Are you curious about what are the best crime shows on BBC iPlayer?
Well, there isn’t just one good BBC crime series but a whole list from which you can choose. You are offered some of the best crime shows on BBC iPlayer.
BBC iPlayer is a UK-based premium streaming service that is currently available to UK Viewers due to TV licensing and restrictions, but there is good news for Canadian BBC iPlayer fans, you can watch shows on BBC iPlayer with the help of a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN.
From Luther to Peaky Blinders to Line of Duty, BBC iPlayer has the best content on iPlayer. The production teams producing the best BBC mini-series and original dramas have combined the art of good storytelling and intriguing characters that set these shows apart from others.
So if you are up for a good BBC iPlayer – crime drama binge, we suggest you keep on reading.
What are the Best Crime Shows on BBC iPlayer to Stream Right Now?
For your viewing pleasure, we have compiled a list of the Best Crime Shows on BBC iPlayer. Our list has been compiled by looking at both the critic reviews and viewer feedback. Some of the best series on BBC iPlayer include.
Luther
Year of Release – 2010
Genre – Drama, Crime film, Adventure, Police procedural, Suspense
Creator – Neil Cross
Major Cast – Idris Elba, Ruth Wilson, Steven Mackintosh, Indira Varma, Paul McGann, Saskia Reeves
Number of series – 5 Seasons
Number of Episodes – 20 Episodes
Synopsis
John Luther (Idris Elba) is both obsessed with catching and is also in an unlikely friendship with the psychopathic murderer Alice Morgan. Starting off in a cat-and-mouse chase, Luther is unable to prove that Alice is guilty of her crimes. As the show progresses, Luther is faced with even more cunning and deceptive criminals and relies on Alice’s help.
Alongside the criminals, Luther is also using Alice’s help to avenge the death of his wife Zoe. Their unlikely partnership meets a destructive end when Alice fakes her own death to get away from Luther and gets caught in a criminal scheme.
Tokyo Vice
Year of Release – 2022
Genre – Crime
Creator – J. T. Rogers
Major Cast – Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rachel Keller, Hideaki Itō, Shō Kasamatsu, Ella Rumpf, Rinko Kikuchi, Tomohisa Yamashita
Number of series – 1 Season
Number of Episodes – 08 Episodes
Synopsis
The show stars Ansel Elgort as Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who has just moved to Tokyo, wanting to work as a journalist he joins the staff of a major newspaper in Tokyo. There he starts his career off as a rookie again and is taken under the wing by a veteran detective.
Getting his help, Jake sets out to understand the seedy underbelly of Japan and look into the corruption done by the Japanese Yakuza, who operate right under the nose of the officials in Tokyo.
Once you’re done watching the shows you can also easily delete BBC iPlayer account as per your convenience.
Peaky Blinders
Year of Release – 2013
Genre – Historical fiction, Crime drama
Creator – Steven Knight
Major Cast – Cillian Murphy, Sam Neill, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Annabelle Wallis
Number of series – 6 Seasons
Number of Episodes – 36 Episodes
Synopsis
A Crime period piece that has quickly become the fan favorite is just one way of describing the best BBC dramas of all time Peaky Blinders. The show tells the story of survival and how the soldiers, the street gangs, and the locals recover from the aftereffects of the great world war.
The story revolves around the Shelby family, especially Thomas Shelby, a returning war hero who is sucked into the world of street crime, but as the show progresses, he realizes that although crime may pay, maybe legitimate businesses pay more.
Granite Harbour
Year of Release – 2022
Genre – Police procedural, Drama
Creator – Donna Molloy
Major Cast – Romario Simpson, Hannah Donaldson
Number of series – 1 Season
Number of Episodes – 03 Episodes
Synopsis
The three-episode series plays more like a three-part movie, following the rookie cop Davis Lindo who dreams of becoming a Scotland Yard Detective but finds himself in the daily grime of police work.
