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45 crime TV shows you shouldn’t miss in 2022
Like you, our hunger for high quality crime drama never abates. Luckily for us, the television industry is an enthusiastic chef. And 2022 looks to be a veritable feast of new crime TV shows for us to get stuck into.
What’s on the menu? Well, plenty. So knives and forks at the ready, here are the new crime TV shows to look out for over the next twelve months…
New crime TV shows you shouldn’t miss in 2022:
The Tourist
The Fall and Fifty Shades of Grey’s Jamie Dornan teams up with crime-writing supremos Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing, Baptiste, Rellik) for this thriller set in Australia. Dornan plays ‘The Man’, a driver being rammed off the back-roads of the outback by a mysterious truck. Aussie star Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) co-stars in this series that sounds suspiciously like the film Duel, but we’ll happily give it a go.
Where? BBC One
When? Starts New Year’s Day, Saturday 1st January
Four Lives
The stories of the victims of serial killer Stephen Port are explored here in this factual drama starring Stephen Merchant and Sheridan Smith, which is finally coming to our screen after multiple delays.
Where? BBC One
When? Starts Monday 3rd January
The Bay series 3
ITV’s surprise hit set in Morecambe is back for a third run – this time starring Marsha Thomason as CID’s new Family Liaison Officer, DS Jenn Townsend.
Where? ITV1
When? Wednesday 12th January
Ozark series 4
Split into two parts, the fourth – and, again, final – run of the always excellent Ozark is highly anticipated.
Where? Netflix
When? Friday 21st January
Trigger Point
Vicky McClure and Adrian Lester star as a couple of best-friend colleagues working on the front line of bomb disposal. Line of Duty’s McClure plays Lana Washington who soon deduces that a bomber is intentionally targeting her unit.
Where? ITV1
When? Sunday 23rd January
Reacher
The Tom Cruise films did fairly well, but hardcore Lee Child fans wanted more for their favourite series of books. It looks like they’re set to get it when Alan Ritchson takes up the role of Jack Reacher in this highly-anticipated eight-part action thriller series.
Where? Amazon Prime Video
When? Friday 4th February
No Return
BAFTA-winning screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst (Clocking Off, Shameless) pens this four-parter starring Sheridan Smith. In it, a couple must fight the system to defend their son when he’s accused of a very serious crime during a family holiday in Turkey. Look out for Rufus Hound in a supporting role.
Where? ITV1
When? Monday 7th February
Inventing Anna
Ozark’s Julia Garner stars in this ten-parter based on the real-life story of a Russian fraudster who ingratiates herself into elite US society before pulling off a series of impressive scams.
Where? Netflix
When? Friday 11th February
Karen Pirie
Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie novels have long been favourites amongst crime fiction fans. They finally get the small screen treatment here in this three-part series which sees Outlander star Lauren Lyle take up the main role.
Where? ITV1
When? Spring
Peaky Blinders series 6
The popular Midlands-set gangster saga is back for another series. Although – it seems – it will be its last.
Where? BBC One
When? Sunday 27th February
The Reckoning
Steve Coogan was the only choice to play Jimmy Savile in this controversial look at the disturbing criminal life of one of UK entertainment’s oddest and most vile characters.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
Ridley
Line of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar makes the switch to the third channel for this drama about a murder detective who’s forced into early retirement, but then works as a consultant on a series of complex cases. Created and written by Vera head writer Paul Matthew Thompson.
Where? ITV1
When? tbc
The IPCRESS File
The role made famous by Michael Caine goes to Gangs of London star Joe Cole for this telly version of Len Deighton’s 1960s-set spy caper. Tom Hollander co-stars.
Where? ITV1
When? Winter
Blue Lights
This Northern Irish six-parter from the writers of The Salisbury Poisonings follows a batch of eager young rookie police officers in Belfast.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
Tokyo Vice
Based on Jake Adelstein’s 2009 book about the Japanese criminal underworld and how he got sucked in, Tokyo Vice is set to be a ten-episode series starring Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe.
Where? HBO Max
When? tbc
The Old Man
Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges heads to the small screen for this prestige piece, based on Thomas Perry’s spy novel, that sees his character as an ageing spook booted from the CIA and forced to reconcile with his past.
Where? Disney+
When? tbc
The Control Room
A three-episode drama about an emergency call handler who receives a call from someone who claims to know him. Things quickly become a matter of life and death in this exciting-sounding thriller from BBC Scotland.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
Culprits
Director J Blakeson (I Care A Lot) has been given a STAR Original series to tell his darkly comic story of a gang of robbers who start getting picked off by a serial killer after a heist.
Where? Disney+
When? tbc
The English
Stephen Rae and Rafe Spall support Emily Blunt in a western written by The Shadow Line’s Hugo Blick. Blunt stars as an English woman on a revenge mission in the Wild West of America, circa 1890. The target of her ire, and Smith & Wesson? The man she blames for the death of her son.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
Borgen series 4
The Danish political saga is back for a fourth series, after Netflix muscled in to revive it.
