Roush Review: Having ‘Patience’ Pays off in a Compelling British Crime Drama

Matt Roush June 14, 2025, 10:00 am

Patience

Matt's Rating:

Patience is rarely a virtue for TV detectives, but the British cops in the absorbing procedural Patience (joining the 10th season of Grantchester on PBS‘s Sunday lineup) have never met anyone quite like Patience Evans (the delicately fascinating Ella Maisy Purvis, a neurodivergent young actress). An autistic savant with a penchant for puzzles, Patience toils in serene solitude in the York police records office.

That is, until her attention for detail and uncanny ability to find patterns no one else can see put Patience on the radar of Detective Inspector Bea Metcalf (Breaking Bad‘s appealing Laura Fraser), whose life is as messy as Patience’s is carefully ordered.

Bea, a frazzled divorcee who has begun to suspect her troubled son might also be on the spectrum, pulls the fragile young woman out of her comfort zone to help solve a series of mystifying whodunits, despite a colleague’s warning that Patience is “temperamentally unsuitable for this kind of work.”

Which may be true, especially when her inability to read social cues creates complications during investigations. But her desire to be useful and live up to the memory of her father, a well-respected police officer (seen in poignant flashbacks), keeps Patience coming back, eventually opening up to Bea as a tentative friendship blossoms. (She also develops an adorable crush on a cute young crime-scene tech, whose attempts to ask her out are often met with amusing bewilderment.)

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Patience, adapted from the French series Astrid, is a worthy addition to a recent roster of quirky crime-solvers including Will Trent, High Potential, Elsbeth, and Poker Face, to name a few. This heroine’s solemn demeanor, which brightens beautifully during “eureka” moments of discovery, distinguishes her from the pack, as she realizes, “The solution lies in looking at it from a different angle.” When Bea responds to Patience’s genius by saying, “I could kiss you,” Patience responds, “Don’t. Please don’t.” With enough patience, though, hugs will be forthcoming.

The tension between her undeniable talent and her understandable insecurities makes Patience a winner in its first six-episode season, with a second season underway. Which is good news, because I’m already impatient for more.

Patience, Series Premiere, Sunday, June 15, 8/7c, PBS