You finished Sherlock. You rewatched it. You even made peace with the fourth season. Now what? The good news: British TV has been quietly running one of the best detective traditions in the world for close to forty years, and there are dozens of shows that scratch the same itch as Benedict Cumberbatch’s stylised Baker Street sleuth.
The 25 best British detective series like Sherlock include Broadchurch, Luther, Line of Duty, The Fall, Happy Valley, Inspector Morse, Endeavour, Lewis, Prime Suspect, Vera, Shetland, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Miss Marple, Midsomer Murders, Unforgotten, Ripper Street, Whitechapel, Criminal Record, Dept. Q, Grantchester, Jonathan Creek, Foyle’s War, River, Marcella, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Each one brings its own flavour, whether it’s cerebral puzzle-solving, cosy village whodunits, or bleak Yorkshire realism.
Below you’ll find each pick with what it’s actually like to watch, why it works for Sherlock fans, how many seasons it has, and what mood it suits. There’s no filler. If a show made this list, it earned its spot.
Table of Contents
Quick-Glance Guide to the 25 Series
| # | Show | Years | Setting | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Broadchurch | 2013–2017 | Dorset coast | Emotional mystery |
| 2 | Luther | 2010–2019 | London | Dark cat-and-mouse |
| 3 | Line of Duty | 2012–present | Midlands | Twisty police corruption |
| 4 | The Fall | 2013–2016 | Belfast | Psychological thriller |
| 5 | Happy Valley | 2014–2023 | West Yorkshire | Gritty realism |
| 6 | Inspector Morse | 1987–2000 | Oxford | Classic whodunits |
| 7 | Endeavour | 2012–2023 | 1960s Oxford | Period prequel |
| 8 | Lewis | 2006–2015 | Oxford | Cosy Morse spin-off |
| 9 | Prime Suspect | 1991–2006 | London | Trailblazing detective |
| 10 | Vera | 2011–2025 | Northumberland | Cosy rural crime |
| 11 | Shetland | 2013–present | Scotland | Atmospheric island noir |
| 12 | Agatha Christie’s Poirot | 1989–2013 | Interwar Europe | Iconic whodunits |
| 13 | Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple | 1984–1992 | English villages | Golden age mystery |
| 14 | Midsomer Murders | 1997–present | English villages | Quaint and deadly |
| 15 | Unforgotten | 2015–present | London | Cold case drama |
| 16 | Ripper Street | 2012–2016 | Victorian Whitechapel | Period grit |
| 17 | Whitechapel | 2009–2013 | Modern London | Copycat killers |
| 18 | Criminal Record | 2024–present | London | Tense two-hander |
| 19 | Dept. Q | 2025–present | Edinburgh | Nordic noir in Scotland |
| 20 | Grantchester | 2014–present | Cambridgeshire | Vicar-detective team |
| 21 | Jonathan Creek | 1997–2016 | Rural England | Locked-room puzzles |
| 22 | Foyle’s War | 2002–2015 | WWII England | Historical detective |
| 23 | River | 2015 | London | Ghostly psychological |
| 24 | Marcella | 2016–2021 | London | Nordic-style noir |
| 25 | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1984–1994 | Victorian London | The definitive Holmes |
What Makes a Show “Like Sherlock” Anyway?
Before diving in, it helps to be honest about what you actually loved in Sherlock. Most fans name three things: a brilliant but flawed lead, tightly plotted mysteries, and a partnership that carries the emotional weight. If a show has two of those three, it belongs in this conversation.
Some picks here are pure puzzle shows. Some trade the deduction for mood and character. A few lean into the partnership more than the crime. You can mix and match depending on your mood.
1. Broadchurch (2013–2017)
If you ask British viewers for the one show that rivals Sherlock, most will say Broadchurch. David Tennant and Olivia Colman play mismatched detectives investigating the murder of a young boy in a small seaside town.
Tennant’s Alec Hardy is gruff, sick, and borderline hostile. Colman’s Ellie Miller is warm, local, and emotionally involved in a case that hits far too close to home. Their slow-burn partnership is one of the best in modern TV.
