The 5 Best British Mysteries, From ‘Grantchester’ to ‘Unforgotten,’ to Watch Now on Amazon
Cold winter nights call for a cup of hot tea…and resourceful sleuths to keep us company.
When we need a fix, here’s what we binge, from a restless vicar in Grantchester to a crusading lawyer in Fearless to cold-case detectives in Unforgotten. Find out which are available now to stream and binge on Amazon Prime Video.
Grantchester
Restless vicar Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) should probably have a title like “reverend sergeant” for all the murders he helps to solve in 1950s Grantchester with veteran cop Geordie Keating (Robson Green).
Seasons 1–4 available now; Season 5 available January 19
Endeavour
Gorgeous 1960s sets and a powerful performance from Shaun Evans as erudite police detective Endeavour Morse are just some of the highlights of this Inspector Morse prequel.
Seasons 1–6 available now
Fearless
The fierce Helen McCrory leads this six-part series as crusading lawyer Emma Banville, whose quest to prove the innocence of a convicted murderer meets with dangerous opposition.
Available now
Silent Witness
This forensic crime drama has been whipping up intriguing cases since 1996 and is still going strong with current star Emilia Fox, who joined as pathologist Nikki Alexander in 2004. Look out for pre-fame guest stars like Idris Elba.
Seasons 1–21 available now
Unforgotten
Cold-case detectives Cassie Stuart and Sunny Khan (Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar) bring the guilty to justice in these engrossing missing-persons mysteries. The plots delve into the lives of the suspects, many of whom remain haunted by what happened.
Seasons 1–3 available now
Conversation14 Comments
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B
Unforgotten is very good, also George Gently should be on this list.
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W
I'm watching Silent Witness and you'll see a plethora of pregame British stars on this show and it's very entertaining.
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G
Unforgotten is brilliant. And you can play “where do I know him/her from?” Often !
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G
Line of duty, George Gently, Marcella, Luther, and Happy Valley are very good! Waiting for the new season of Line of Duty, Endeavour, Unforgotten, Shetland and Marcella.
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P
We loved Hinterland as well as Shetland. Both should be on the list. For slightly lighter mysteries, New Tricks is great, especially because they wrap up the crime in one episode.
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R
Chasing Shadows was an excellent series, also enjoyed Scott and Bailey. Both shows well worth watching.
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G
It's great they have these on Amazon now. But I've watched all the episodes of these shows on my Brit box subscription. I'm waiting for new episodes to come out eventually. That's what I'm waiting for, as soon as it's safe. A lot of other shows on prime time tv and soap operas have been coming out with new episodes, I don't know how they get around the covid thing but happy they're figuring it out.
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A
This is a good list. I love all the Masterpiece series. I'm watching Endeavour now. I hope 'Press' shows up soon.
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G
While I’ve seen almost all of the above show with Endeavour being the best, I’m shocked not to see Shetland up there in this list. I understand it has won many awards already & I actually started rewatching the series again since it spans 6 years..
The acting, scenery & scripts are excellent as is the other Outstanding series by the same author, Anne Cleeves; Vera.
Vera, Shetland, Luther, Prime Suspect, & other older series are all on Britbox. If you like British Mysteries, then it’s worth it to get Britbox. Beat our mystery shows by a mile !
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O
Unforgotten - probably my favourite ever drama. Beautifully woven stories, with seemingly unconnected people gradually drawn into the same storyline. Wonderfully emotional performances as we see various hidden facets of people's lives sometimes painfully unravelled. Wonderful.
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G
Unforgotten is amazing! Season 4 is now available in the UK. I am anxious for it to be made available in the US so I can watch it.
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O
You need a proofreader. It's GranTchester. And I'm annoyed that so many "twist" endings in these shows (including Endeavor) has the woman as the murderer.
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R
Thank you for helping me find Fearless!
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B
Have you also watched Hinterland? Another brilliant series, this one set in Wales - in fact originally filmed all in Welsh, so good that Welsh tv remade it English for the rest of us. It’s must-see gritty cop brilliance with great characters, for three seasons.
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