On his first day on the Job, Davis is thrown into the murder case of a high-profile oil magnate in Aberdeen. This throws him off the deep end and led astray from his colleagues. Now he must find his way back and save the lives of others.
Line of Duty
Year of Release – 2012
Genre – Drama, Police procedural, Thriller
Creator – Jed Mercurio
Major Cast – Lennie James, Martin Compston, Vicky McClure, Keeley Hawes, Adrian Dunbar
Number of series – 6 Season
Number of Episodes – 36 Episodes
Synopsis
Line of Duty has one of the most compelling storylines as most crime shows feature detectives looking into the crimes of criminals outside the police force, Line of Duty follows DS Steve Arnott a firearms officer who is transferred from his previous team to the Ac-12 after he refuses to cover up an unlawful shooting by his previous division.
Now as a part of the AC-12 (Anti-corruption unit), he is joined by DC Kate Fleming and Superintendent Ted Hastings. Together, they must uncover the corruption that takes place within the police divisions.
Time
Year of Release – 2021
Genre – Crime film
Creator – Jimmy McGovern
Major Cast – Sean Bean, Stephen Graham
Number of series – 1 Season
Number of Episodes – 04 Episodes
Synopsis
The current BBC dramas have positive ratings from both critics and viewers alike. Featuring a very simple cast, Time revolves around Mark Cobden, a newly imprisoned inmate who is consumed with guilt about his crimes, and a prison officer who excels at his job protecting inmates, Eric McNally.
Although Eric is liked by many, he does have issues with inmates who he wrote down for violence against others. One of these inmates finds one of his weaknesses and uses it to his advantage, leaving McNally to make the hard choice between his family and his morals.
The Responder
Year of Release – 2021
Genre – Drama
Creator – Tony Schumacher
Major Cast – Martin Freeman, Adelayo Adedayo, Warren Brown, MyAnna Buring, Emily Fairn
Number of series – 1 Season
Number of Episodes – 6 Episodes
Synopsis
One of the best drama films on BBC iPlayer, The responder features Chris Carson an Urgent response officer who is forced to take on night shifts, a rookie partner who he is forced to take on and a dead end demotion that has caused a toll on his mental health.
Faced with both professional and real-life issues, his mental health is suffering. His silver lining shows up in the form of a young heroin addict that has come into his life.
Father Brown: Series 10
Year of Release – 2013
Genre – Drama, Crime
Creator – Rachel Flowerday, Tahsin Guner
Major Cast – Mark Williams, Sorcha Cusack, Hugo Speer, Kasia Koleczek, Tom Chambers
Number of series – 10 Seasons
Number of Episodes – 107 Episodes
Synopsis
Set in 1950’s Father Brown is one of the best comedy films on BBC iPlayer and features Mark Williams as the Roman Catholic Priest who in his free time or when his parish is involved solves crimes.
He is run by his passion and, at times, ignores his priest duties cause of his crime-solving incidents.
Happy Valley
Year of Release – 2014
Genre – Drama, Crime
Creator – Sally Wainwright
Major Cast – Sarah Lancashire, Siobhan Finneran, James Norton, George Costiga
Number of series – 3 Seasons
Number of Episodes – 18 Episodes
Synopsis
Catherine Cawood played by Sarah Lancashire is a hard-working police sergeant who is tasked with heading up a team of officers in a rural Yorkshire valley. She is returning to her work post her daughter’s suicide.
When a staged kidnapping spirals out of control and turns into a brutal series of crimes. Catherine finds herself involved in something that is significantly bigger than her rank, but unknowingly close to home.
Snowfall: Series 2
Year of Release – 2017
Genre – Crime drama, Serial drama
Creator – John Singleton, Eric Amadio, Dave Andron
Major Cast – Damson Idris, Carter Hudson, Emily Rios, Sergio Peris-Mencheta
Number of series – 5 Seasons
Number of Episodes – 50 Episodes
Synopsis
During the start of the drug epidemic in the 1980’s a crime family tries their luck in selling cocaine on the streets of Los Angeles, making good money for a while things go array when an undercover inspector gets involved.