Three seasons, and it sticks the landing. According to BAFTA, Broadchurch won Best Drama Series in 2014, beating out some serious competition.
Watch if you loved: The Holmes–Watson chemistry and the puzzle-box mystery structure.
2. Luther (2010–2019)
Idris Elba plays DCI John Luther, a London detective who solves crimes mostly by understanding killers better than they understand themselves. The show is bleak, kinetic, and unapologetically operatic.
The relationship between Luther and Alice Morgan, played by Ruth Wilson, is the real reason to watch. She’s a brilliant psychopath. He’s a brilliant cop. Whatever they have, it isn’t healthy, and it’s magnetic to watch.
Five seasons plus a Netflix film, Luther: The Fallen Sun. The first two series are the strongest.
Watch if you loved: Sherlock’s obsession with a genius antagonist.
3. Line of Duty (2012–present)
Most British cop shows catch criminals. Line of Duty catches cops. The show follows AC-12, an anti-corruption unit tasked with investigating its own colleagues, and it is layered to a degree that makes Sherlock look simple.
Every season introduces a new suspect officer, played by a high-profile guest (Lennie James, Keeley Hawes, Thandiwe Newton, Stephen Graham), and slowly unspools the conspiracy. Jed Mercurio’s dialogue-heavy interrogation scenes are television at its most tightly wound.
A seventh season has been greenlit and is expected in 2026.
Watch if you loved: The dense plotting and long-game villain reveals in Sherlock.
4. The Fall (2013–2016)
Gillian Anderson plays DSI Stella Gibson, sent to Belfast to catch a serial killer played by Jamie Dornan. You know who the killer is from episode one. What you don’t know is how the hunt ends.
The Fall is less a whodunit and more a psychological chess match. It’s cold, methodical, and uncomfortably intimate. Anderson’s performance alone justifies the watch.
Three seasons. Plot closes out. No filler.
Watch if you loved: Sherlock vs. Moriarty, minus the mystery, plus the dread.
5. Happy Valley (2014–2023)
Sarah Lancashire plays Catherine Cawood, a police sergeant in West Yorkshire whose grown daughter died by suicide after being raped. Cawood is now raising her grandson, and the man who assaulted her daughter is out of prison.
This is not an easy watch. It is also, in my view, one of the three or four best British dramas of the past decade. Sally Wainwright’s writing is extraordinary.
Three seasons. All killer.
Watch if you loved: The emotional intensity of Sherlock’s best episodes.
6. Inspector Morse (1987–2000)
If Sherlock is the modern sleek sports car, Morse is the classic jag. John Thaw’s grumpy, opera-loving Oxford detective is the blueprint for every brooding British sleuth that followed.
Morse was voted the greatest British crime drama of all time by Radio Times readers in 2018, and it’s easy to see why. The pacing is slow by modern standards, but the writing and performances hold up completely.
Thirty-three feature-length episodes. Each one is basically a film.
Watch if you loved: A brilliant, socially awkward detective with a faithful partner.
7. Endeavour (2012–2023)
The prequel to Inspector Morse, following young Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans) as a junior detective in 1960s Oxford. It somehow manages to be even better than the original.
Roger Allam as the older DI Fred Thursday, Morse’s mentor, is one of the finest supporting performances in British TV. The 1960s Oxford setting is gorgeous, the cases are clever, and the character development is genuinely moving.
Nine seasons. Ends cleanly and satisfyingly.
Watch if you loved: Sherlock’s origin-story vibe and literary cases.
8. Lewis (2006–2015)
The other Morse spin-off. Kevin Whately returns as DI Robbie Lewis, Morse’s former sergeant, now leading investigations in Oxford with his own younger partner, DS James Hathaway (Laurence Fox).
Lewis is cosier and warmer than Morse. The partnership between the older, salt-of-the-earth Lewis and the Cambridge-educated, religiously conflicted Hathaway is lovely.
Nine seasons, thirty-three episodes. A comfort watch done right.
Watch if you loved: The Holmes–Watson dynamic with less intensity and more warmth.
9. Prime Suspect (1991–2006)
Helen Mirren plays DCI Jane Tennison, one of the first female senior detectives in a London force that mostly resents her. This show essentially invented the modern prestige crime drama.
