Shows Like Broadchurch That Crime Drama Fans Need To Watch

"Broadchurch" was a breakthrough British crime drama. It crossed shores, turned David Tennant into a serious dramatic actor, and finally got Olivia Colman the recognition she'd long deserved. Airing in 2013—just a year after his final appearance as The Doctor in the "Doctor Who" 50th Anniversary special—Tennant's intense performance as DI Alec Hardy turned heads. Colman was no newcomer, having starred in hit series like "Peep Show," "Green Wing," and "Beautiful People." Like Tennant, she gave a revelatory performance that got her noticed internationally as a dramatic force to be reckoned with.

Essentially a dark noir/whodunit, its first series finds Tennant's Hardy attempting to settle down in a quiet coastal village after a scandal. He soon gets drawn into the investigation of a missing child found dead on the shore. The child's mother, played by future Doctor Jodie Whittaker, is distraught and obsessed with finding the killer. Following the family's grief and growing suspicion within the community, each episode centers on a new suspect, with each new accusation exposing more of the town's dark secrets.

Created by Chris Chibnall, its three seasons stand as one of the best in the genre, and opened American eyes to British crime dramas with its dark, gritty storytelling. Its stellar cast also included David Bradley ("Harry Potter"), Phoebe Waller-Bridge ("Fleabag"), and James D'Arcy ("Agent Carter"). If you loved "Broadchurch," what should you watch next? Take a seat—we've got some recommendations.

Perhaps the least like "Broadchurch," and the only 'based on a true story' series on this list, "The Assets" stars Jodie Whittaker in a six-part series. It recounts the dramatic search and capture of a secret double agent within the CIA and the biggest intelligence leak in U.S. history at the time. Wildly misunderstood by both audiences and the studio that made it, which never knew quite how to market it, "The Assets" fared so poorly in ratings that the final episodes never made it to broadcast, even after two attempts to air the series. Thankfully, it got a new life on Netflix later that year, and was picked up by Alibi in the UK in 2018 ahead of Whittaker's debut on "Doctor Who."

Starring "Broadchurch's" Jodie Whittaker as real-life CIA agent Sandy Grimes, "The Assets" is a truly breathtaking spy thriller, and that it's based on a true story only makes it that much more powerful and fascinating. Viewers follow the treasonous actions of Aldrich Ames, a CIA counterintelligence agent who is clandestinely leaking secrets to the Soviet Union, all while trying desperately to evade the special team of his colleagues assembled by Grimes to catch him. Secret midnight exchanges with foreign agents, thrilling car chases, daring escapes galore. You might think that the events have been melodramatically embellished or overly exaggerated, but the series is surprisingly accurate, down to some of the smallest details.

Like "Broadchurch," "Happy Valley" is a British crime drama centered on a kidnapping and murder, but this is an even darker tale. Often cited as one of Britain's best, "Happy Valley" centers on Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire, a veteran police sergeant living in a small Calder Valley village. Still recovering from her daughter's suicide, she gets entangled in a plot involving a disgruntled accountant who, with the help of two felons, plots to kidnap his employer's daughter. During her investigation, Catherine discovers that one of the people involved may have been responsible for her daughter's suicide.

At first glance, the plot does bear a striking resemblance to the film "Fargo," the 1996 Coen Bros. classic. On the surface, you might be fooled into thinking this is was inspired by it. But beyond the synopsis and some surface similarities, it's a very different story. The highlight for most will be the performances. In this case, it's Lancashire's impressive turn as a police sergeant looking for closure after a deep loss.

"Happy Valley," unlike "Broadchurch," is not really a mystery or whodunit; we learn most of the details of the crime fairly early on. Instead, the series focuses on the inner turmoil of Sergeant Cawood, and her attempts to heal from her past and work through her trauma. 

