Best tv shows like Spiral
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Spiral is a French television police drama series created by the TV production company Son et Lumière. The first eight episodes series started on Canal+ in France on 13 December 2005. It returned for a second series, partly funded by the BBC, of eight episodes on 12 May 2008, a third series of twelve episodes on 3 May 2010 and a fourth series of twelve episodes on 3 September 2012. A fifth and sixth series have been ordered. Spiral has been a great export success, with sales to broadcasters in some 70 countries, among them Australia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The series was first shown in the UK on BBC Four during the summer of 2006. It was the channel's first French-language drama series, attracting a modest but loyal audience and firm critical approval. On 13 September 2009, BBC Four started showing the second series, on 2 April 2011 the third series and on 9 February 2013 the fourth series. In Australia, the first series was broadcast in 2008 on SBS One, the second series on SBS Two from September 2009 and the third series on SBS Two from mid-2012. Spiral debuted in North America via Netflix in September 2012; in November 2012, the small public-broadcasting network MHz Worldview began transmitting the series in the US.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, detective, noir, crime drama, bleak, realistic, stylized
Best tv shows and movies like Spiral (2005):
Similar in 82%
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 76%
Collision (2009)
Plot Summary:
Collision is a five-part television drama miniseries, which debuted on ITV & UTV in November 2009. In the same month, it was also on PBS as a series in two parts. It tells the story of a group of strangers whose lives intertwine following a devastating car crash. The crash opens a number of startling revelations as stories of everything from government cover-ups and smuggling, to embezzlement and murder start to unravel. The series is open-ended, with a number of unresolved issues; moreover, the story is ostensibly resolved in a metafictional manner with a flashback to an incident in the service station and the swatting of a wasp, which precipitates the initial crash, thus allowing the characters to carry on on their journeys. The wasp as a motif and theme is frequently in evidence throughout the series. The original British broadcast of Collision was edited from the original 5 hours down to three and a half hours. The American broadcast on PBS's Masterpiece Contemporary, the Australian broadcast on ABC1 and the Region 1 DVD release all featured the shortened version. In Australia, Foxtel and Austar's W Channel aired Collision in its original format of five 45-minute episodes, Tuesday, 15 March 2011.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 201 min
Plot tags: detective, realistic, tense, serious, suspenseful, dark, crime drama
Similar in 90%
Jo (2013)
Plot Summary:
Jo is an English-language French police procedural television series created by Canadian/USA screenwriter René Balcer of Law & Order fame with French writing team Franck Ollivier & Malina Detcheva, known for the mini-series Lost Signs. It is co-produced by the French Atlantique Productions and the Belgian Stromboli Pictures companies in association with broadcast partners TF1, RTBF, Sat.1, ORF and RTS.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: France, UK
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, rough, realistic, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 87%
The Bay (2019)
Plot Summary:
Family Liaison Officer Lisa Armstrong becomes a little too emotionally involved with a case (to the point where she might compromise it) concerning a pair of missing Morecambe twins to whose distraught parents she is assigned.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: detective, crime drama, tense, clever, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
Murder in the First (2014)
Plot Summary:
Murder in the First follows homicide detectives Terry English and Hildy Mulligan as they investigate a multitude of tragedies in San Francisco.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: exciting, detective, tense, suspense, suspenseful, sexy
Similar in 80%
Wallander (2005)
Plot Summary:
Wallander is a Swedish television series adapted from Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels and starring Krister Henriksson in the title role. The 1st series of 13 films was produced in 2005 and 2006, with one taken directly from a novel and the remainder with new storylines suggested by Mankell. The 2nd series of 13 films was shown between 2009 and 2010. The stories are set in Ystad near the southern tip of Sweden. The three films Before the Frost, Mastermind, and The Secret were premiered in cinemas, with the rest first released as direct-to-DVD movies. The first episode of the second series, Hämnden, was released in Swedish cinemas in January 2009; the rest of the series was made for television. The BBC aired all 26 episodes of the Swedish television versions on BBC Four. A third and final season, containing six 90 minute episodes, will air in 2013 with Charlotta Jonsson as Linda Wallander. The first episode, adapted from the novel The Troubled Man, was released in cinemas in January 2013.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, detective, serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating, suspense, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Taggart (1983)
Plot Summary:
Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network. The series revolves around a group of detectives initially in the Maryhill CID of Strathclyde Police, though various storylines have happened in other parts of the Greater Glasgow area, and as of the most recent series the team have operated out of the fictional John Street police station across the street from the City Chambers. It is one of the UK's longest-running dramas and is the longest-running police drama after the cancellation of The Bill. The show's 100th story aired on Christmas Eve 2009 on the ITV network. In May 2011, it was reported that the ITV network had decided to axe Taggart from the network after 28 years. The series may continue to be screened in Scotland on the STV network and on overseas broadcasters.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: detective, crime drama, tense, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
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 82%
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 78%
Moses Jones (2009)
Plot Summary:
Police investigate a mutilated body found in the Thames which appears to be the product of a witchcraft killing.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 234
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic
Similar in 84%
Wallander (2008)
Plot Summary:
This drama follows Inspector Kurt Wallander – a middle-aged everyman – as he struggles against a rising tide of violence in the apparently sleepy backwaters in and around Ystad in Skane, southern Sweden. Based on the international best-selling books by Henning Mankell.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Sweden, Germany, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: bleak, detective, psychological, tense, serious, suspenseful, crime drama, realistic, atmospheric, noir
Similar in 89%
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 87%
Scott & Bailey (2011)
Plot Summary:
D.C. Rachel Bailey and D.C. Janet Scott have a robust and engaging friendship which enables them to draw upon each other’s strengths and investigate murders for the Manchester Metropolitan Police.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, suspenseful, realistic, detective, crime drama
Similar in 78%
Unforgotten (2015)
Plot Summary:
'Unforgotten' follows modern police team DCI Cassie Stuart and DI Sunny Khan, who gradually unravel long-forgotten secrets which have a dramatic impact on their investigation and the four potential suspects. The slow revelation of the secrets will also affect the personal lives of both Sunny and Cassie.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, crime drama, tense, suspenseful, clever, captivating, disturbing, atmospheric
Similar in 77%
Murder in Suburbia (2004)
Plot Summary:
Murder in Suburbia was a British detective drama that ran for two series in 2004 and 2005.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, bleak, rough, detective, tense, crime drama, captivating, suspense, mind bending, serious
Similar in 86%
Trial & Retribution (1997)
Plot Summary:
Trial & Retribution is a feature-length ITV police procedural television drama series that began in 1997. It was devised and written by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect. Each episode of the Trial & Retribution series is broadcast over two nights. The 2008 series 10 had 10 episodes, the longest run of the drama so far. The latest series was number 12 which aired in February 2009.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: detective, crime drama, tense, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001)
Plot Summary:
The third installment of the “Law & Order” franchise takes viewers deep into the minds of its criminals while following the intense psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve its crimes.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, tense, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cult classic, telenovela
Similar in 79%
The Killing (2007)
Plot Summary:
The Killing is a Danish police procedural set in the Copenhagen main police department and revolves around Detective Inspector Sarah Lund and her team, with each season series following a different murder case day-by-day and a one-hour episode covering twenty-four hours of the investigation. The series is noted for its plot twists, season-long storylines, dark tone and for giving equal emphasis to the story of the murdered victim's family alongside the police investigation. It has also been singled out for the photography of its Danish setting, and for the acting ability of its cast.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany
Duration: 57 min
Plot tags: psychological, gloomy, tense, detective, serious, suspenseful, crime drama, captivating, atmospheric, noir
Similar in 77%
River (2015)
Plot Summary:
John River, a brilliant police officer whose genius and fault-line is the fragility of his mind - a man haunted by the murder victims whose cases he must lay to rest.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, detective, crime drama, surprise ending, melancholic, atmospheric, enigmatic, tense, captivating
Similar in 83%
Above Suspicion (2009)
Plot Summary:
Above Suspicion is a British TV series based on Lynda La Plante's novels Above Suspicion, The Red Dahlia, Deadly Intent and Silent Scream. It stars Kelly Reilly and Ciarán Hinds, and features the career of La Plante's latest heroine DC Anna Travis. The first series, Above Suspicion, was shown on the fourth and fifth of January 2009; the second series, Above Suspicion: The Red Dahlia, was shown on the fourth, fifth and sixth of January 2010. The third series, Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent, was shown on the third, fourth and fifth of January 2011. The fourth series, Above Suspicion – Silent Scream was shown on the ninth, sixteenth and twenty-third of January 2012; in a break from the previous broadcasts, which were broadcast on consecutive days, this latest tale was serialised weekly. ITV cancelled Above Suspicion on May 28, 2012.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 46 min
