Calling all rosbifs

[Zoupa]

So I'm on a bit of a British police procedural binge. So far I've watched Luther, Broadchurch, Happy Valley, Line of Duty and I'm starting Shetland. I think I also saw the first season of The Fall, but couldn't stomach Gillian Anderson's accent.

Any recommendations?

[Zoupa]

Oh I've also seen Strike. Holliday Grainger 

[Malthus]

What is it with the British and murder mysteries anyway? Watching TV shows, you get the impression half the population of cozy English villages is busy plotting to murder the other half. 😄

[Eddie Teach]

I think I saw her play Bonnie Parker. Is she British?

[Grey Fox]

Hinterland's fine.

[merithyn]

Hinterland's fine.

I like Hinterland. I also like Broadchurch, Marcella, Shetland, Midsommer Murders (good if a bit kitschy), Miss Fisher (which is Australian, but same idea) and Father Brown. I've been thinking about starting Young Morse, Vera, Ripper Street, and Luther.

[merithyn]

What's a "rosbif", by the way?

[Admiral Yi]

What's a "rosbif", by the way?

Englishman.

Roast beef, because they turn red in the sun.

[Richard Hakluyt]

What is it with the British and murder mysteries anyway? Watching TV shows, you get the impression half the population of cozy English villages is busy plotting to murder the other half. 😄

My theory : we want to kill our neighbours but we don't really think that would be right so murder mysteries provide a kind of catharsis 

[Gups]

Police procedurals aren't really my thing but I've heard that Prime Suspect, Marcella and Cracker are good

[Josquius]

I like watching Vera and shouting at the TV as she teleports from one end of the city to the other in seconds.

The Fall was good. Though the Swedish original may be better. Never seen it to know. The Channel Tunnel one was good too. Again copying Sweden.

White House Farm and Des were good recent miniseries.

One thing I do really like, though its going off genre and into reality, are 24 Hours in Police Custody and Catching a Killer.

[Sheilbh]

Roast beef, because they turn red in the sun.

Isn't it because roast beef is the national dish - like frogs legs? (Because roast beef is not red - raw beef is red ) - certainly in the 18th century it's the common English trope in Hogarath etc of rotund, well-fed Brits eating the beef of old England while the French are skinny, over-fancy and dining on soup If it was about the sun wouldn't they call us lobsters?

Hinterland (set in rural Wales), Marcella, Vera and Unforgotten are all pretty good - and mostly on Netflix. The Dublin Murders are obviously Irish but very good and tonally pretty similar. If available Prime Suspect is excellent - and Helen Mirren's performance over 20 years or so is probably one of the best prolonged portrayals of a character. Criminal Justice is very good (later adapted into The Night Of by HBO). I also quite like the Rebus adaptations.

Endeavour and Inspector Lewis which are both spin-offs of Morse are pretty decent.

Also it's very differnt tonally from most British crime dramas - not least because a pretty big chunk of it is in Tokyo - but Giri/Haji is one of the best shows I've seen in recent years. It's very weird and bold at points and shouldn't work but it's great.

The Fall was good. Though the Swedish original may be better. Never seen it to know. The Channel Tunnel one was good too. Again copying Sweden.

I think The Fall's original. I liked the first series but thought it went off the tracks after that. Didn't get to Channel Tunnel - and in terms of Swedish adaptations, I'm a pretty big fan of Kenneth Branagh's Wallander.

Police procedurals aren't really my thing but I've heard that Prime Suspect, Marcella and Cracker are good

Cracker is incredible but it's a nightmare to get on any streaming service - and even on DVD it's pretty tough which is really weird. As well as Robbie Coltrane and Ricky Tomlinson the early turns by people like young Robert Carlyle are really good.

What is it with the British and murder mysteries anyway? Watching TV shows, you get the impression half the population of cozy English villages is busy plotting to murder the other half. 😄

I think they're often huge sellers overseas for TV companies (like period dramas). I know that Midsommer Murders is extremely popular in former Yugoslavia for some reason

But I think it all probably goes back to Agatha Christie and the golden age of detective novels - we've always loved a whodunit. I can't remember who but some French writer talking about Christie called it "crosswords for sociopaths" which is not far wrong

[Sheilbh]

Oh! Also - River.

[Zoupa]

So far I've watched River, Unforgotten and Giri/Haji.

Different styles, but all excellent I'd say.

[Jacob]

Police procedurals aren't really my thing but I've heard that Prime Suspect, Marcella and Cracker are good

I really enjoyed the first several seasons of Prime Suspect, but that's quite a few years ago. Helen Mirren is excellent in the main role, as one would expect.