The mysteries are tough. The workplace politics are tougher. Mirren’s performance is iconic for a reason.
Seven series, fifteen episodes. Compact and binge-worthy.
Watch if you loved: A singular, brilliant detective carrying the full weight of a show.
10. Vera (2011–2025)
Brenda Blethyn in a crumpled bucket hat and battered Land Rover, solving murders in Northumberland. That’s the pitch. It shouldn’t work as well as it does.
Vera Stanhope is the anti-Sherlock in every way. She’s warm, messy, maternal, and deeply observant. The Northumberland landscape is as much a character as she is.
Fourteen seasons ran from 2011 to 2025. A comforting, consistent crime show.
Watch if you loved: The cosier, character-led side of mystery TV.
11. Shetland (2013–present)
Based on novels by Ann Cleeves (who also wrote Vera), Shetland follows detectives solving crimes on the remote Scottish islands of the same name. For the first seven seasons, Douglas Henshall plays the quietly commanding DI Jimmy Perez. From season eight, Ashley Jensen takes over as DI Ruth Calder.
The landscape alone is worth the watch. Wind-battered cliffs, Nordic-feeling villages, knitwear so good it inspired its own fan following.
Nine-plus seasons and still running.
Watch if you loved: Atmosphere as thick as any Sherlock fog bank.
12. Agatha Christie’s Poirot (1989–2013)
David Suchet played Hercule Poirot in seventy episodes over twenty-four years and ended up adapting every single Poirot novel and nearly every short story. It’s a once-in-a-generation achievement.
If you want clever, plotted, classical whodunits with a fastidious, brilliant detective at the centre, this is the gold standard. Poirot is basically Sherlock’s spiritual cousin, with more warmth and a better moustache.
Seventy episodes. Endless comfort viewing.
Watch if you loved: The pure joy of watching a genius solve a puzzle.
13. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple (1984–1992)
Joan Hickson’s Miss Marple is what the official Agatha Christie estate points to as the definitive television Marple. Christie herself wanted Hickson for the part decades before it happened.
A village spinster who notices everything and underestimates no one. Twelve classic adaptations, each feature-length, each beautifully produced.
Twelve episodes total.
Watch if you loved: Sherlock’s knack for noticing what everyone else misses.
14. Midsomer Murders (1997–present)
The most quintessentially English show on this list. DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles), later succeeded by his cousin John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon), investigates impossibly high murder rates in a fictional English county full of charming villages and barely concealed malice.
It’s been running for nearly thirty years. The murders are sometimes ridiculous (death by giant wheel of cheese is real). The charm is undeniable.
Twenty-four-plus seasons. You could watch it for a year and still have more.
Watch if you loved: The lighter, almost Agatha Christie-adjacent side of Sherlock.
15. Unforgotten (2015–present)
Every season opens with a body that’s been buried or hidden for decades, and a team of detectives quietly unravelling how it got there. Nicola Walker led the first four seasons as DCI Cassie Stuart. Sinéad Keenan now leads as DCI Jessica James, with Sanjeev Bhaskar as the constant DI Sunny Khan.
Unforgotten is slower, sadder, and more humane than most cop shows. The reveal of how innocent lives collide across decades is consistently devastating.
Six seasons and counting.
Watch if you loved: The emotional payoff of a long-game Sherlock reveal.
16. Ripper Street (2012–2016)
Whitechapel, 1889. The Ripper murders have ended, but the East End is still on edge. Matthew Macfadyen leads as DI Edmund Reid, alongside Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg as his partners.
Ripper Street is grimy, violent, and richly detailed. It’s like Sherlock’s Victorian aesthetic cranked up and soaked in mud.
Five seasons.
Watch if you loved: The Victorian London atmosphere that Sherlock borrows from.
17. Whitechapel (2009–2013)
Modern-day detectives in the same London neighbourhood, chasing copycat killers who replicate historical crimes, including those of Jack the Ripper himself. Trashy, yes. Atmospheric, absolutely.
Rupert Penry-Jones and Phil Davis anchor the show, with a gallows humour that keeps the grim premise from tipping over.