Plot tags: detective, realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious, crime drama, dark
Similar in 90%
Braquo (2009)
Plot Summary:
A group of police officers in Paris use violence and intimidation to solve crimes.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, bleak, suspenseful, detective, crime drama, captivating, psychological thriller, exciting, thrilling
Similar in 87%
Line of Duty (2012)
Plot Summary:
Steve Arnott is a young officer who’s fallen foul of his superiors for refusing to help in the cover-up of an operation that ended in the shooting of an innocent father. He seems ideal to join AC-12, an anti-corruption police unit, just as it starts to investigate Detective Chief Inspector Tony Gates, the regional force’s Officer of the Year.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, suspenseful, serious, detective, crime drama, atmospheric, dark, sitcom, deep
Similar in 76%
Law & Order (1990)
Plot Summary:
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It originally aired on NBC and, in syndication, on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24, 2010. At the time of its cancellation, Law & Order was the longest-running crime drama on American primetime television. After The Simpsons, both Law & Order and Gunsmoke tied for the second longest-running scripted American primetime series with ongoing characters.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: detective, tense, realistic, rough, clever, serious, suspenseful, crime drama, dramatic, thrilling
Similar in 80%
The Shadow Line (2011)
Plot Summary:
A noir thriller with diverse individuals whose worlds become interwoven after the murder of drug baron Harvey Wratten. From the cop with a bullet in his brain, whose amnesia leaves him doubtful of his own moral compass; to the drug-lord driven by a profound personal tragedy, risking it all on one last deal; to the brilliantly lethal puppet-master who gradually emerges from the shadows to bring the story to its shocking climax The Shadow Line explores the morality of these characters as they negotiate the repercussions of Wratten's death and attempt to navigate the fine line between right and wrong. As the thread around Wratten's operation begins to unravel, the web of intrigue becomes more complex and the question of which side of the line they stand on becomes increasingly blurred. An intelligent and gripping conspiracy thriller that delves to the heart of human morality, The Shadow Line will have audiences enthralled over six taut and thrilling episodes. Faced with similar dilemmas, on which side of the line would you stand?.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, atmospheric, detective, rough, suspenseful, stylized, tense, captivating, realistic, crime drama
Similar in 84%
Hinterland (2013)
Plot Summary:
Tom Mathias comes to Aberystwyth having abandoned his life in London. He's a brilliant but troubled man. Despite his faults he is an excellent detective, who knows that the key to solving the crime lies not in where you look for truth, but how you look. From the windswept sand dunes of the coastline to the badlands of the hinterland, Y Gwyll is a series of four two-hour stories that are original and local, yet timeless and universal.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, detective, serious, tense, bleak, crime drama, dark, suspense, noir, grindhouse
Similar in 87%
The Missing (2014)
Plot Summary:
A gripping anthological relationship thriller series exploring the emotional fallout of a child's abduction not only on the family but on the wider community, told over two time frames.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK, France, Belgium, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, emotional, suspenseful, crime drama, tense, captivating, gloomy, psychological thriller
Similar in 76%
Bosch (2014)
Plot Summary:
Based on Michael Connelly's best-selling novels, these are the stories of relentless LAPD homicide Detective Harry Bosch who pursues justice at all costs. But behind his tireless momentum is a man who is haunted by his past and struggles to remain loyal to his personal code: “Everybody counts or nobody counts.”.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 81000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 51 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, exciting, detective, neo noir, tense, crime drama, mind blowing, crime thriller, gloomy
Similar in 84%
Secrets and Lies (2015)
Plot Summary:
Detective Andrea Cornell is a tough, thorough Homicide Detective who leaves no stone unturned. Her unwavering dedication to her job makes her the most formidable opponent - or a highly valuable ally.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, suspenseful, captivating, realistic, detective, idiotic
Similar in 77%
The Night Of (2016)
Plot Summary:
After a night of partying with a female stranger, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 167000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 525 min
Plot tags: suspense, realistic, atmospheric, tense, psychological, serious, detective, thought provoking, clever, enigmatic
Similar in 82%
Luther (2010)
Plot Summary:
A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 152000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, psychological thriller, tense, detective, rough, serious, crime drama, exciting, dramatic, suspenseful