Based on the series of Swedish crime novels by Henning Mankell, "Wallander" was previously adapted into a long-running series of telefilms in its native Sweden some years prior (also highly recommended if you enjoy foreign-language crime dramas). Here Kenneth Branagh takes over as the title character, a detective and police inspector in the small town of Ystad, Sweden. Setting the events in Sweden adds uniqueness to the series, and keeps it true to its source material, as opposed to moving it to London for the English-language adaptation.

Alongside star Kenneth Branagh, the 2008 series boasts an impressive cast that also includes Tom Hiddleston in the breakout role that got him the part of Loki in Marvel's Branagh-directed "Thor" film two years later. Regularly featuring some by-the-numbers crime stories and police drama that might otherwise evoke such common fare as "Law & Order," it's really Branagh's performance that makes the show so special. A nuanced man, Kurt Wallander is instilled with a brilliant performance by one of Britain's brightest talents. 

"Wallander" was acclaimed for the entirety of its run, and so beloved that it even spawned the regrettably titled but just as highly rated spinoff and 'pre-imagining' called "Young Wallander" in 2020. 

Part of a sub-subgenre of cop shows where a troubled detective has a paranormal gift, "River" stars Stellan Skarsgård ("Thor") as Detective John River, a man cursed with the ability to see and commune with the dead. The premise alone may have some viewers looking for the door but trust us, this one's not quite the cliche it sounds. For one, the series plays it straight and dark. The stories are anything but simple, with mysteries that will truly have you struggling to see what's coming next.

Skarsgård elevates the premise too, taking what might seem hokey at first and turning it into serious art with his solid acting chops. Detective River opens the series having recently witnessed his partner's murder. Still able to see her, he struggles to get over the loss. The logic of the premise strains credulity, even discounting its innate implausibility, but Skarsgård and some stellar writing make it work. While some shows like "Psych" or "Monk" have played with a version of this concept before, asking the question of whether a sleuth with an extrasensory ability is gifted or certifiable, it's rare to see the idea taken to the sincere extreme, with no trace of humor or irony.

Like "The Fall," this 2011 murder mystery boasts another stellar performance in the part of "The Suicide Squad's" Joel Kinnaman, who turns heads playing Detective Stephen Holder. But the real standout is the vastly underrated Mireille Enos as homicide detective Sarah Linden. Running for three fantastic seasons on AMC, it was scooped up by Netflix for a final fourth season that aired on the streaming service.

"The Killing" initially follows the intrepid pair of investigators as they hunt down the killer of a young girl. The victim's family struggles to work through the grief without justice or closure. Meanwhile, in a twist that's unusual for police procedurals, government intrigue follows when a political campaign gets entangled in the case. Enos and Kinnaman have great chemistry as partnered detectives, with a deliberate intensity that builds slowly over the course of the series.

Though the term is often thrown around about every drama these days, "The Killing" is the rare show that truly is addictive, and you'll have trouble not binging the entire series' 44 episodes in a handful of sittings. 

Billed as a police procedural, "Criminal: UK" is anything but run-of-the-mill. It's kind of like a darker, grittier "Law & Order" and a dramatized version of "To Tell the Truth" combined. The crime drama/psychological thriller anthology from Netflix features an all-star rotating cast, including appearances by David Tennant ("Broadchurch"), Hayley Atwell ("Agent Carter"), and Kit Harrington ("Game of Thrones"). Highly acclaimed, it has been spun off into international markets with "Criminal: Spain," "Criminal: Germany," and "Criminal: France," though none of these extensions has received the same accolades as the original.

Each episode of "Criminal: UK" has a new cast of characters, different detectives, unique suspects, different solicitors, and a different crime to solve. Each standalone story is set almost entirely within the confines of the interrogation room, where investigators must engage in mind games with their suspects to get to the truth and solve their case. The audience goes along for the ride as investigators piece clues together. It's hard not to try to figure it out yourself. Setting nearly the entire episode within the cramped interview room creates a sense of tension and claustrophobia that would be hard to match otherwise. It ultimately delivers a nail-biting whodunit.