Most individuals don’t want to hear or see tinsel or Christmas carols for at least 11 months after Christmas; in fact, they may not want it to end. Furthermore, very few people are in the mood to relive the Bedford Falls scenes from It’s a Wonderful Life or watch Kevin McCallister from Home Alone act all sweet while ferociously defending his parents’ Chicago house.
In order to address this, Digital Trends has put together a helpful list of three television programs that are all created or set in Great Britain and center around the most un-Christmas-like genre of them all: crime. The next options include one of the best modern dramas ever made, a limited Netflix series featuring Maestro’s Carey Mulligan, and an incredibly underappreciated Irish television series from the BBC.
Happy Valley (2014-2023)
One of the most praised TV series ever is Happy Valley, which you may not be aware of. The British series, which made its premiere in 2014 and concluded with a third and final season last year, has earned numerous accolades, including two BAFTAs for Best Drama Series. The protagonist of the program is Catherine Cawood, an assiduous police sergeant who monitors West Yorkshire, England’s drug-ridden “happy valley.” Although Catherine is competent at her profession, she is not very good at anything else. She is divorced, prone to rage, still grieving the loss of her daughter, and finds it difficult to raise her grandson.
Sarah Lancashire, the actress who lends vivid personality to the very flawed Catherine and breathes life into the stale “tough policewoman” image, is mainly to blame for making Catherine one of the best characters ever developed for British television. Lancashire’s Catherine is always worth watching, even if some of what she says and does makes you want to turn away. Whether she’s looking into a human trafficking ring in her own backyard (season 2), investigating the kidnapping of a wealthy businessman (season 1), or discovering a covert drug operation involving a pharmacist and her grandson’s PE teacher (season 2).
AMC+ offers Happy Valley for streaming.
Dublin Murders (2019-)
It’s reasonable to consider Rob Reilly and Cassie Maddox, the male and female leads of Dublin Murders, to be a non-sci-fi adaptation of Mulder and Scully from The X-Files. They have a strong chemistry, are beautiful, and depend on one another to solve a peculiar string of crimes that occur in—you guessed it—Dublin. Rob and Cassie must face something scarier than extraterrestrials or otherworldly mischievous activities, though: their own inner demons.
Dublin Murders only aired for one season in 2019, but the show is based on two novels: The Likeness by Tana French, which has Cassie investigating the murder of a woman who looks exactly like her, and In The Woods by French, which tells the story of a past disappearance of two children and how it relates to a current kidnapping of a young girl. It’s a two-for-one type of deal, with one sleek packaging holding two distinct mysteries. Dublin Murders has a fantastic sense of location and time—it makes you want to leave your current place of residence and move to Ireland—but the two main characters are what really elevate the show. There should be a second season immediately because they are so amazing.
Dublin Murders is available for free viewing on The Roku Channel and is now available on Starz.
Collateral (2018)
No, this isn’t the Tom Cruise movie from 2004 and it has nothing to do with Michael Mann’s fantastic film. A 2018 limited series called This Collateral revolves around the murder of a pizza delivery man and a progressively widening web of crime, corruption, and death including politicians, clergy, and law enforcement. The show consists of four episodes.
Detective Inspector Kip Glaspie, played by Carey Mulligan in Maestro, is tasked with looking into a murder that has connections to an illegal immigration scheme that affects both England and other nations. Collateral, starring Billie Piper from Doctor Who, Nicola Walker, Ben Miles, and John Simm, is the epitome of a British crime drama: it’s sharp, gripping, and never fails to make an impression. In addition, Mulligan gives one of his best performances ever, and the movie is more relevant now in 2024 than it was when it debuted six years ago.
Collateral is streaming on Netflix.
