Germany, Iceland, New Zealand, the Shetland Islands, Ireland, the bucolic English countryside…Wouldn’t it be great to visit these places and partake of their wonders and exotic allure? And we can! Maybe not in person, but on our devices of choice. I’m not talking travel shows but deeply satisfying, immersive thrillers and crime dramas - the high quality type, with believable characters, plausible plots, and fully-realized worlds that suck you in, even those with subtitles. To wit:
1. Shetland:: Drama based on the series of stories by Ann Cleeves, in which detective Jimmy Perez solves crimes on Scotland's Shetland Isles. Available on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play Movies & TV, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “What separates Shetland from the majority of police procedurals is its emphasis on the very believable characters at the centre of its stories.” Mark Butler/Scotsman “One of its chief pleasures cannot be overstated: it looks stunning. Even the crime scenes are picturesque. It is probably not designed to make you think about moving to Shetland, but it still has that effect.” Tim Dowling/Guardian
2. Trapped: Police in a remote Icelandic town race against time to solve a murder case as a blizzard traps everyone in the area. Available on Amazon Prime Video. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “It demands attention, but be warned that if you watch the first episode, you're as good as committing another nine binge-style hours of your life to it.” Scott Beggs/Nerdist “Even without all these promising plot angles, Trapped was worth watching for its chill beauty alone.” Ceri Radford/Daily Telegraph
3. Bodyguard : After helping thwart a terrorist attack, a war veteran is assigned to protect a British politician who was a main proponent of the very conflict he fought in. Available on Netflix. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: "A gripping and thoroughly entertaining adventure that’s emotionally deft." Indiewire "Six-plus hours of pulse-pounding action and brain-bending twists." The Hollywood Reporter
4. Unforgotten: A stone-cold case of murder tests the wits of a crime-solving duo in London. Available on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play Movies & TV, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “An emotionally intelligent script, sinuous narrative, pitch-perfect casting and a genuine interest in people: Unforgotten should be remembered for many years.” Gabriel Tate/Times (UK) “The key skill of a police procedural isn't always inventing new and horrible methods of slaughter or fetidly deviant predators: it's the storytelling that needs to be killer, and Unforgotten, for all its compassion, was merciless.” Victoria Segal/Sunday Times (UK)
5. Line of Duty: A British anti-corruption unit called AC-12 hunts for any corruption lurking within the police. Available on Hulu, Amazon Prime Video YouTube, TV, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “[It has] an excellent cast, skillful writing and a knack for making an exotic, unfamiliar world seem like the viewer's second home.” Alessandra Stanley/New York Times “There were plenty of twists and turns and some terrific performances, with a particularly fine one from Adrian Dunbar as a decidedly slippery superintendent.” Claudia Connell/Daily Mail (UK)
6. Dark: In 2019, a local boy's disappearance stokes fear in the residents of Winden, a small German town with a strange and tragic history. Available on Netflix. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “Dark feels like a version of Lost folded in on itself, in which the action on the magical, spacetime-traveling Island and the secret-revealing, surprise-laden, character-driven backstory flashbacks all occur simultaneously.” Sean T. Collins/Decider “Dark is a masterfully filmed series that slowly and grippingly explores the labyrinth of secrets in a deeply troubled town.” Randy Schiff/Buffalo News
7. Peaky Blinders: A notorious gang in 1919 Birmingham, England, is led by the fierce Tommy Shelby, a crime boss set on moving up in the world no matter the cost. Available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and Vudu. Go here, for more information.
Review Snippets: “Stick with it - the cast is superb and the plot, as it shakes off a few early clichés, becomes truly absorbing.” Gabriel Tate/Time Out “Everything from the colours, sets, costumes, editing and cinematography is swoon-worthy right. Peaky Blinders takes the liberty to be mystical, lyrical and a visual treat.” Ankita Chawla/Scroll.in
8. Vera: Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope, nearly retired employee of the Northumberland & City Police, plods along in a constantly dishevelled state, but with her obsessive and calculating mind, manages to solve a lot of murders. Available on Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “The character Vera is unusual, but compelling…The relationships between her and her officers is deep, changing and riveting to watch. The crimes are well constructed and difficult to solve.” Amazon Customer Reviews “There's something appealing about Vera’s bluster and the hurts under the surface. Of course, I would hate to have her as a boss, but I love the nasty quips to her hapless minions on the police force as they scramble to do her bidding.” Amazon Customer Reviews
9. A Very English Scandal: Beginning in the 1960s, Thorpe is the leader of the Liberal Party. He is hiding an affair with a man at a time when homosexuality is still illegal. When Scott threatens to reveal the affair, Thorpe decides upon a plan of action that eventually exposes the scandal. Available on Amazon Prime. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “This masterful drama certainly resurrects the seedier, more headline-grabbing elements of the case and retells them with stunning panache and beautiful comic timing - but the effect now is... to put that version of England on trial.” James Belfield/Stuff.co.nz “As it is, because the true events it so deftly depicts are largely unknown to American audiences, the three-part A Very English Scandal will make for very satisfying mini-binge on Friday night or this weekend.” Dominic Patten/Deadline Hollywood Daily
10. Happy Valley: Police sergeant Catherine Cawood deals with personal tragedy while investigating cases in Calder Valley, a small town in West Yorkshire. Available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “Happy Valley is a quiet, devastating, and ultimately deeply satisfying watch.” Rebecca Jane Stokes/Den of Geek “Yet, once again, the more lurid moments are constantly offset - and sometimes combined - with some neat comedy and plenty of deft humanising touches.” James Walton/The Spectator
