Best crime dramas and true crime docs to watch now

Top Crime Dramas

For all of you who can't get enough of gritty crime dramas, we've got more troubled detectives, winding plots and shocking twists than you can shake a stick at. Take a look at the top free-to-view crime dramas available for you to watch whenever the mood strikes.   

Vigil (Season 2)

Watch on BBC iPlayer

New Base. New Investigation. New Lies.

The stakes are high following a series of unexplained fatalities at a Scottish military facility. In a brand-new investigation, DCI Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) and DI Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) suddenly find themselves thrust into the hostile world of drone warfare, in a bid to catch the killer and fight for their own futures. 

Mr Bates vs the Post Office

Watch on ITVX + STV Player 

The British Post Office Scandal bought to screen in an electrifying drama. Dubbed the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice, Mr. Bates vs The Post Office tells the story of dozens of sub-postmasters and postmistresses wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system installed in the 90s. 739 were prosecuted, and hundreds lost livelihoods, homes and life savings because they paid back money the post office claimed was missing.

Trigger Point (Season 2)

Watch on ITVX + STV Player

ITV’s most explosive crime drama. After a tumultuous first season full of high stakes and fatal losses, you might be wondering what’s next for bombs disposal officer Lana Washington (Vicky McClure). Following the Met Police’s Counter Terrorism efforts, season two sees the squad take on a large-scale technology driven threat.

Walter Presents: The Red Door (Season 3)

Watch on Channel 4

If you’re in the mood for a crime drama with a haunting twist, The Red Door is the one for you. Impulsive police officer Leonardo Cagliostro (Lino Guanciale) should’ve walked through the red door leading to the afterlife when he was murdered. Now roaming the earth as a ghost, he’s made it his personal mission to protect his loved ones. 

Boat Story

Watch on BBC iPlayer 

When two strangers stumble across a cocaine shipment on a washed-up boat they can’t believe their luck. Initially agreeing to sell it and split the cash, they soon realise that things may be too good to be true as they attempt to evade a vengeful mob boss, his hitmen, and become entangled with the police.

Coma

Watch on Channel 5 from Monday 18 March

‘Sometimes you don’t want them to wake up.’ 

Family man Simon Bamford (Jason Watkins) is at breaking point. Between juggling his mortgage and redundancy, it only takes a few interactions with a gang of youths terrorising the neighbourhood to send him over the edge. When an altercation with troublemaking teen Jordan (Joe Barber) lands the boy in a coma, Simon quickly finds himself lying to everyone he knows, including the police. But someone else was there that night, and they know the truth. 

Whitstable Pearl

Watch on UKTV Play

Actor and comedian Kerry Godliman plays single mum Pearl – a Whitstable native and restaurant owner – who is pursuing her dream of starting a private detective agency. But when a friend suspiciously dies, Pearl finds herself at odds with the new cop in town DCI Mike McGuire (Howard Charles, Top Boy). Can they put their differences aside and work together to uncover the truth?
 

The Marlow Murder Club

Watch on UKTV Play

If you love a classic whodunnit with plot twists, cliff hangers and ordinary citizens who just can’t help but save the day, The Marlow Murder Club is sure to be up your street. As the bodies pile up in Marlow, retired archaeologist Judith Potts (Samantha Bond, Downtown Abbey), vicar’s wife Becks (Cara Horgan, Traitors), and local dog walker (Jo Martin, Doctor Who) forge an unlikely friendship as amateur sleuths.

Top True Crime Documentaries

Sarah Everard: The Search for Justice

Watch on BBC iPlayer

The murder that sent shockwaves across the nation. Sarah Everard: The Search for Justice casts a questioning gaze on the Metropolitan Police investigation and the controversial fallout. Sparking a discussion around police failings and violence against women, this incisive documentary features commentary from those closely involved with the case, including the Senior Investigating Officer, the Prosecuting Barrister and Sarah’s local MP. 

Paranormal: The Girl, The Ghost, and The Gravestone 

Watch on BBC iPlayer

Four-part Paranormal docuseries in which sceptical radio host Sian Eleri investigates a remote Welsh farmhouse once known as the most haunted house in Britain. Penyfford Farm, a 15th century property is shrouded by the mystery of more than 300 supernatural incidents. These include inexplicable carvings on the walls, sightings of a young girl’s ghost and a hooded figure hovering over a baby’s cot. Eleri gathers accounts from multiple witnesses, but after they all share similar accounts this once sceptic is left questioning everything she thought she knew.

The British Airways Killer

Watch on ITVX

The case that changed British legal history. This gripping two-part documentary explores the death of Joanna Simpson, a wealthy heiress who was killed by her husband, a British Airways Pilot. Featuring never seen before police interview tapes, this documentary explores the Thames Valley Police Major Crime Unit’s complex investigation, as well as featuring interviews with friends and family.

The Push: Murder on the Mountain

Watch on Channel 4

A jaw-dropping portrayal of a coercively controlling relationship. Thirty-one-year-old Fawziyah Javed was a beautiful successful lawyer, who was seventeen weeks pregnant with her first child when she died after falling from Arthur’s Seat. Two days later her husband was arrested and charged with her murder. Minute-by-minute, see how the prosecution were able to piece together her murder.

The Rise and Fall of Pablo Escobar

Watch on Channel 4

An intimate look into the hunt and capture of Colombian drugs lord Pablo Escobar, as told by the US DEA agents who hunted him. Viewers will hear personal accounts from DEA agents and journalists, whilst also gaining access to never seen before footage and photographs of Escobar’s life and capture. 

Trial in the Outback: The Lindy Chamberlain Story

Watch on W or Stream on UKTV Play from Monday 24 March

An incriminating look at one of the most publicised murder trials. In 1980 Lindy Chamberlain was charged with the murder of her nine-week-old daughter Azaria, who she claimed was snatched by a dingo during a camping trip in the Australian outback. Later pardoned by the Supreme Court, take a deeper look into this mystifying case. 

My Wife, My Abuser: The Secret Footage 

Watch on Channel 5 from Monday 18 March

A shocking portrayal of the decades of abuse Richard Spencer was subject to at the hands of his wife Sheree. With the courage to tell his own story, Richard details the coercive control and physical abuse he endured, with footage and audio recordings he captured himself. 

48 Hours 

Watch on TRUECRIME and WATCHFREEUK

An award-winning true crime documentary series, renowned not only for reporting on stories but for making real differences to lives and policies. Episodes feature complex cases such as the world of murder-for-hire on the dark web and strange disappearances. 

Best Crime Documentaries on Netflix: 

American Nightmare 

Not so affectionately dubbed the real Gone Girl, this docuseries explores the kidnapping of a young girl, and the lack of intervention by police enforcement who assumed it was a hoax. In 2015 an intruder broke into the home of Denise Huskin and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn, drugging them both and later holding Huskin for ransom. When Quinn reached out to the police for help however, he was not believed and instead suspected of being responsible for her disappearance. 

Escaping Twin Flames

A couple built a spiritual business preying on people looking for love. Twin Flames Universe are a group dedicated to helping people find their twin flame – a deeply spiritual connection supposedly bigger than a soulmate. Whilst none of the members have been charged with a crime, the group leaders have been shrouded with allegations of abuse, indoctrination and coercion.