16 Awesome British Mysteries You Can Stream Right Now

Olivia Colman, David Tennant, “Broadchurch”. (Photo: ITV)

Broadchurch

Detectives Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and Ellie Miller (Olivia Miller) are assigned to investigate the case of a local boy who has been found dead in the small seaside town of Broadchurch. The murder places their peaceful community in a glaring media spotlight and turns the lives of everyone living there upside down. Suddenly everyone in town is a suspect. Secrets are revealed, relationships are tested and suspicions abound.

The question of “Who killed Danny Latimer?” became something of a cultural phenomenon in the UK when Broadchurch first aired. As a result, the show was a huge hit. Unfortunately, Broadchurch’s second season doesn’t live up to the heights of its first – largely because it’s centered on the court case that follows on from Season 1. Plus, the secondary investigation of a case from Detective Hardy’s past is not nearly as compelling as the original Latimer mystery.

This is really one of those instances where you aren’t quite sure if maybe the powers that be should have left well enough alone and let the series simply be a contained story in a single season. Because, for the most part, the first season is as good as mystery television gets.

Filming on a third and final season of Broadchurch began earlier in 2016. It remains to be seen whether Season 3 will give this story a satisfactory ending or not. (But at least we’ll always have Season 1.)

Number of Seasons: 2 (The third is due sometime in 2017.)

Where to Watch: Netflix