Episode Details

Morse, Vera or Prime Suspect — who is Britain’s greatest TV detective? TV Insiders Jimmy Mulville and Peter Fincham rank the best British detectives, from Inspector Morse and Prime Suspect to Poirot, Sherlock, Midsomer Murders, The Sweeney and more…

In this episode:

• Whether Ludwig could eventually join the great British detective pantheon
• Why Helen Mirren’s Jane Tennison remains one of television’s strongest detectives
• Brenda Blethyn’s defining performance as Vera Stanhope
• David Suchet’s iconic Hercule Poirot
• Benedict Cumberbatch and Steven Moffat’s modern Sherlock
• Why A Touch of Frost doesn’t compare with the rest of the list
• The Sweeney, John Thaw and the difference between action-led policing and puzzle-solving
• How Midsomer Murders replaced John Nettles with Neil Dudgeon
• Why Bergerac gives John Nettles two iconic TV detectives
• The strange appeal of Van der Valk’s canals and Dutch names
• Why a great detective does not need to be likeable
• The “eureka” moment that makes detective dramas so reassuring
• Why the best mysteries were often 90 minutes long
• How ITV is the home of the great detectives

Have a question, opinion or suggestion? Leave a comment on YouTube, find us on socials @InsidersTVPod, or email us at podcasts@hattrick.com.

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Chapters

00:00 Intro and rules

01:21 Could Ludwig become a classic detective?

03:37 Ranking begins with Hercule Poirot

06:38 Sherlock Holmes and Benedict Cumberbatch

07:52 A Touch of Frost

11:14 The Sweeney

13:10 Miss Marple

13:39 Midsomer Murders and the Barnaby succession

17:37 Van der Valk

18:39 Vera and Brenda Blethyn

22:40 Inspector Morse

25:47 Prime Suspect and Helen Mirren

27:43 Bergerac

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Jimmy Mulville is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Hat Trick Productions. His list of hit shows includes Have I Got News for You, Father Ted, Derry Girls, Outnumbered and Episodes. In the US, Hat Trick launched Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 1997, which ran on ABC for seven years and was the first British series to be recreated for American network television by a British producer.

Peter Fincham ran TalkBack, where he executive produced many of their biggest shows, including I’m Alan Partridge, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Da Ali G Show. He went on to be Controller of BBC1, then Director of Television at ITV, before returning to the independent sector as co-CEO of Expectation, the company behind Clarkson’s Farm and Alma’s Not Normal.

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