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9 crime TV shows you shouldn’t miss in 2025
TV crime drama has never been better. With so many top Hollywood writers and directors and A-list acting talent now only too happy to play their trade on the small screen, it feels like we’re enjoying a real televisual zenith at this moment in time.
Last year gave us the likes of Mr & Mrs Smith, Presumed Innocent, Lady in the Lake and The Penguin. So, 2025 has big shoes to fill. But, looking ahead at what’s in store, we’re pretty sure this year can match up – and maybe even go one better…
The best new crime TV shows in 2025
Out There
Where to watch it: ITV and ITVX
When it’s on: January 2025 (exact date TBC)
Martin Clunes in new ITV drama, Out There. Credit: Buffalo Pictures for ITV and ITVX
This gritty ITV drama stars Martin Clunes as Nathan, a Welsh farmer confronting county lines drug-dealing in his rural community and its impact on his livelihood and 15-year-old son. Out There was written by acclaimed screenwriter Ed Whitmore (Grace, Manhunt, Silent Witness) and director Marc Evans (Manhunt, The Pembrokeshire Murders), and will be coming to our screens very soon.
Task
Where to watch it: HBO/Sky
When it’s on: TBC
The team behind the Emmy Award-winning Mare of Easttown returns with another elite miniseries starring an A-list actor. Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight, Poor Things) stars as the head of an FBI task force investigating a string of robberies and their connection to an unlikely family man.
Early word is that Task is to be set in the same universe as Mare of Easttown so, who knows? We could even be treated to a cameo from Kate Winslet.
Adolescence
Where to watch it: Netflix
When it’s on: TBC
Erin Doherty and Owen Cooper in Adolescence. Image credit: Ben Blackall/Netflix.
There’s a slight danger that this upcoming drama could be considered gimmicky: each episode has been shot in one long, uninterrupted take. However, given the quality of talent behind and in front of the camera, there’s a much greater chance it’ll end up as a real televisual event.
The plot centres around a schoolboy who is arrested for the murder of a fellow classmate. The story unfolds in real time as each character tries to figure out who is responsible. Top Boy’s Ashley Walters, The Crown’s Erin Doherty, Happy Valley’s Mark Stanley, and Stephen Graham (Bodies) star. Graham, whose writing credits include Line of Duty and Peaky Blinders, co-wrote the series with Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials).
Virdee
Where to watch it: BBC One
When it’s on: Early 2025 (exact date TBC)
Staz Nair as Detective Harry Virdee in the new BBC series, Virdee. Image credit: Magical Society/Sam Taylor/BBC.
Based on A.A. Dhand’s bestselling Detective Harry Virdee novels, this series explores crime and cultural tensions in Bradford, as a Sikh detective navigates personal and professional challenges in the Yorkshire city. When a young drug dealer is murdered and a turf war escalates, Detective Virdee is forced to ask his brother-in-law Riaz, a notorious drugs kingpin, for his help.
Game of Thrones‘ Staz Nair stars as Detective Harry Virdee, alongside the likes of Aysha Kala, Nina Singh, Vikash Bhai, Kulvinder Ghir, Sudha Bhuchar and Danyal Ismail.
All Her Fault
Where to watch it: Peacock
When it’s on: TBC.
Fans of Andrea Mara’s work will be pleased to see this adaptation hit the Peacock network this year. As in the novel of the same name, a mother arrives at a house, expecting to pick up her young son Milo from his first playdate. But the woman who answers the door is a stranger, and she doesn’t have her son. As news of the disappearance spreads through the Dublin suburb, the mother is in a race against time to find her son.
Big hitters Sarah Snook (Succession), Dakota Fanning (The Perfect Couple, Ripley) and Michael Peña (Jack Ryan) star in this adaptation that we predict will be one of the most talked-about shows of the year.
Missing You
Where to watch it: Netflix
When it’s on: Now
Still from the Netflix drama Missing You, based on the Harlan Coben novel of the same name.
Missing You is yet another limited drama series adapted from one of Harlan Coben’s immensely popular novels. It stars Slow Horses‘ Rosalind Eleazar as Detective Kat Donovan, who discovers her fiancé’s profile on a dating app a decade after his disappearance, leading her to uncover a whole host of shady past secrets.
We must admit we binge-watched this one over the Christmas break, but we predict it will hold out as one of the best crime shows of the year.
Unforgotten, series 6
Where to watch it: ITV
When it’s on: TBC
Sanjeev Bhaskar and Sinéad Keenan in Unforgotten series 6. Image credit: Mainstreet Pictures.
The incredibly popular detective drama Unforgotten is returning to our screens for a sixth series this year.
It’s true that Chris Lang’s cold-case drama is still finding its feet after the departure of one of its two leads (Nicola Walker’s DCI Cassie Stuart left at the end of the fourth run). But we anticipate Sinéad Keenan’s DCI Jessie James will grow as a character in this sixth run, after a slow warm-up in 2023’s fifth series.
Unforgotten has been a reliably watchable and enjoyable drama since it first aired a decade ago. So, we’re excited to see what the show has in store for 2025.
Bergerac
Where to watch it: U and U&Drama channels
When it’s on: February 2025 (exact date TBC)
Oh, yes. You read that right. Bergerac is back! Damien Molony (Ripper Street, Being Human) takes over from John Nettles as the eponymous Jersey detective.
It’s not exactly the reboot of the original ‘80s series that many TV crime drama fans have been clamouring for, as it is a modern re-imagining as opposed to a sequel or prequel. However, we have high hopes for this show and we predict it will be one of our unexpected favourites of the year.
The Night Manager, series 2
Where to watch it: BBC One
When it’s on: TBC
Our final recommendation is for a follow-up many TV fans never saw coming. It has been over eight years since the BBC proudly presented their high-end spy thriller The Night Manager to an unsuspecting public. Finally, after plenty of rumours and false starts, it returns with a second series.
Tom Hiddleston is back as the hotel-manager-turned-spy Jonathan Pine. As is Olivia Colman, who plays Pine’s British Intelligence handler Angela Burr. Hugh Laurie also returns as antagonist arms dealer Richard Onslow, although perhaps in a smaller role than he enjoyed with such unsettling glee in the debut series in 2016.
Have we missed anything? If you’re looking forward to a TV crime drama in 2025 that we’ve missed off our list, tell us all about it in the comments below…
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I read this wonderful thriller, The Hooded Man by Carlos A. Gaete.
brilliant show and i am glad the real truth came out. well done
Grapes of Wrath … what a joke !!
Can I say how good the adaptation of Fool Me Once is. I love the fact that Harlan used Joanna Lumley again in his second UK based adaptation.