If you’re a fan of television crime dramas and have yet to discover the fantastic, gritty offerings being produced in Britain, you’ve really been missing out. Here are some great examples to get you started, and since they’re currently part of Amazon’s Prime Video catalog, you can watch them for free if you’ve got a Prime membership.
Those who don’t have a Prime membership: click here to get a free, 30-day trial of Amazon Prime. With it, you’ll be able to stream as many programs from the Prime Video Catalog as you like all month long, and also enjoy free, 2-day shipping on most products ordered from Amazon. With weddings, graduations, Mother’s and Father’s Days coming up, it’s an ideal time to take advantage of the free trial.
Touching Evil (4.5/5 stars, guidance suggested, currently FREE for Amazon Prime members to view, priced at $4.99 per episode and $9.99 for all three episodes in the season to buy; note that each “episode” is over 90 minutes long) – From IMDB:
Touching Evil is a crime drama following the exploits of a crack squad on the Organised & Serial Crime Unit, a rapid response police force that serves the entire county.
– Written by Loryn
Season One: Episode 1 – Creegan races against time to find three recently abducted young boys. Despite Taylor’s reservations, he zeroes in on a suspect who leaves a distinctive calling card at the scenes of the crime. But when the man appears likely to walk free, Creegan decides to take matters into his own hands.
Season One: Episode 2 – The death of three hospital patients in one night from drug overdoses suggests euthanasia. But these are not simply mercy killings. Drawing from his own near-death experience, Creegan focuses on a murderer with whom he shares a surprising commonality.
Season One: Episode 3 – Someone is stabbing horses as part of a worldwide, Internet-based crime ring. As the police close in on those responsible, the drug-fueled attacks escalate to human mutilation and murder. Believing these are copycat killings, Creegan visits an unorthodox source to lure out the mastermind behind them.
Above Suspicion (4/5 stars, guidance suggested, currently FREE for Amazon Prime members to view, priced at $4.99 per episode and $8.99 for both episodes in the season to buy; note that each “episode” is over an hour long) – Young Detective Constable Anna Travis joins the homicide team led by D.C.I. Langton (played by the wonderful Ciaran Hinds).
Note that the two “episodes” in this season are actually two halves of a single story – From IMDB:
Young Detective Constable Anna Travis joins the team led by D.C.I. Langton to investigate a series of gruesome murders of young women, which first began eight years previously. All the victims were prostitutes and all killed in the same way. Then a seventh body is found but this is the corpse of a student, though a vital piece of evidence links her death to the others, involving a house in Manchester where Alan Daniels, a popular young actor, grew up. Anna goes undercover to get to know him better but finds herself getting emotionally involved.
– Written by don
Above Suspicion Season One, Part One
Above Suspicion Season One, Part Two
Season Two of Above Suspicion follows a case very similar to the infamous Black Dahlia case from here in the United States. This season of the show has three episodes, each over an hour long. This season is also currently FREE for Amazon Prime members to view, and priced at $4.99 per episode and $9.99 for all three episodes in the season to buy.
Above Suspicion – Season Two, Episode One – A young woman’s body is found by the Thames, horribly mutilated and drained of blood. It’s exactly like the famously unsolved Black Dahlia murder that happened in Los Angeles–in 1947. When Anna’s senior officer, DCI Morgan, falls ill, Langton steps in.
Above Suspicion – Season Two, Episode Two – After a second victim is discovered, Anna gets too close to a journalist that the copycat killer has involved in the case. When an angry Langton suspends her, Anna has her own reasons to regret the attachment. A suspect is identified, but he has an alibi.
Above Suspicion, Season Two, Episode Three – An anonymous tip leads Anna and Langton to a deeply troubled family with long-buried secrets, a vain and arrogant father, and a fiercely protective housekeeper. When the murderer is cornered, the case takes a shocking final turn.