Best tv shows like A Touch of Frost
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A Touch of Frost is a television detective series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV from 1992 until 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R.D. Wingfield. Writing credit for the three episodes in the first 1992 series went to Richard Harris, with screenplays credited to Wingfield. The series stars David Jason as Detective Inspector William Edward "Jack" Frost, an experienced and dedicated detective who frequently clashes with his superiors. In his cases, Frost is assisted by a variety of different detective sergeants, with each bringing a different slant to the particular case. Comic relief is provided by Frost's interactions with the bureaucratically minded Superintendent Norman Mullett, played by Bruce Alexander. A number of young actors had their major debut as supporting cast in the show, including Matt Bardock, Ben Daniels, Neil Stuke, Nathaniel Parker, Mark Letheren, Colin Buchanan, Jason Maza, Damian Lewis and Marc Warren.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: detective, crime drama, sincere, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, witty
Best tv shows and movies like A Touch of Frost (1992):
Similar in 87%
Dandelion Dead (1994)
Plot Summary:
This is a dramatisation of the true story of Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong, a solicitor and magistrate's clerk who lived in the small Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye. In 1921 he was arrested and charged with poisoning his domineering wife, Catherine, and later attempting to poison a business rival, Oswald Martin, by administering arsenic to them. At his trial, Armstrong claimed that he had bought the arsenic simply to kill the dandelions on his lawn. However he was convicted of murder and executed in 1922.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 366
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: period drama
Similar in 79%
No Offence (2015)
Plot Summary:
Keeping these streets clean is a Herculean task, enough to demoralize even the keenest rookie – but there’s a reason why this hotchpotch of committed cops are on this force, on this side of town. Drug labs, arsonists, neo-Nazis and notorious murderers are all in a day’s work for this close-knit team, led by the dizzyingly capable but unquestionably unhinged DI Vivienne Deering. But when a particularly twisted serial killer emerges it leaves even the most hardened of these seasoned coppers reeling.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, detective, dark comedy, crime drama, black comedy
Similar in 84%
Zen (2011)
Plot Summary:
Zen is a British television mini series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the BBC, co-produced with WGBH Boston for its Masterpiece anthology series, Mediaset and ZDF. It stars Rufus Sewell and Caterina Murino and is based on the Aurelio Zen detective novels by Michael Dibdin. The series was filmed on location in Italy, but the dialogue is in English. The series, which comprises three 90-minute films, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sunday evenings from 2 January 2011 on BBC One. The three films were based on the books Vendetta, Cabal and Ratking.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK, Italy, Germany
Duration: 270 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, sexy, detective, serious, suspenseful, dark, crime drama, clever, realistic, stylized
Similar in 78%
Scene of the Crime (1970)
Plot Summary:
Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss, crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF 2 in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland. The first episode was broadcast on November 29, 1970. The opening sequence for the series has remained the same throughout the decades, which remains highly unusual for any such long-running TV series up to date. Each of the regional TV channels which together form ARD, plus ORF and SF, produces its own episodes, starring its own police inspector, some of which, like the discontinued Schimanski, have become cultural icons. The show appears on DasErste and ORF 2 on Sundays at 8:15 p.m. and currently about 30 episodes are made per year. As of March 2013, 865 episodes in total have been produced. Tatort is currently being broadcast in the United States on the MHz Worldview channel under the name Scene of the Crime.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: West Germany, Austria, Switzerland
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, witty, realistic, anthology, detective
Similar in 76%
Dalziel and Pascoe (1996)
Plot Summary:
A British crime drama based on the "Dalziel and Pascoe" series of books by Reginald Hill, set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Wetherton. The unlikely duo of politically incorrect elephant-in-a-china-shop-copper Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel (pronounced Dee-ell) and his more sensitive and university educated sidekick Detective Sargent, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe is always on hand to solve the classic murder mystery, while maintaining a down to earth wit and humour.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, detective, crime drama, tense, realistic, witty, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Partners in Crime (1983)
Plot Summary:
Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime is a 1983 British television series based on the short stories of the same name by Agatha Christie. It was directed by John A. Davis and Tony Wharmby, and starred James Warwick and Francesca Annis in the leading roles of husband and wife sleuths Tommy and Prudence 'Tuppence' Beresford. Reece Dinsdale co-starred as Albert in all except episodes 3 and 5. The series follows the adventures and exploits of the Beresfords, who have recently taken over the running of a detective agency based in London, and each episode features one of the stories from the book. Among these are a quest for missing jewels, the investigation of poltergeists and a story involving poisoned chocolates. The series followed the short stories closely with two notable exceptions: First, the detective parodies, although alluded to on occasion, were for the most part dispensed with. Secondly, the story arc of the blue Russian letters and the search for the agent known as Number 16 were also dispensed with. For this reason three chapters were not adapted. The series' original run was immediately preceded by transmission on 9 October 1983 of the same production team's adaptation of Christie's second novel The Secret Adversary, which also starred Annis and Warwick in the same roles and which acted as an introduction for viewers to Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 860