Sherwood
Year of Release – 2022
Genre – Crime drama, Serial drama
Creator – James Graham
Major Cast – David Morrissey, Lesley Manville, Robert Glenister, Kevin Doyle, Claire Rushbrook
Number of series – 1 Season
Number of Episodes – 06 Episodes
Synopsis
When two unexpected and shocking high profile murders take place in an already fractured community it starts the largest search in Britain’s history. Looking at the world post-Brexit. The show is based on the real-life murders in Nottinghamshire, England in 2004.
Liked this movie? Then do watch Beyond Paradise on BBC iPlayer you will this show too.
The Mallorca Files
Year of Release – 2019
Genre – Drama
Creator – Dan Sefton
Major Cast – Elen Rhys, Julian Looman
Number of series – 2 Seasons
Number of Episodes – 16 Episodes
Synopsis
The Mallorca Files one of the best BBC dramas features Elen Rhys as Miranda Blake a Welsh Detective who is partnered with her polar opposite by the chief of Palma police, Max Winter played by Julian Looman who is a German Detective.
They must now work together to solve not just cases that involve the international community but also work on the police chief who only assigns them cases of less importance.
Wisting
Year of Release – 2019
Genre – Drama
Creator – Trygve Allister Diesen, Kathrine Valen Zeiner
Major Cast – Vegard Steiro Amundsen, Anne Elvedal, Kjersti Ugelstad, Trygve Allister Diesen
Number of series – 3 Seasons
Number of Episodes – 18 Episodes
Synopsis
Based on Novels by Jørn Lier Horst, The Caveman (2013) and The Hunting Dogs (2012) the show follows Homicide detectives William Wisting who is challenged in life by two of the most difficult cases of his life.
These cases are harder than the most he has solved in the past. His investigation into the serial killer who has killed two people in the most intriguing ways. His path is crossed by his daughter who is a journalist working on a crime story.
Silent Witness
Year of Release – 1996
Genre – Crime Drama
Creator – Nigel McCrery
Major Cast – Amanda Burton, John McGlynn, Clare Higgins, William Armstrong, Ruth McCabe
Number of series – 26 Seasons
Number of Episodes – 228 Episodes
Synopsis
The show follows the lives of several Forensic Pathologists who face different personal and professional challenges as they work hard to solve crimes. These scientists have exceptional skills that they utilize to solve crimes.
Are you into science and fiction then do watch Sci-Fi shows on BBC iPlayer.
Baptiste
Year of Release – 2019
Genre – Mystery
Creator – Harry Williams, Jack Williams
Major Cast – Tchéky Karyo, Tom Hollander, Jessica Raine
Number of series – 02 Seasons
Number of Episodes – 12 Episodes
Synopsis
The show follows Julien Baptiste reprising his role from the previous show “The Missing”. Following his brain tumor surgery and having lost a lot of his self-esteem, he is thrown back into the world of crime when the Dutch Police contact him to search for a missing sex worker.
Looking for ways where to watch it? well of course on BBC iPlayer but you can stream it on various devices even like BBC iPlayer on PS5, Xbox, Roku, etc.
Wrap-Up
BBC iPlayer is a great choice for a streaming service to watch crime series as it is compatible with most external streaming devices so there is no need to ask yourself can I watch BBC iPlayer on my Smart TV?
Subscribers can watch their favorite crime shows on BBC iPlayer on Firestick, and many more.
In this article, we discussed some of the best crime shows on BBC iPlayer that can make your vacation thrilling. Apart from shows you can watch some hit documentaries on BBC iPlayer.
Since the service is only available for UK users, if you want to watch BBC iPlayer in Canada, you will need the help of a BBC iPlayer VPN such as ExpressVPN.
We hope you will watch these shows and find them as intriguing as we did. Happy Streaming.