Where? Netflix
When? tbc
The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies
This six-parter has been written by Penelope and Ginny Skinner and produced by the company behind Chernobyl. It’s a black comedy/thriller about two women and the conman they have in common.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
The Gallows Pole
We’re more used to seeing This is England’s Shane Meadows tackling modern issues, but he’s delving into the history books here. The plot? A gang pulls off the biggest fraud of the Industrial Revolution. Thomas Turgoose, George MacKay, Tom Burke and Sophie McShera head up the cast.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
Then You Run
An eight-part thriller based on Zoran Drvenkar’s novel about a gang of teenage friends on the run in Europe – not only from a dangerous gangster, but a serial killer as well. That’s pretty bad luck, isn’t it?
Where? Sky Max
When? tbc
Ripley
Patricia Highsmith’s conman creation Tom Ripley has been played by a few familiar faces before, most notably Matt Damon and John Malkovich. For this Showtime series, Sherlock’s Andrew Scott takes up the role. An enticing thought. Dakota Fanning and Johnny Flynn co-star.
Where? Sky Atlantic
When? tbc
Tenacity
Submarine thrillers are like buses – you wait for one and two turn up at once. Well, alright, not ‘at once’, but pretty close together. If you liked BBC One’s Vigil, you’re in luck. ITV have their own sub-set crime thriller coming to our living rooms in 2022.
Where? ITV1
When? tbc
Holding
Lovable Irishman Conleth Hill takes up the main role of Sergeant PJ Collins in this adaptation of Graham Norton’s bestselling book. On directing duties? None other than Kathy Burke.
Where? ITV1
When? tbc
The Yorkshire Ripper
Peter Sutcliffe’s story – or at least the stories of his victims – is set to be told over six episodes on UK telly in 2022.
Where? ITV1
When? tbc
Inside Man
Stanley Tucci and David Tennant head up the cast of this prestige drama series created by Sherlock’s Stephen Moffat. In it, somehow the lives of a death row prisoner in America and a woman trapped in a vicarage cellar become entangled.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
McDonald and Dodds series 3
The gentle and light-hearted detective drama is back for another short series in 2022.
Where? ITV1
When? tbc
Unforgotten series 5
There’ll be no Nicola Walker, but Sanjeev Bhaskar will return in the popular series’ fifth outing.
Where? ITV1
When? tbc
The Shining Girls
The imaginative time-travelling crime novel The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes is being adapted into a high-end series starring Elizabeth Moss, Wagner Moura, Jamie Bell and Amy Brenneman.
Where? Apple+
When? tbc
Alex Cross
Fans of James Patterson’s detective Alex Cross may remember the Morgan Freeman films based on Patterson’s book, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. 2022 sees a series being made of Cross and his murder-solving exploits.
Where? Amazon Prime Video
When? tbc
The Capture series 2
Holliday Grainger returns as Detective Inspector Rachel Carey. Succession‘s Rob Yang joins her.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
Bad Monkey
Carl Hiaasen’s book gets a television adaptation, with Hollywood star Vince Vaughn in the lead role. He’ll hope to receive a slightly better reception than his last major foray into TV in the disappointing second series of True Detective.
Where? Apple+
When? tbc
City on Fire
Wyatt Oleff stars in this small screen version of Garth Risk Hallberg’s novel. Set in 2003, it follows the events of a shooting in New York City’s Central Park.
Where? Apple+
When? tbc
Killing Eve series 4
Another behemoth of a crime thriller comes to a close when Killing Eve hits screens for its final eight-part run.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
Grace series 2
John Simm will be back as Brighton detective Roy Grace in another short run of Grace.
Where? ITV1
When? tbc
Dark Winds
Set in the 1970s and based on Tony Hillerman’s novels, this dark crime thriller follows two Native American detectives as they strive to solve a case in the southwest. Rainn Wilson co-stars.
Where? AMC in the US / tbc in the UK
When? tbc
Lady in the Lake
Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o will star in this adaptation of Laura Lippman’s book in what is Portman’s first ever TV role.
Where? Apple+
When? tbc
Gangs of London series 2
Sky Atlantic brings another helping of their violent gangster drama to our screens.
Where? Sky Atlantic
When? tbc
McMafia series 2
A little serious for some, but loved by its fans, the Misha Glenny adaptation is back for a second series.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe
Unforgotten creator Chris Lang takes on the incredible true story of John ‘The Canoe Man’ Darwin, who famously got caught faking his own death to collect an insurance payout. Ray Donovan’s Eddie Marsan plays Darwin in the four-part series.
Where? ITV1
When? tbc
Under the Banner of Heaven
Jon Krakauer’s book about a detective investigating a murder in a Mormon community is being adapted by FX for Hulu and will star Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones. With Milk writer Dustin Lance Black and Hell or High Water director David Mckenzie on the project, this looks to be one of the year’s potential highlights.
Where? tbc in the UK
When? tbc
Bloodlands series 2
The first series was a hit, so the Beeb have wasted no time getting Jimmy Nesbitt into a follow-up.
Where? BBC One
When? tbc
Kevin Can F*** Himself series 2
The idiosyncratic comedy/drama series, one of 2021’s best, has been recommissioned. It’s likely to see a slight delay from airing in the US to heading over here, but we should see it at some point in 2022.
Where? Amazon Prime Video
When? tbc
There you have it – our pick of new crime TV shows to watch out for in 2022. Which stands out the most to you? Let us know in the comments below…
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I love The Ipcress File and Len Deighton is one of my favourite authors. I’ll watch the TV series with trepidation: surely they ‘should retire the shirt’ after Michael Caine’s iconic performance?