The docket
The case files, all of them
Every show reviewed on A Cup of Crime, verdict first. Ratings are ours, arguments are welcome.
Drama / Crime
7.5
A Touch of Frost
1992–2010
Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet.
Case file 01
Crime / Drama
7.0
Above Suspicion
2009–2012
A rookie London detective and her damaged boss work the cases Lynda La Plante wrote for her first heroine since Jane Tennison…
Case file 02
Crime / Drama
8.2
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989
From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits…
Case file 03
Drama
6.7
Bergerac
1981–1991
Jim Bergerac is a detective sergeant in The Foreigners Office who likes to do things his own way.
Case file 04
Drama
5.2
Between the Lines
1992–1994
Detective Superintendent Tony Clark is an ambitious member of the Complaints Investigation Bureau, an internal organisation that investigates claims of…
Case file 05
Crime / Drama
7.4
Blue Lights
2023
Follows rookie police officers working in Belfast, a city in which being a frontline response cop comes with unique pressures and dangers.
Case file 06
Crime / Drama
7.8
Bodyguard
2018
A troubled war veteran is assigned to protect a controversial politician who may be the target of a terror plot.
Case file 07
Drama / Crime
6.7
Bulman
1985–1987
Bulman is a Granada TV series which ran from 1985–1987 and followed the fortunes of the major character from the earlier XYY Man and Strangers series.
Case file 08
Drama
5.8
C.A.T.S. Eyes
1985–1987
C.A.T.S. Eyes is a British television series made by TVS for ITV between 1985 and 1987. A spin-off of the series The Gentle Touch, Maggie Forbes leads an…
Case file 09
Crime / Drama
6.6
Cracker
1993–1996
The wise-cracking Fitz is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind.
Case file 10
Crime / Drama
6.4
Dalziel and Pascoe
1996–2007
Yorkshire’s bluntest detective and his university-educated sergeant, filmed by the BBC two years after ITV’s attempt at the same novels went badly wrong.
Case file 11
Action & Adventure / Drama
6.4
Dempsey and Makepeace
1985–1986
Dempsey and Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham.
Case file 12
Crime / Drama
8.1
Endeavour
2012–2023
The early days of a young Endeavour Morse, whose experiences as a detective constable with the Oxford City Police will ultimately shape his future.
Case file 13
Crime / Drama
7.9
Foyle's War
2002–2015
A widowed detective in wartime Hastings investigates murders the war has made almost irrelevant, then follows the Cold War into MI5.
Case file 14
Crime / Drama
7.3
Grantchester
2014–2026
A 1950s Cambridgeshire vicar with a Military Cross and a police inspector with no time for church-going solve murders in the same village.
Case file 15
Drama
7.5
Hamish Macbeth
1995–1997
Hamish Macbeth is a comedy-drama series made by BBC Scotland and first aired in 1995.
Case file 16
Crime / Drama
7.9
Happy Valley
2014–2023
Happy Valley is a dark, funny, multi-layered thriller revolving around the personal and professional life of Catherine, a dedicated, experienced, hard-working…
Case file 17
Crime / Drama
6.7
Harry's Game
1982
A British officer goes undercover in the Falls Road to kill an IRA gunman, with his own army kept in the dark — three nights from Gerald Seymour’s novel.
Case file 18
Crime / Drama
7.1
Heartbeat
1992–1998
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
Case file 19
Crime / Drama
7.2
Hinterland
2013–2016
A London detective exiled to the west Wales coast, a children’s home no one will talk about, and a landscape that keeps its secrets…
Case file 20
Crime / Drama
7.8
Inspector Morse
1987–2000
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels.
Case file 21
Drama / Mystery
7.1
Jack the Ripper
1988
Jack the Ripper is a 1988 two-part television film/miniseries portraying a fictionalized account of the hunt for Jack the Ripper, the unidentified serial…
Case file 22
Crime / Drama
5.8
Juliet Bravo
1980–1982
Juliet Bravo was a drama that focused on two female police inspectors, neither of whom were called Juliet Bravo!
Case file 23
Crime / Drama
7.6
Kin
2021–2023
A Dublin crime family goes to war with an international cartel after a killing, in a fight it cannot win…
Case file 24
Crime / Drama
7.6
Lewis
2006–2015
Inspector Robert Lewis and Sergeant James Hathaway solve the tough cases that the learned inhabitants of Oxford throw at them.
