Best tv shows like The Gentle Touch
Last updated March 2024
Looking for tv shows similar to The Gentle Touch? Leverage your insights to help others toward films and tv series you've seen before that might similarly transfix them. Aid in increasing the cohort of people bringing up videos between each other. We encourage your contribution!
Plot Summary:
The Gentle Touch is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which ran from 1980-1984. Commencing transmission on 11 April 1980, the series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police detective as its leading character, ahead of the similarly themed BBC series Juliet Bravo by four months.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 296
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective
Best tv shows and movies like The Gentle Touch (1980):
Similar in 89%
Burden of Evil (2012)
Plot Summary:
When the daughter of a powerful senator is kidnapped by a psychopath, the senator requests a particular homicide detective, Caitlyn Conner, to head up the case. She knows the kidnapper better than anyone else - he just killed her husband. Against the advice of her closest friend, a police psychologist, Caitlyn enters the killer's web of sadistic games and discovers the crime is far more twisted than anyone imagined.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 412
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: scary, captivating, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
MacGruder and Loud (1985)
Plot Summary:
MacGruder and Loud is an American crime drama from Aaron Spelling Productions that aired on ABC in 1985. The series stars John Getz and Kathryn Harrold as married police officers Malcolm MacGruder and Jenny Loud in a Los Angeles Police Department-styled police agency. They fought a battle every day to keep it a closely guarded secret from their boss, Sgt. Hanson. Malcolm and Jenny lived in a duplex-type apartment complex where there was a secret door behind the grandfather clock in her apartment, where Malcolm could sneak in and enjoy her company. This was one of the few failures from Aaron Spelling's production company in its history, since it was picked by ABC to debut right after the Super Bowl in 1985 and was heavily promoted during the game. The promotion resulted in high ratings at first, but following a quick decline, the series was cancelled three months into its run, after ranking 40th out of 104 programs that aired that season with an average 15.76 household rating, according to TVTango.com. Because of the frequent commercials during the Super Bowl, the following night Johnny Carson ask rhetorically during his monologue on The Tonight Show: "Did you see that new show, 'Frequent and Loud'?".
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 122
Genere: Drama, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, detective series
Similar in 85%
In the Name of the Law (1994)
Plot Summary:
In the name of the law is a German television series that was broadcast from 1994 to 2007 by RTL.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 85
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 88%
Houston Knights (1987)
Plot Summary:
Houston Knights is an American crime drama set in Houston, Texas. The show ran on CBS from 1987 to 1988 and had 31 episodes. The core of the show was the partnership between two very different cops from two different cultures. Chicago cop Joey LaFiamma, played by Michael Paré, is transferred to Houston after he kills a mobster from a powerful Mafia family and a contract is put out on him. Once there, he is partnered with Levon Lundy, played by Michael Beck, the grandson of a Texas Ranger. Although as different as night and day, and after a rocky beginning they form a successful partnership and become friends. This is aided to a certain extent by an event where a hitman from Chicago who holds the contract to shoot La Fiamma arrives in Houston and is ultimately killed by Lundy. During the series, it is revealed that both La Fiamma and Lundy have their own personal demons; La Fiamma's Chicago police partner had been killed when he went ahead while La Fiamma had waited for backup to arrive. Lundy's wife had been killed by an explosion that was intended to kill him.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 236
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 87%
Juliet Bravo (1980)
Plot Summary:
Juliet Bravo was a drama that focused on two female police inspectors, neither of whom were called Juliet Bravo! These two inspectors worked in the small fictional town of Hartley, Lancashire. Jean Darblay was on the scene first and had trouble with her sexist colleagues. However she soon managed to gain their trust and prove a woman could be a successful police officer and housewife. Jean's call sign was Juliet Bravo. When she was promoted and moved on she was replaced by Kate Longton who not only took over the patch but also the headaches that went with it.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 274
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 87%
Karen Pirie (2022)
Plot Summary:
Karen is a refreshingly normal and charmingly unfashionable young woman – slick, maverick cop she is not – but her quick mouth and ingenuity make her an impressive investigator. Following her promotion to Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit, Karen is tasked with reopening the investigation into a murder that has been the subject of a provocative true crime podcast. When teenage barmaid Rosie Duff was stabbed to death in 1995, suspicion fell on the three drunken students who discovered her body. But despite police suspicion, the boys were never charged. Nearly 25 years on, DS Karen Pirie is determined to uncover what happened that fateful night. Do the men know more than they previously revealed? When Karen uncovers flaws in the initial investigation, she finds herself in conflict with the very officers who led the original hunt for the killer.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 87%
The Rookies (1972)
Plot Summary:
The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, retro, vintage
Similar in 84%
The Cops (1998)
Plot Summary:
Set in and around Stanton, a faceless and grim Northern enclave, The Cops depicts the daily grind for a group of policemen and women out on the beat as they interact, and sometimes clash, with the local community.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 171
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 76%
Most Wanted (1976)
Plot Summary:
