The best female TV detective series to binge now ITV’s Vera has finally come to an end
VIEWERS have been raving about the best female TV detective series to binge-watch now that ITV’s Vera has finally ended.
Brenda Blethyn captured the nation as DCI Vera Stanhope for 14 seasons but bowed out following a two-part special on New Year’s Day and January 2.
The 78-year-old actress filmed the show’s final episodes earlier this year.
Series 14 was just two episodes and the first one, Inside, aired on New Year’s Day, while The Dark Wives concluded 24 hours later.
Vera faced a life-changing decision after being offered a promotion by Superintendent Khalon, played by ex-Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati.
She investigated two cases before her exit, spelling the “end of Vera”.
But fear not, for there are plenty of top-notch female-led crime shows to fill the void.
Vera is available on ITV and ITVX. The final episodes air on 1 and 2 January at 8pm.
Ellis
Ellis aired earlier this year on Channel 5.
It follows DCI Ellis, played by three-time Olivier Award winner Sharon D Clarke, a determined black female police officer renowned for cracking unsolved crimes.
Her sidekick is DS Harper, played by Andrew Gower, who starred in The Winter King, Carnival Row and Outlander.
The pair go all out to ‘win over’ local detectives in a brand new town.
Season 1 is currently airing on Channel 5 at 8pm. Available to stream on My Five.
Scott and Bailey
This show revolved around the detectives Janet Scott, played by Lesley Sharp and Rachel Bailey, played by Suranne Jones.
As members of Syndicate Nine Major Incident Team (MIT) of the fictional Manchester Metropolitan Police their task was to solve murders.
Dubbed the British version of Cagney and Lacey the series ran until 2016.
It also featured Amelia Bullmore, Nicholas Gleaves, Danny Miller and Pippa Haywood.
Scott and Bailey is available to stream on ITVX Premium.
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
This nineties police drama starred Patricia Routledge as Henrietta “Hetty” Wainthropp.
It aired on the BBC and Derek Benfield plays Hetty’s patient husband, Robert, while Dominic Monaghan portrays her assistant and lodger, Geoffrey Shawcross.
John Graham Davies plays the local chief of police DCI Adams, while Suzanne Maddock plays Janet Frazer, a feisty young auto mechanic; and Frank Mills as Robert’s brother Frank.
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is based on characters from the novel Missing Persons (1986) by David Cook and Patricia Routledge read the story for BBC Radio 4’s A Book At Bedtime in February 1987.
Hetty Wainthrop Investigates can be streamed on ITVX.
Rosemary and Thyme
Brian Eastman created the series Rosemary & Thyme to entertain his wife Christabel, It starred Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as gardening detectives Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme.
It debuted on ITV in 2003 and ran three series until August 2007. The theme is murder mysteries within gardening jobs.
A memorable episode was when the girls were restoring a churchyard in time for a medieval festival, and an unpopular villager was murdered with an arrow shot through his chest.
In another, they are restoring an Elizabethan garden when they witness the owner’s cousin committing suicide, but he is seen later.
Stream Rosemary and Thyme on Amazon Prime.
Prime Suspect
Linda La Plante’s Prime Suspect follows Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Jane Tennison, portrayed by Helen Mirren.
Working at the fictional Southampton Row police station in the Metropolitan Police, Tennison faces challenges in a male-dominated environment where many colleagues seek to undermine her.
Mirren describes Tennison as “extremely directed, ambitious, talented, and very uncompromising.”
She finds support in Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Kernan, played by John Benfield, and Detective Sergeant Richard Haskons, portrayed by Richard Hawley.
Throughout the series, Tennison serves in a Soho vice squad and a Manchester gang squad, ultimately earning promotion to Detective Superintendent in season four and she retires after the seventh season.
Prime Supect is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
Whistable Pearl
This female sleuth is a single mother and restaurant owner who begins her own private detective agency.
Kerry Godliman plays the lead role of Pearl, who soon finds herself trying to find out what happened to her close friend, who dies in mysterious circumstances.
Other main characters include Howard Charles as DCI Mike MaGuire who moves from London to Whitstable.
Frances Barber is Dolly Nolan, Pearl’s mother who managers the restaurant with her.
Whitstable Pearl ran for three series and was based on the novels by Julie Wassmer.
Whitstable Pearl is available to stream on Amazon Prime.