Case file 25
Crime / Drama
8.2
Line of Duty
2012–2021
A drama about the investigations of AC-12, a controversial police anticorruption unit.
Case file 26
Crime / Drama
7.5
Love/Hate
2010–2014
Modern-day underworld characters Nidge and John Boy wrestle for control of Dublin’s illicit drug trade in this forceful crime drama.
Case file 27
Comedy / Drama
7.3
Lovejoy
1986–1994
The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia.
Case file 28
Crime / Drama
7.9
Luther
2010–2019
A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved…
Case file 29
British Crime Drama
Messiah
2001–2005
For the first four serials, the series is anchored by Ken Stott's portrayal of DCI Red Metcalfe.
Case file 30
Crime / Drama
7.5
Midsomer Murders
1997–2011
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young…
Case file 31
Comedy / Drama
6.8
Minder
1979–1994
Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.
Case file 32
Crime / Mystery
8.5
Miss Marple
1984–1992
Miss Marple, an elderly lady and amateur detective whose sharp mind helps her solve a series of seemingly baffling cases.
Case file 33
Drama
5.0
Mr. Palfrey of Westminster
1984
Mr. Palfrey is a mild-mannered, but highly skilled counter-espionage agent employed by a small, unnamed department within British intelligence. He and his team…
Case file 34
Comedy / Drama
8.3
Pie in the Sky
1994–1997
A detective inspector who would rather be running his restaurant stays on the force under duress, solving cases between services.
Case file 35
Crime / Drama
7.7
Prime Suspect
1991–2006
Highly skilled Detective Inspector Jane Tennison battles to prove herself in a male dominated world.
Case file 36
Crime / Drama
6.9
Rebus
2006–2007
Detective series set in and around Edinburgh, Scotland.
Case file 37
Crime / Drama
5.8
Rockliffe's Babies
1987–1988
A veteran detective is handed seven recruits fresh out of uniform and told to make detectives of them, in the BBC’s last attempt at a long-running London police series.
Case file 38
Crime / Drama
Rockliffe's Folly
1988
The BBC’s decision to move a London detective sergeant to a rural force, told in seven episodes — a hit series dismantled from the inside.
Case file 39
Crime / Drama
7.3
Scott & Bailey
2011–2016
D.C. Rachel Bailey and D.C. Janet Scott have a robust and engaging friendship which enables them to draw upon each other’s strengths and investigate murders…
Case file 40
Crime / Drama
8.5
Sherlock
2010–2017
A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.
Case file 41
Crime / Drama
7.7
Shoestring
1979–1980
A disgraced computer analyst becomes the unpaid private ear of a Bristol radio station, solving listeners’ problems while holding himself together.
Case file 42
Drama
7.7
Smiley's People
1982
Retired intelligence officer George Smiley is called back to the Circus to tidy up the murder of an old asset, and finds a trail to his Soviet opposite number, Karla…
Case file 43
Crime / Drama
6.0
Softly Softly: Task Force
1969
Softly, Softly: Task Force is a police based drama series which ran on BBC 1 from 1969 to 1976.
Case file 44
Drama
4.3
Special Branch
1969
Special Branch is a British police drama centred on members of the Special Branch anti-espionage and anti-terrorist department of the London Metropolitan…
Case file 45
Crime / Drama
7.0
Spender
1991–1993
Jimmy Nail plays tough cop Spender, forced to return to his native Newcastle after a failed undercover operation in London.
Case file 46
Drama / Action & Adventure
7.7
Spooks
2001–2006
Tense drama series about the different challenges faced by the British Security Service as they work against the clock to safeguard the nation.
Case file 47
Crime / Drama
7.3
Strangers
1978–1982
A squad of detectives posted to Manchester because nobody there knows their faces, led by the most eccentric copper Granada ever put on screen.
Case file 48
Crime / Drama
6.3
Taggart
1983–1994
Taggart is a Scottish detective television program.
Case file 49
British Crime Drama
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1984–1994
Jeremy Brett’s performance as Sherlock Holmes is the series’ cornerstone, a portrayal that has since become a benchmark.