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: detective, atmospheric, clever, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, semi serious
Similar in 87%
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: Nemesis (1987)
Plot Summary:
Miss Marple receives a most interesting request from Mr. Jason Rafiel, with whom she'd struck an acquaintance some years before. He would like her to solve a crime but, does not tell her what it might be, who might have been involved or where it might have occurred. In fact, he can't be sure that a crime was committed at all. The only information she gets is a booking on a tour of stately homes and gardens so, along with her nephew and godson Lionel, she sets off to see what she can learn. When they reach the village of Abbey Ducis, it begins to make sense. Not only did Mr. Rafiel live in the area it is also where his son Michael was accused, though never convicted, of murdering his fiancée, Verity Hunt. Father and son were long estranged but Michael lives rough and has so ever since. There is also the apparent coincidence that another young woman, Nora Brent, went missing at the same time as Verity and was last being seen in Michael Rafiel's car.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, suspenseful, realistic, mind bending
Similar in 88%
Father Brown (2013)
Plot Summary:
Father Brown is based on G. K. Chesterton's detective stories about a Catholic priest who doubles as an amateur detective in order to try and solve mysteries.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, intellectual, suspenseful, detective, realistic, crime drama, suspense, exciting, funny
Similar in 85%
Rosemary & Thyme (2003)
Plot Summary:
Rosemary & Thyme is a British television mystery series starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as gardening detectives Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme. The show began on ITV in 2003. The third series ended in August 2007. The theme is murder mysteries in the setting of professional gardening jobs. It was created by Brian Eastman to entertain his wife, Christabel Albery, who is an avid gardener. The show was directed by Brian Farnham, Simon Langton, and Tom Clegg. Clive Exton, who helped create the show, contributed 10 of the 22 scripts.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: feel good, realistic, captivating, clever, detective, semi serious, crime drama, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
The Last Detective (2003)
Plot Summary:
The Last Detective is an ITV drama starring Peter Davison as Dangerous Davies. The first series aired in 2003 with three more seasons succeeding this. The first consisted of a pilot and three episodes, the second and the third series both consisted of four normal episodes and the fourth series increased the run to five episodes and the duration of each individual episode to 90 minutes as opposed to the previous 70-minute format. As of 2007 this series had 17 episodes in total.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: detective, clever, realistic, suspenseful, dark, crime drama, semi serious
Similar in 79%
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2001)
Plot Summary:
Inspector Lynley TV Series.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, suspenseful, crime drama, tense, captivating, disturbing, dark, sincere
Similar in 87%
Waking the Dead (2000)
Plot Summary:
Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case unit composed of CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000, and there have been a total of nine series since. Each story is split into two hour-long episodes, shown on consecutive nights on BBC One. A third series episode won an International Emmy Award in 2004. The programme was also shown on BBC America in the United States, though these screenings are edited to allow for advertising breaks, as well as UKTV in Australia and New Zealand and ABC1 in Australia. The show aired its final episode on 11 April 2011. A spin-off from the series, titled The Body Farm, revolving around forensic scientist Eve Lockhart, was announced by the BBC in January 2011 and ran for just one series.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, realistic, detective, crime drama, rough, serious, gloomy
Similar in 78%
Rebus (2000)
Plot Summary:
Rebus is the title of the detective drama TV series based on the Inspector Rebus novels by the Scottish author Ian Rankin set in and around Edinburgh. The series was produced by STV Productions for the ITV network. Four seasons have been aired; series 1 starred John Hannah and was made for STV by his own production company, Clerkenwell Films. A new cast featuring Ken Stott as DI John Rebus was introduced for the second and subsequent series.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, crime drama, detective, suspense, clever
Similar in 76%
Cracker (1993)
Plot Summary:
The wise-cracking Fitz is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: clever, detective, crime drama, rough, witty, dark, psychological, tense, sincere, realistic
Similar in 78%
Inspector George Gently (2007)
Plot Summary:
Crime drama set in the 1960s about an old-school detective trying to come to terms with a time when the lines between the police and criminals have become blurred.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, suspenseful, crime drama, clever, realistic, dark, period drama
Similar in 79%
Shetland (2013)
Plot Summary:
