They are edgy, entertaining and enigmatic. And, statutory warning: Not all of them are meant for the faint-hearted. The N13 list of most-entertaining British crime series on Netflix takes you to worlds unseen, unheard of and unbelievable.
For people who rummage on Netflix, finding the perfect series could be taxing. There are thousands to choose from, but you want to invest your precious time only on that special series which would remain in your heart forever.
We value your time, and so we have cherry-picked a few underrated series for you. Netflix has a collection of brilliant British crime series which keeps you on the edge and makes you eat all your fingernails. Yet, these are not as popular as the Money Heists and the Breaking Bads. Here is a list of 13 best British crime series in no particular order.
Broadchurch
David Tennant and Olivia Coleman star in this investigative thriller set in Broadchurch, a fictional coastal town in the UK. The story begins when an 11-year-old boy is found dead, and how the unknown town gains national media attention. The death also leaves a huge impact on the closely-knit families of the small town.
Sherlock
This is probably not an underrated series. But a list of British crime series is never complete without this BBC masterpiece. There are always fans for any form of Sherlock Holmes, the fictional private detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, this Sherlock solves a set of new-age crimes using modern technologies and his legendary mind-mapping techniques of deduction. If you are a sucker for the original Sherlock Holmes books, the series leaves several trivial clues to the original stories and is a must-watch whether you are a crime series fan or not.
Line of Duty
While most of the investigative thrillers follow a crime and deduction storyline, Line of Duty explores a police procedural plot. The protagonists are a team of anti-corruption officers whose aim is to catch the ‘bent’ coppers. The series does have a bit of melodrama, but the plots in each season are excellently written and the story explores a complex web of characters.
Collateral
A pizza delivery man is killed on a London street in pitch dark. The person who ordered the pizza, the shop manager and the witness are all under scanner in this four-part miniseries. This is a story that you can finish in one day, and the crisp writing ensures an engaging viewing experience. The story also explores the lives of refugees in the UK.
Criminal: UK
This series is exclusively for the fans of single-room films like ‘12 Angry Men’. Criminal: UK is the British version of police procedural anthology series released by Netflix in English, French, Spanish and German. The two seasons of Criminal: UK has three episodes each. It enjoys a stellar cast of Kit Harrington (Jon Snow of Game of Thrones), David Tennant, Kunal Nayyar (Rajesh Koothrappali of The Big Bang Theory) and Sharon Horgan.
The Fall
This Gillian Anderson-starred investigative thriller explores the story of a serial rapist-killer who lives a normal life with his wife and two children. His victims are all young professional women in the city of Belfast. It is better to avoid this series if you have a faint heart, as it shows the gruesome murders from the killer’s point of view.
Safe
Michael C Hall, the Dexter Morgan of Dexter series, stars in this eight-part series. The American actor perfectly adapts to the role of an Englishman looking for his missing teenage daughter. As he goes further down the trail, he unravels a mysterious past tangled with the people who live around him.
The Frankenstein Chronicles
Sean Bean leads in this re-imagining of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel ‘Frankenstein’. The period crime drama follows the life of a police inspector who discovers the corpse made up of body parts from eight missing children. Several historical writers, including Mary Shelley, William Blake and Charles Dickens, appear as characters in this series, which makes the story all the more interesting.
Hinterland
This may not be a series for you if you hate reading subtitles. Because you will definitely need subtitles for this Welsh investigative thriller. The characters speak in Welsh accent which is difficult to understand even for a common Englishman. Nevertheless, the series showcases brilliant plots, which makes it a must-watch for fans of crime thrillers.
One of Us
The miniseries, set in Scotland, opens with the brutal murder of a couple who has just returned from their honeymoon. Originally titled Retribution, the four-part series is a one-day watch and explores an impressive storyline. Critics cite the writing of this series as ‘Tarantino meets Shakespeare’.
Requiem
This series is an odd one in this list, as it has elements of the supernatural genre too. The six-episode series tells the story of a cellist whose life turns around after her mother’s suicide.
White Lines
The British-Spanish mystery thriller, created by Money Heist director Alex Pina, tells the story of an Englishwoman who travels to Ibiza to solve the murder of her brother. The series has an intriguing and engaging plot and promises to keep the audience on the toes.
Paranoid
Indira Verma star in this crime drama as a group of investigators try to solve the murder of a doctor who is stabbed at a children’s playground. The eight-part series has a series.
