Prime Suspect is a British police procedural television series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who rises to the rank of Detective Superintendent while confronting institutionalised sexism within the police force.
Cracker is an American crime drama series based upon the British television crime drama of the same name created by Jimmy McGovern. It stars Robert Pastorelli as criminal psychologist Gerry 'Fitz' Fitzgerald and includes a young Josh Hartnett in his first professional role, appearing in several episodes playing Fitz's eldest child. Robbie Coltrane, the star of the original series, appears as a villain in one episode.
Midsomer Murders is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the Chief Inspector Barnaby book series created by Caroline Graham, and broadcasts on the ITV Network since its premiere on 23 March 1997. The series focuses on various murder cases that take place within small country villages across the fictional English county of Midsomer, and the efforts of the senior police detective and his partner within the fictional Midsomer Constabulary to solve the crime by determining who the culprit is and the motive for their actions. It differs from other detective dramas in featuring a mixture of lighthearted whimsy and dark humour, as well as a notable soundtrack with a title theme that includes a theremin.
Taggart is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries Killer from 6 until 20 September 1983, before a full series was commissioned that ran from 2 July 1985 until 7 November 2010. The series revolved around a group of detectives initially in the Maryhill CID of Strathclyde Police, though various storylines were set in other parts of Greater Glasgow and in other areas of Scotland. The team operated out of the fictional John Street police station. Mark McManus, who played the title character Jim Taggart, died in 1994. However, the series continued under the same name. Taggart is one of the UK's longest-running television dramas.
Geraldine Margaret Agnew-Somerville is an Irish-British actress. She is known for her roles in the film Gosford Park (2001) and the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011). Her other roles have included Daphne (2007), My Week with Marilyn (2011) and Grace of Monaco (2014). In 1995, Somerville was nominated for a BAFTA Award for playing Jane Penhaligon in the television series Cracker.
Widows is a British primetime television crime drama that was broadcast in 1983 and 1985, produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network. Two six-part series were written by crime writer Lynda La Plante. The executive producer for the series was Verity Lambert. In 1984 it was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series or Serial.
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between 9 January 2006 and 10 April 2007. It follows Sam Tyler, a Manchester policeman in 2006 who wakes up after a car accident to discover that he has time-travelled to 1973, where he works the same job in the same location under the command of Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt while attempting to solve the mystery of what has happened to him.
Strangers is a British television crime drama series, principally written and created by Murray Smith, and first broadcast on ITV on 5 June 1978. The series, featuring the characters of Detective Sergeant George Bulman and his assistant Detective Constable Derek Willis, was a spin-off from the 1976 TV series The XYY Man, adapted from the novels of Kenneth Royce. The series was first suggested by Granada Television executives, who in 1977, outlined their plan to devise a new series to feature the regular characters of Bulman and Willis.
"... I was sent here to be a stranger in town, a face they didn't recognise ..." - George Bulman
Trial & Retribution is a feature-length ITV police procedural television drama series that first aired on 19 October 1997. Written and devised by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect, each episode was typically broadcast over two nights. David Hayman stars as the main protagonist of the series, DCS Michael "Mike" Walker. Throughout the series, he has two main sidekicks: DI Pat North in Series 1–6 and DCI Róisín Connor in Series 7–12.
The Ghost Squad is a British crime drama series produced by Company Pictures, for Channel 4, broadcast from 15 November to 27 December 2005. Created by Tom Grieves, the series was inspired by the real life "Ghost Squad" that existed between 1994 and 1998, secretly investigating police corruption. Elaine Cassidy, Emma Fielding and Jonas Armstrong star as protagonists Amy Harris, Carole McKay and Pete Maitland.
The Commander is a British crime drama, broadcast on ITV, starring Amanda Burton as the principal character, Commander Clare Blake. The series first broadcast on 16 February 2003, and a total of five series were produced over a five-year-period, with the last episode airing on 12 November 2008.
Law & Order: UK is a British police procedural and legal television programme broadcast from 2009 to 2014 on ITV, adapted from the American series Law & Order. Financed by the production companies Kudos Film and Television, Wolf Films, and Universal Television, the series originally starred Bradley Walsh, Freema Agyeman, Jamie Bamber, Ben Daniels, Harriet Walter and Bill Paterson. Dominic Rowan, Georgia Taylor, Paul Nicholls, Ben Bailey Smith, Sharon Small, Peter Davison and Paterson Joseph joined the cast in later series. This is the first American drama television series to be adapted for British television, while the episodes are adapted from scripts and episodes of the parent series.
Anthony Robert McMillan, known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series. He was appointed an OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama. In 1990, Coltrane received the Evening Standard British Film Award – Peter Sellers Award for Comedy. In 2011, he was honoured for his "outstanding contribution" to film at the British Academy Scotland Awards.
Whitechapel is a British police procedural, produced by Carnival Films and distributed by BBC Worldwide, in which detectives in London's Whitechapel district deal with murders which replicated historical crimes. The first series was broadcast in the UK on 2 February 2009 and depicted the search for a modern copycat killer replicating the murders of Jack the Ripper.
Vera is a British crime drama television series based on the Vera Stanhope series of novels by Ann Cleeves. First broadcast on ITV on 1 May 2011, it stars Brenda Blethyn as the principal character, Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope. In January 2024, it was confirmed that the show has been renewed for a fourteenth series. It was then announced that the series, to air in early 2025, would be the show's last.
Death in Paradise is a British–French crime comedy drama television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller, Kris Marshall, Ardal O'Hanlon, Ralf Little and Don Gilet.
Vikings is a historical drama television series created and written by Michael Hirst for the History channel, a Canadian network. Filmed in Ireland, it premiered on March 3, 2013, in Canada. The series concluded on December 30, 2020, when the second half of the sixth season was released in its entirety on Amazon Prime Video in Ireland, ahead of its broadcast on History in Canada from January 1 to March 3, 2021. A sequel series, titled Vikings: Valhalla, premiered on Netflix on February 25, 2022.
Supply & Demand is a British television crime drama series, written and devised by Lynda La Plante, first broadcast as a single feature-length pilot on ITV on 5 February 1997. The series follows the work of ESUS, a crack team of detectives tasked with investigating some of the country's biggest criminal importers and smugglers. The pilot was written in 1996, the year that La Plante's most notable television series, Prime Suspect, went on hiatus. Adé Sapara, Eamonn Walker, Benedict Wong, Juliet Aubrey and Ramon Tikaram were credited as principal cast members for the pilot.
No Offence is a British television police procedural drama on Channel 4, created by Paul Abbott. It follows a team of detectives from Friday Street police station, a division of the Manchester Metropolitan Police. The series stars Joanna Scanlan as the protagonist, Detective Inspector Viv Deering. The first series focuses on the team's investigation into the serial murders of young girls with Down syndrome. It was renewed for two further runs. The second series of seven episodes began broadcasting on 4 January 2017, and follows the investigation into Manchester crime boss Nora Attah. It was filmed on location in Manchester.