Most Wanted is an American crime drama series shown on ABC from October 16, 1976 until August 20, 1977. It stars Robert Stack, Jo Ann Harris, Shelly Novack, and Hari Rhodes. This program marks the reunion of series star Stack with noted producer Quinn Martin, as the two had worked together previously on the legendary hit crime series The Untouchables. This is one of only three series from QM Productions not to have an announcer reading out or accompanying the opening credits.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 84
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 90%
Missing Persons (1993)
Plot Summary:
Missing Persons is a short-lived American crime drama television series, set in Chicago. It followed a fictitious missing persons unit; each episode usually following the investigation into three or more cases. It ran on ABC from August 30, 1993 to February 17, 1994. It was produced by Gary Sherman Productions in association with Stephen J. Cannell Productions, and often used local Chicago-based actors, as well as occasional big-name guest stars such as Nina Foch, Eddie Bracken and Lois Smith. Semi-regulars included Ian Gomez, Irma P. Hall, Laura Cerón and Valerie Harper. Unlike most series from Cannell's company, he did not create or co-create this series.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 73
Genere: Drama, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 84%
In the Dark (2017)
Plot Summary:
In The Dark sees Helen Weeks (MyAnna Buring) drawn into the two most testing and personal cases of her career - just as she begins her journey towards motherhood. Helen is never fazed by a challenge, but her tough exterior conceals a complex inner conflict. When the husband of an estranged school friend is accused of abduction, Helen must return to her home town and confront her painful past. And when a brutal tragedy drags her into Manchester’s dark criminal underbelly, she is forced to question even her closest relationships. Even if you love someone, can you ever really know them? The past can’t always be left behind….
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: detective, enigmatic, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, crime drama
Similar in 83%
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 81%
Z Cars (1962)
Plot Summary:
Z-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 370
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: detective, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
WPC 56 (2013)
Plot Summary:
Drama following WPC Gina Dawson, the first Woman Police Constable to join Brinford Constabulary, a fictional police force in the West Midlands, in 1956. The show focuses on WPC Gina Dawson's struggle to gain acceptance in the male-dominated police station whilst having to deal with the sexist attitudes that were commonplace at the time.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, realistic, detective, touching, historical drama, period piece, period drama
Similar in 80%
Wycliffe (1993)
Plot Summary:
Wycliffe is a British television series, based on W. J. Burley's novels about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe. It was produced by HTV and broadcast on the ITV Network, following a pilot episode on 7 August 1993, between 24 July 1994 and 5 July 1998. The series was filmed in Cornwall, with a production office in Truro. Music for the series was composed by Nigel Hess and was awarded the Royal Television Society award for the best television theme. Wycliffe is played by Jack Shepherd, assisted by DI Doug Kersey and DI Lucy Lane. Each episode deals with a murder investigation. In the early series, the stories are adapted from Burley's books and are in classic whodunit style, often with quirky characters and plot elements. In later seasons, the tone becomes more naturalistic and there is more emphasis on internal politics within the police.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: detective, crime drama
Similar in 77%
Derrick (1974)
Plot Summary:
Derrick was a German TV series produced by Telenova Film und Fernsehproduktion in association with ZDF, ORF and SRG between 1974 and 1998 about Detective Chief Inspector Stephan Derrick and his loyal assistant Inspector Harry Klein, who solve murder cases in Munich and surroundings.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
The Bill (1984)
Plot Summary:
The Bill is a police procedural television series that was broadcast on the ITV network from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, entitled Woodentop, which was broadcast in August 1983. In its final year on air, The Bill was broadcast once a week, usually on Tuesdays or Thursdays, in a one-hour format. The programme focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work. At the time of the series' conclusion, The Bill was the longest-running police procedural television series in the United Kingdom, and was among the longest-running of any British television series. The series was produced by Thames Television. The series name originated from "Old Bill", a slang term for the police. This was also Geoff McQueen's original title idea for the series, before he eventually decided on "The Bill". Although highly acclaimed amongst fans and critics alike, the series attracted controversy on several occasions. An episode broadcast in 2008 was criticised for featuring fictional treatment for multiple sclerosis, and another episode in the same year resulted in litigation, submitted by MP George Galloway for defamation. The series has also faced more general criticism, concerning the levels of violence it portrays, particularly prior to 2009, when it occupied a pre-watershed slot. During its time on air, The Bill won several awards, including BAFTAs, a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award and the title of "best drama" at the Inside Soap Awards in 2009, the latter being the series' fourth consecutive win. Throughout its twenty-seven-year run, the programme was always broadcast on the main ITV network. In later years, episodes of the show were repeated on ITV3 on their week of broadcast. The series has also been repeated on other digital stations, including UKTV Gold, Alibi, Watch and UKTV G2. In March 2010, executives at ITV announced that the network did not intend to recommission The Bill, and that filming on the series would cease on 14 June 2010. The last ever episode of the series was aired on 31 August 2010.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, sincere, detective, crime drama, realistic