Case file 50
Crime / Drama
6.7
The Bill
1984–1993
The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London.
Case file 51
Drama
6.0
The Chief
1990–1995
The Chief is a British crime drama transmitted on ITV from 20 April 1990 to 16 June 1995.
Case file 52
Crime / Drama
7.2
The Chinese Detective
1981–1982
A British-born Chinese detective works the Limehouse docks in a police force that would rather he wasn’t there — the first East Asian lead in a British television drama.
Case file 53
Crime / Drama
7.7
The Fall
2013–2016
A Met detective is seconded to Belfast to review an unsolved murder and finds a serial killer hiding in plain sight as a grief counsellor…
Case file 54
Crime / Drama
6.9
The Gentle Touch
1980–1984
The Gentle Touch is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which ran from 1980-1984.
Case file 55
Drama / Crime
5.5
The Glory Boys
1984
Set in London, this three-part British miniseries was adapted by Gerald Seymour from his own novel.
Case file 56
Drama / Crime
5.8
The Paradise Club
1989–1990
The Paradise Club is a BBC television drama starring Don Henderson and Leslie Grantham as Frank & Danny Kane.
Case file 57
Drama
5.0
The Price
1985
English computer millionaire Geoffrey Carr and his wife have plans for a country house in Ireland.
Case file 58
Action & Adventure / Crime
7.5
The Professionals
1977–1983
The lives of Bodie and Doyle, top agents for Britain's CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their controller, George Cowley.
Case file 59
Drama / Mystery
6.3
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
1987–2000
The Ruth Rendell mysteries is a British television series made by TVS and Meridian Television for ITV between 2 August 1987 and 11 October 2000.
Case file 60
Drama
8.1
The Sandbaggers
1978–1980
The Sandbaggers is a British television drama series about men and women on the front lines of the Cold War.
Case file 61
Action & Adventure / Drama
7.8
The Sweeney
1974–1978
Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.
Case file 62
Drama
5.3
The Vice
1999
The Vice is an ITV police drama about the Metropolitan Police Vice Unit.
Case file 63
Drama / Crime
6.0
The XYY Man
1976–1977
The XYY Man began life as a series of novels by Kenneth Royce, featuring the character of William 'Spider' Scott, a one-time cat-burglar who leaves prison…
Case file 64
Crime / Drama
7.0
Thief Takers
1996
Thief Takers was a police drama series made by Central Independent Television for the ITV network.
Case file 65
War & Politics / Drama
7.6
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
1979
George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within…
Case file 66
Crime / Drama
7.6
Touching Evil
1997–1999
Shot in the line of duty and back at work, a detective joins a national unit hunting serial offenders, and finds the job costs more than he can pay…
Case file 67
Crime / Drama
6.8
Trial & Retribution
1997–2009
Trial & Retribution is a feature-length ITV police procedural television drama series that began in 1997.
Case file 68
Crime / Drama
7.0
Trigger Point
2022–2025
For London's bomb disposal experts, no day is ever the same as they risk their lives protecting the city from harm.
Case file 69
Crime / Drama
7.6
Unforgotten
2015–present
A cold case, a body that has waited decades, and the ordinary people whose lives will be dismantled when it is finally identified…
Case file 70
British Crime Drama
Van Der Valk
1972–1992
Barry Foster’s portrayal of the Amsterdam detective is the unshakeable centre of the series.
Case file 71
Crime / Drama
7.4
Vera
2011–2025
A scruffy, unsentimental detective in a battered Land Rover, working the Northumberland coast one murder at a time…
Case file 72
Crime / Mystery
7.2
Waking the Dead
2000–2011
A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.
Case file 73
Crime / Drama
7.4
Widows
1983
Three armed robbers--Harry Rawlins, Terry Miller, and Joe Pirelli--die when the security van that they are robbing catches fire in the Kingsway Tunnel in…
Case file 74
Crime / Drama
7.9
Wire in the Blood
2002–2008
A clinical psychologist who thinks like the people he hunts helps a Yorkshire police unit catch serial killers, in the grimmest crime drama ITV made this decade.
Case file 75
Crime / Drama
6.0
Wycliffe
1993–1998
Wycliffe is a British television series, based on W.
Case file 76