Season 12 of the gentle BBC crime drama Father Brown is coming to a close this week. The series, loosely based on G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown short stories, has been running since 2013. Set in the Cotswolds village of Kembleford, the clergyman uses his wit and intuition to solve crimes. The latest season has seen Mark Williams’ Catholic priest tackling murders at a medieval battle re-enactment, during an amateur dramatics society rehearsal, and a woman plagued by sinister visions.
For fans looking for similar fare, here are seven other shows to keep crime drama lovers sated. The Father Dowling Mysteries, which ran from 1989 to 1991, features Tom Bosley as a Chicago-based priest solving crimes. The Sister Boniface Mysteries, a spin-off from Father Brown, stars Lorna Watson as a Catholic nun crime-fighting in the fictional Cotswolds town of Great Slaughter. The show launched in 2022 with three seasons to date.
Brother Cadfael, based on Ellis Peters’ novels, stars Sir Derek Jacobi as a 12th-century Benedictine monk solving crimes in Shrewsbury. The series ran for four seasons from 1994 to 1998. Grantchester, set in 1950s Cambridgeshire, follows a crime-solving vicar, with James Norton, Tom Brittney, and Rishi Nair playing the lead roles over its run.
Death in Paradise, a British TV staple since 2011, features detectives solving crimes on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie. The show has seen various lead actors, including Ben Miller, Kris Marshall, Ardal O’Hanlon, and Ralf Little. It also spawned a spin-off, Beyond Paradise. Finally, Professor T, a British remake of a Belgian series, stars Ben Miller as a Cambridge criminologist with OCD and autism who takes on cases each week.