Similar in 80%
Murder Call (1997)
Plot Summary:
Murder Call was an Australian television series, created by Hal McElroy for the Southern Star Entertainment and seen on the Nine Network between 1997 and 2000. The idea to the series was born by the books of Tessa Vance by Jennifer Rowe: Suspect/Deadline and Something Wicked. Both books were integrated as episodes in the TV series. The series dealt with the cases confronted by an unconventional team of homicide detectives, Tessa Vance and Steve Hayden.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 463
Genere: Drama, Crime, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 78%
Candice Renoir (2013)
Plot Summary:
Candice Renoir had put her career on standby for 10 years. When she returns from Singapore to resume service in a port town in the south of France, she feels a bit “rusty”. Despite the obvious defiance of her unit and a cynical superior who doesn’t make her job any easier, she is determined to turn her so-called weaknesses into strengths, solving the most complex cases with her common sense, her acute observation and her practical nature seasoned by a busy daily routine. Only Candice can catch a killer because she knows the chemical composition of a window-cleaning product or determine the hour of a murder from the cooking-time of kebabs… Candice is only naive on the outside, and nobody can resist her!.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, semi serious, detective, feel good, witty, suspenseful, serious
Similar in 82%
Black Work (2015)
Plot Summary:
'Black Work' is the story of Jo Gillespie, a woman who's husband is shot dead in the line of action, in his job as a undercover cop. Jo, a police officer herself soon has to confront issues in her marriage and family life in order to discover who really killed her husband.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective, crime drama
Similar in 89%
From Darkness (2015)
Plot Summary:
The story of Claire Church, a former police officer who moves away to the remote Western Isles in an attempt to escape the past and violence that still haunts her. Soon, Claire is pulled back into an investigation she thought she long left behind, by her former lover and colleague DCI John Hind and his new DS Anthony Boyce.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 233 min
Plot tags: detective, tense, psychological, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, psychological thriller, crime drama
Similar in 79%
Thirty Cases of Major Zema (1975)
Plot Summary:
Thirty Cases of Major Zeman is a Czechoslovak action-drama television show intended as a political propaganda to support the official attitude of the communist party. The series were filmed in the 1970s. Each episode encompasses one year, and investigations are stylized to that year. Most are inspired by real cases. The series follows the life of police investigator Jan Zeman during his career from 1945 to 1975.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 243
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Czechoslovakia
Duration:
Plot tags: detective, poliziottesco
Similar in 84%
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 86%
Prime Suspect 1973 (2017)
Plot Summary:
Prime Suspect 1973 tells the story of 22-year-old Jane Tennison's first days in the police force, in which she endured flagrant sexism before being thrown in at the deep end with a murder enquiry.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, exciting, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Kamenskaya - 2 (2002)
Plot Summary:
The second adaptation of Alexandra Marinina's novels - "I died yesterday", "The stolen dream", "Men's games", "Everything must be paid for." Criminal investigation officer Anastasia Kamenskaya is able to calculate the criminal by the most insignificant details of his actions, character, psychology.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 73
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: tense, feel good, captivating, suspense, detective
Similar in 82%
Redemption (2022)
Plot Summary:
DI Colette Cunningham's no nonsense approach to policing has earned her the respect of her Merseyside Police colleagues. She seems unflappable, until she gets a call from the Garda in Dublin after the body of a young woman is discovered.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 58 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 75%
King (2011)
Plot Summary:
King is a Canadian police drama which premiered April 17, 2011 on Showcase. The series stars Amy Price-Francis as Jessica King, a veteran police officer who gets promoted to head of the Major Crimes Task Force in Toronto after her predecessor has a breakdown on television. Season 2 began production in September 2011 and premiered 29 February 2012. On June 2, 2012, it was reported that King had been cancelled after 2 seasons.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration:
Plot tags: realistic, serious, suspenseful, captivating, detective, psychological, tense, clever
Similar in 87%
The Protector (2011)
Plot Summary:
Gloria Sheppard is an intuitive LAPD homicide detective who juggles her demanding personal and professional lives while raising two sons with the help of her troubled younger brother, Davey.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 627
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, detective, psychological, tense, sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
The Mallorca Files (2019)
Plot Summary:
Amongst the vibrant international community of the eponymous Spanish island, a British and a German detective with very different approaches to policing have a clash of personalities. Despite - or perhaps because of - their very different approaches, the sleuths form a perfect complementary partnership as they seek to solve a new crime on the island each week.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, France, Germany, Spain
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: detective, tense, captivating, suspense, crime drama
Similar in 75%
Blue Murder (2001)
Plot Summary:
Blue Murder is a Canadian crime drama television series, featuring stories that reflected the turbulence of urban life and the crimes that make headlines. The Blue Murder squad members were an elite group of big-city investigators out to solve some of the city's most complicated and riveting crimes.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 144
Genere: Drama, Crime
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, tense, captivating