11. The Fall: Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson leads a case to catch a serial killer following an unsolved murder in Belfast. Available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “The Fall is a top-flight mystery that taps into political tensions in Northern Ireland and the troubling undercurrent of violence against women.” Jace Lacob/The Daily Beast “This show is binge watching at its best; it's at once compulsively watchable and intelligent, well-written and beautifully acted with compelling performances to boot.” Louisa Mellor/Den of Geek
12. Longmire: Walt Longmire, the charismatic and dedicated sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, patrols the county with a brave face and sense of humor. Ok, we can still get to Wyoming - but who knows for how long? Available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “It sometimes sounds like faint praise to describe a series like you would a reliable car but Longmire is just a sturdy show. It is well-constructed all around -- confidently made, well-acted, and the writing is much smarter than many shows like it.” Brian Tallerico/RogerEbert.com “As much as Longmire stretches the emotional payoff of its characters' interpersonal relationships, the show can always be relied upon to settle the plot at hand.” Kevin Yeoman/ScreenRant
13. Hinterland: A noir crime drama set in Wales, where troubled DCI Tom Mathias solves murders while searching for redemption. Available on Netflix. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “The story was told with distinctive verve... a combination of common sense, superstition, and a hidden intensity lurking behind neat curtains.” Ceri Radford/Daily Telegraph (UK) “This Welsh crime series scratches that itch for Nordic noir, while delivering the promised remote hinterlands as a backdrop.” Hanh Nguyen/Indiewire
14. Top of the Lake: Set in a remote mountain town in New Zealand, this miniseries centers on the disappearance of 12-year-old Tui, who is five months pregnant. Available on Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “Creepy and cockeyed, unholy and unnerving, Top Of The Lake is riveting stuff.” Glenn Garvin/Miami Herald “The mystery hangs over the entire six hours but the story revolves around the characters and the unsettling atmosphere of the community as she churns up the uneasy frontier existence with her investigation.” Sean Axmaker/Stream on Demand
15. The Bridge: Two police detectives - one Mexican, one American - hunt down a serial killer whose acts have been perpetrated in both nations. Their investigation is complicated both by internal corruption and violence stemming from the drug cartels functioning among the borderlands. Available on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “The Bridge manages the neat trick of being both tough and entertaining; it's a made-up story that feels true.” Andy Greenwald/Grantland “The Bridge rises well above those too-familiar TV tropes and expands into a portrait of a particular part of the world and its people.” Matthew Gilbert/Boston Globe
16. The Returned: In a small Alpine village, a group of men, women and children is in a state of confusion as they try to return to their homes after years of being away. Available on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: ‘The Returned, in French with subtitles, is beautiful, riveting and above all thought-provoking.” Gail Pennington/St. Louis Post-Dispatch “But make no mistake: The Returned is one of the most engrossing, gorgeously told stories on television, and those who waited two full years for a second installment, as I did, will find it was well worth the wait, as I did.” Alison Herman/Flavorwire
17. Babylon Berlin: Inspector Gereon Rath, shell-shocked from his service in World War I, uncovers a dangerous web of intrigue when he investigates an underground porn ring. Available on Netflix. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “Babylon Berlin is actually quite good history in its depiction of a society increasingly squeezed between leftism and rightism until the centre, the place of normalcy and decency, burst like a balloon.” David Thomson/London Review of Books “Irresistible for many reasons, but one is the way it intersperses a macabre portrait of a doomed society with glints of its promise.” Alessandra Stanley/The New York Review of Books
18. Broadchurch: Detectives investigate violent crimes in the sleepy seaside town of Dorset. Available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “It's everything great drama should be -- riveting, raw, heartbreaking, funny and very, very smart.” Gail Pennington/St. Louis Post-Dispatch “You're...effectively hooked, thanks to thoughtful pacing and an intriguing ensemble of characters who make for a high-quality whodunit.” Kari Croop/Common Sense Media
19. The Night Manager: An ex-British soldier infiltrates a vast crime ring in this modern take on the John le Carré novel of the same name. Filmed in Switzerland, England and Morocco. Available on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and Vudu. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “This is a GORGEOUS television series, with jet-setting locales and a series of extremely well-fitted suits for Hiddleston.” Sarah Marrs/Lainey Gossip “In AMC's thoroughly enjoyable miniseries The Night Manager, Laurie, with a healthy tan and clear blue eyes, is perfectly beguiling and chilling as a billionaire arms dealer selling everything from guns to napalm during the Arab spring.” Matthew Gilbert/Boston Globe
20. Detectorists: The lives of two eccentric metal detectorists, who spend their days plodding along ploughed tracks and open fields of the British countryside, hoping to disturb the tedium by unearthing the fortune of a lifetime. I found it thrilling, so it counts as a thriller. Available on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, and YouTube TV. Go here for more information.
Review Snippets: “It's a distinctive creation -- not for everyone, but bound to be fiercely loved by those who fall into its rhythms.” Mike Hale/New York Times “Detectorists is what might be called a gentle comedy, if the adjective didn't imply a lack of bite and sophistication... it manages to capture the pathetic spite of detectorist territorial disputes without compromising the dignity of its main characters.” Tim Dowling/Guardian