Four seasons.
Watch if you loved: The serial-killer dread of Sherlock’s best episodes.
18. Criminal Record (2024–present)
Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo as two London detectives, one a cynical veteran, the other an ambitious rising DS, forced together on an old murder case neither of them can quite let go. An anonymous phone call reopens everything.
Capaldi is genuinely unsettling here. Jumbo is the moral centre. The show has been renewed for a second season on Apple TV+.
One season out. More coming.
Watch if you loved: The mentor-protégé tension and slow-burn intelligence of Sherlock.
19. Dept. Q (2025–present)
The newest entry on this list, and one of the best. Matthew Goode plays DCI Carl Morck, a brilliant, acidic Edinburgh detective exiled to a basement cold case unit after a shooting leaves his partner paralysed.
Based on the Danish novels by Jussi Adler-Olsen and developed by Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit), it premiered on Netflix in May 2025 and spent six weeks in the Global Top Ten. A second season was confirmed in August 2025.
Nine episodes in season one. Season two is in production.
Watch if you loved: A cold, witty, socially awful detective who eventually lets people in.
20. Grantchester (2014–present)
A Cambridgeshire vicar, initially Sidney Chambers (James Norton) and later Will Davenport (Tom Brittney), partners with gruff police detective Geordie Keating (Robson Green) to solve crimes in a 1950s–60s village.
The faith-and-doubt dimension is genuinely interesting. The partnership is warm. It’s a cosy watch with actual weight.
Nine seasons and counting.
Watch if you loved: The intellectual-plus-practical pairing of Holmes and Watson.
21. Jonathan Creek (1997–2016)
Alan Davies as a shaggy-haired magician’s consultant who solves seemingly impossible crimes using his knowledge of illusion and misdirection. Locked rooms. Vanishing bodies. Impossible alibis.
If Sherlock’s deduction scenes are your favourite part of the show, Jonathan Creek is basically that, stretched across full episodes.
Five seasons plus specials.
Watch if you loved: The “how on earth did they do it?” style Sherlock puzzles.
22. Foyle’s War (2002–2015)
Michael Kitchen plays DCS Christopher Foyle, a widowed English detective solving crimes on the home front during World War II. The cases touch on black marketeering, spies, deserters, and the moral compromises of a country at war.
Foyle is the anti-Sherlock: quiet, courteous, and relentlessly decent. The show is meticulous about its historical setting. It’s one of the most respected British detective shows ever made.
Eight series, twenty-eight episodes.
Watch if you loved: The literate, classy side of Sherlock.
23. River (2015)
Stellan Skarsgård as DI John River, a brilliant detective haunted (literally, in his head) by the victims whose cases he works on. The ghosts talk. River talks back. The therapy sessions are some of the best-written scenes in any crime drama.
Six episodes. That’s it. One of the tightest, most psychologically rich miniseries the BBC has ever made.
Watch if you loved: A detective whose mind is as much the mystery as the case.
24. Marcella (2016–2021)
Anna Friel as a former Met detective who returns to work after her husband leaves her, suffering dissociative blackouts and working a Nordic-noir-styled serial killer case. Created by Hans Rosenfeldt of The Bridge.
It’s bleak, moody, and twisty to a fault. Three seasons, with season three relocating Marcella undercover in Northern Ireland.
Watch if you loved: Sherlock’s psychological edge, turned up and darkened.
25. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–1994)
You cannot finish a list of detective shows like Sherlock without the definitive Sherlock. Jeremy Brett’s Holmes, for many purists, is the character. Faithful to Conan Doyle, exquisitely dressed, and unsettling in all the right ways.
If you want to know where Cumberbatch’s version got half its DNA, this is the source.
Forty-one episodes across four titles (Adventures, Return, Casebook, Memoirs).
Watch if you loved: Literally anything about Sherlock.
Honourable Mentions
A handful of shows came close but got edged out of the top 25. They still deserve a look:
- Whitstable Pearl — cosy seaside mystery with Kerry Godliman as a café owner turned PI.
- Father Brown — Mark Williams as the detective-priest. Eleven seasons of gentle, clever mysteries.
