And so here we are at the end. I don’t know how many episodes of contemporary British detective television I’ve watched. Hundreds. A thousand. Of those, maybe three or four of them I regret—but the other nine-hundred and whatever were great time-wasters when I needed
Here is the robe I want. Minute three, second 15, Jeremy Brett playing Sherlock Holmes. Smoking at the table, he wears a coat of taupe draping that looks heavy enough to be worn outdoors in the snow, but so soft (is it merino? Boiled wool?) it’s appropriate at 4
To try and demonstrate why Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers is the third best detective in contemporary British television, as viewed by me, I bottomed out in YouTube and woke up in a dumpster of mush clips, or mash videos, or something—I have no idea what they’re called, but
Robbie Lewis (Kevin Whately) isn’t what you’d call lucky. As the sidekick in Inspector Morse, Lewis was a beat-up, working-class dad/husband/copper with baggy cheeks who, for 13 seasons, played straight man to Morse’s older, wiser, eccentric genius. Then Morse died and Lewis got
I only hear bad things about the new American take on Prime Suspect. Too bad, because I only say good things about the original series. Prime Suspect defined the contemporary police procedural. It had two runs, first during the ’90s, then beginning again in 2004. Its star was Helen Mirren,
I’m not the only one who enjoys getting lost in the Cumberbatch. Legions of Cumberbatch fans roam the internet like Medieval highwaymen, hijacking comment threads and shooting them up with Sherlock mania. Benedict Cumberbatch—the man sounds like his own classification of mania. “But I can’t go outside,
Your typical genius-detective’s sidekick isn’t a trouble-free job. The application form reads like the Boy Scout Law: “Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.” Point by point, then. Trustworthy: The genius detective must have faith in your silence, your belief
Unless my team is playing, I’m on the underdog’s side. According to the latest Radiolab episode, so are most people—90 percent in some studies. That means when I’m watching detective programs, I have a soft spot for the police inspectors, particularly those who have to work
From episode one, I wanted to love Morse. I’m sure loads adored him. Morse had so much going for him—intuition, a temper, a love for beer to duel with his upper-middle-class condescension—I’m sure John Thaw, who played Morse for 13 years, had to shoo
As Stringer Bell on The Wire, Idris Elba played the thinking man’s drug dealer—an accountant who’s not afraid to kill. In Luther, he plays the thinking man’s detective—an analyst who’s not afraid to put himself in harm’s way, even to the point of
