson portrays the appropriate adult hired to assist Fred, Janet Leach. Fred is played by Dominic West. While the acting is stellar, the plot takes some liberties with the facts of the case.

2 What Remains (2013)

BBC One aired this four-part miniseries following a retired police detective who decides to pursue a closed case that still haunts him. After the body of a woman was found in the attic of a tenement house, police officially ruled it a suicide. However, the detective, Len Harper, has a gut feeling about the case that leads him to believe foul play is involved.

For starters, the body lay in the house’s attic for two years before it was discovered. While the people who live in the house seem friendly enough on the surface, Harper continues to investigate them in order to figure out what he and his colleagues missed the first time.

1 Chasing Shadows (2014)

This stylized and seriocomic detective miniseries stars Reece Shearsmith as a contemporary Holmesian police investigator whose ability to mine data is much better than his ability to interact with people. Shearsmith’s D.S. Sean Stone teams up with an analyst from the Missing Persons Bureau in order to crack some of their mounting unsolved cases.

The analyst, Ruth Hattersley, is played by Alex Kingston. The pair make an odd couple for sure, and they are constantly butting heads with their boss, D.C.I. Carl Pryor, as they develop less orthodox methods for finding missing persons.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-recent-british-crime-series/

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