- Hinterland — Welsh noir with DCI Tom Mathias. Bleak, beautiful, brooding.
- Scott & Bailey — Manchester-based partnership between two female detectives. Five strong seasons.
- Silent Witness — long-running forensic pathology drama. Still going after thirty years.
How to Choose What to Watch Next
Here’s the quick logic I’d actually use:
- If you want the next cerebral, stylised thriller: try Dept. Q or The Fall.
- If you want a brilliant but broken lead: Luther, River, or Marcella.
- If you want cosy comfort viewing: Vera, Lewis, or Grantchester.
- If you want prestige drama with real weight: Broadchurch, Happy Valley, or Line of Duty.
- If you want the literary classics: Poirot, Miss Marple, or Inspector Morse.
Where to Stream These Shows (UK & US)
Availability changes often, but as of May 2026 the main patterns hold:
- BritBox carries the deepest British back catalogue (Poirot, Morse, Endeavour, Lewis, Midsomer Murders, Jonathan Creek, and more).
- PBS Masterpiece (often via Amazon Prime in the US) carries Sherlock, Endeavour, Grantchester, Unforgotten, and classic Marple.
- Netflix has Dept. Q, Marcella, and Bodyguard, plus rotating seasons of others.
- Apple TV+ has Criminal Record.
- BBC iPlayer (UK only) has Line of Duty, Luther, Happy Valley, The Fall.
Check your region before you commit. Some of these shows, especially older ITV and BBC titles, shuffle between services more than you’d expect.
FAQs
What is the best British detective series like Sherlock?
Broadchurch is the most commonly cited answer, thanks to David Tennant and Olivia Colman’s lead performances and its tightly plotted mystery. Luther and Happy Valley are the other two shows most often named in the same breath as Sherlock by British viewers and critics.
Is Sherlock coming back for a fifth season?
As of May 2026, no fifth season of Sherlock has been officially ordered. Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Martin Freeman have all periodically said the door isn’t closed, but nothing has been commissioned. The show’s last season aired in 2017.
What detective show is closest in tone to Sherlock?
Dept. Q is probably the closest tonal match in recent years. It has a brilliant, acidic detective, sharp writing, a partner who softens him, and a stylised setting. The Fall is another close match if you want something bleaker.
Are there any British detective shows with a Holmes-Watson style partnership?
Yes, several. The strongest pairings are Broadchurch (Hardy and Miller), Lewis (Lewis and Hathaway), Endeavour (Morse and Thursday), Grantchester (Sidney Chambers and Geordie Keating), and Midsomer Murders (Barnaby and his sergeant). Each one gives you that same “brilliant one and the grounded one” dynamic.
What’s the newest British detective show worth watching?
Dept. Q (2025) is the standout new release. Criminal Record (2024) and the recently ended Vera (wrapped in 2025) are also strong recent picks. Line of Duty is returning for a seventh season in 2026.
Which British detective show has the best single season of TV?
Broadchurch season one and Happy Valley season one are the two most common answers to this. Both tell a contained, devastating murder story with beginning, middle, and end. The Fall season one is often mentioned for similar reasons.
Are any of these shows suitable for older teenagers?
Most are. Midsomer Murders, Vera, Shetland, Grantchester, Lewis, Endeavour, and Poirot are generally safe for mature teens. Luther, The Fall, Happy Valley, Marcella, and Dept. Q contain significant violence and should be previewed first.
What British detective shows are most similar to Agatha Christie adaptations?
If you like Poirot or Miss Marple, the natural next picks are Midsomer Murders, Grantchester, Father Brown, and Sister Boniface Mysteries. They share the English village setting, the closed-circle of suspects, and the puzzle-first storytelling style.
Final Thoughts
Sherlock set a bar, but it didn’t set a ceiling. The British detective tradition was already deep when Moffat and Gatiss showed up, and it’s kept growing in every direction since. You can go cosy, you can go bleak, you can go period, you can go Nordic. The genre is wide enough to hold all of it.
Save this list, pick one that matches your mood tonight, and work your way through. You’ve got at least a year of great television ahead of you.