Created from the novels by award winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, Shetland follows DI Jimmy Perez and his team as they investigate crime within the close knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team have to rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, tense, crime drama, serious, stylized, detective, suspense, realistic, noir, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Vera (2011)
Plot Summary:
A sharp detective with a messy life, DCI Vera Stanhope patrols her “patch” of northeast England, pursuing the truth in cases of murder, kidnapping, and blackmail. Vera is obsessive about her work and faces the world with caustic wit, guile and courage.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, detective, crime drama, captivating, costume drama, hardboiled detective, suspenseful, stylized, tense
Similar in 89%
New Tricks (2003)
Plot Summary:
New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, crime drama, serious, realistic, tense, captivating, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Cold Squad (1998)
Plot Summary:
Cold Squad is a Canadian police procedural television series first broadcast in 1998 that followed the investigations of a part of the Vancouver Police Department Homicide Division tasked with solving cold cases, the titular Cold Squad, as led by Sergeant Ali McCormick. The cast of Cold Squad was diverse and changing, McCormick being the only character to appear in all 7 seasons. Some notable series regulars include Detective Tony Logozzo in seasons 1-2, Sgt. Frank Coscarella in seasons 3-4, Sgt. Len Harper in seasons 5-7, Insp. Vince Schneider season 1, Insp. Simon Ross season 2, Insp. Andrew Pawlachuk seasons 3-7, Det. Mickey Kollander seasons 3-6, Det. Nicco Sevallis seasons 3-6, Christine Wren seasons 4-7, as well as Det. Samantha Walters and Const. Ray Chase in season 7. Between the second and third seasons, almost the entire on-screen cast other than Julie Stewart were replaced. This along with the new sets, a significant revamp of the credits and theme music, and even having McCormick's hair change from auburn to dirty-blonde all contributed to a considerable reworking of the series.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 629
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, crime drama, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
DCI Banks (2010)
Plot Summary:
A thrilling drama based on the novels by Peter Robinson. Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe star as the tenacious and stubborn Chief Inspector Alan Banks and the feisty and headstrong Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: detective, realistic, crime drama, tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, dark, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Foyle's War (2002)
Plot Summary:
As WW2 rages around the world, DCS Foyle fights his own war on the home-front as he investigates crimes on the south coast of England. Foyle's War opens in southern England in the year 1940. Later series sees the retired detective working as an MI5 agent operating in the aftermath of the war.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, War
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, captivating, detective, suspenseful, realistic, crime drama, atmospheric, dark, period piece
Similar in 82%
Agatha Christie's Marple (2004)
Plot Summary:
The show follows the adventures of Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster living in the quiet little village of St Mary Mead. During her many visits to friends and relatives in other villages, Miss Marple often stumbles upon mysterious murders which she helps solve. Although the police are sometimes reluctant to accept Miss Marple's help, her reputation and unparalleled powers of observation eventually win them over.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, detective, realistic, suspenseful, tense, captivating, suspense, slasher, anthology
Similar in 81%
Midsomer Murders (1997)
Plot Summary:
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, detective, crime drama, realistic, serious, suspenseful, clever, dark, slasher, thrilling
Similar in 78%
Inspector Morse (1987)
Plot Summary:
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis, as well as a large cast of notable actors and actresses.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: detective, crime drama, sincere, realistic, atmospheric, suspense, sitcom, clever, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Murdoch Mysteries (2008)
Plot Summary:
A Victorian-era Toronto detective uses then-cutting edge forensic techniques to solve crimes, with the assistance of a female coroner who is also struggling for recognition in the face of tradition, based on the books by Maureen Jennings.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, clever, stylized, detective, sad, costume drama, crime drama, historical drama, serious, mind bending
Similar in 82%
Broadchurch (2013)
Plot Summary:
The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 124000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: emotional, tense, clever, realistic, serious, detective, crime drama, gloomy, dramatic, crime thriller
Similar in 82%
Chasing Shadows (2014)
Plot Summary:
Chasing Shadows' follows a team of special operatives who are tracking down serial killers.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective, crime drama, captivating, suspense
Similar in 89%
Grantchester (2014)
Plot Summary:
Drama series set in 1953, against the backdrop of the real hamlet of Grantchester. The drama focuses upon the life of Sidney Chambers, a charismatic, charming clergyman who turns investigative vicar when one of his parishioners dies in suspicious circumstances.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, detective, crime drama, period piece, slasher, costume drama, historical drama, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
Columbo (1971)
Plot Summary:
Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: clever, captivating, detective, suspenseful, serious, realistic, retro, witty, spiritual, anthology
Similar in 84%
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)
Plot Summary:
From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: clever, realistic, captivating, detective, serious, suspenseful, exciting, stylized, crime drama, spiritual