Top 10 TV Detectives

I love watching a great murder mystery, whenever a new Detective series is announced it always piques my interest. I'm great at solving the mysteries too (even if I do say so myself), more often than not I'll know 'whodunnit'.

As I love detective series so much I thought I'd put together a list of my favourite TV Detectives, so here are my top ten, in reverse order.

10. DCI Tom Barnaby Midsomer Murders



If you're after an easy watch without much tension at all then Midsomer Murders is for you. There's always something suspicious going on in the county of Midsomer. DCI Tom Barnaby is on hand to solve the murder with calm and collected thinking.




9. Jane Tennison Prime Suspect



Helen Mirren played the strong female character in the main role, I loved Prime Suspect - I have the box set. Jane Tennison is assertive, intelligent, and forceful (at times), as she battles sexism in her profession. She is one of the first female detectives and I loved watching her matter-of-fact approach to case solving.




8. DCI Lewis Lewis



After Inspector Morse dies Lewis becomes DCI and takes over as the lead. The series, now called Lewis, is similar to Morse but with a modern (sometimes) twist. With Sergeant Hathaway's help Lewis solves the mysteries surrounding murders in Oxford. Lewis is a dad, which I thought was great, and he's 'normal', he didn't attend Oxford university but is still intelligent (proving to us all that you don't need a fancy university to be clever).




7. Inspector Morse Morse



Although the series is a lot slower than its modern spin-off I loved Morse. Inspector Morse was an intelligent man who liked his cryptic crosswords and would often use them to help him solve his cases. He always came across as snobbish but occasionally showed sympathy. Morse wasn't a series with a lot of action but it was always entertaining.




6. Special Agent Hank Schrader Breaking Bad



Hank Schrader is the main Detective character in Breaking Bad who tries to solve the various drug cases in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From drug related 'hits' to the new 'blue stuff' on the market Hank is eager to solve the mystery. He encounters dangerous drug lords and suffers as a consequence of his brother-in-laws antics. Hank Schrader is brash and conceited but also shows a softer side (sometimes) when it comes to his wife and family. I started out not liking Hank much but towards the end of the series I was rooting for him.





5. Lester Freemon The Wire


When I first watched The Wire most of it went over my head, I struggled to follow the stories and didn't enjoy it much, that is until later on, series 2 and 3 were definitely better. Lester Freemon starts out as a quiet man who sits in a corner building dolls house figurines and furniture but as the seasons progress Lester becomes a bigger part of the story revealing that he is in fact very intelligent. Not only that but he is older than the other detectives and so has experience and contacts that help him.





4. Jimmy McNulty The Wire



Although Jimmy McNulty is an alcoholic, annoys his bosses, and generally messes up everything in his life, he is an intelligent man. He knows how to talk to people (some of the time), he has compassion, and genuinely cares. Despite his constant issues with his bosses he still manages to solve cases. Jimmy McNulty is played by Dominic West, I had no idea he was British until I saw him in on a talk show!





3. Sherlock Holmes Sherlock


I don't know what it was about this show that I loved so much because I usually don't like the Sherlock shows. With the current one though, with Sherlock being played by Benedict Cumberbatch, appealed. I haven't watched all of them yet but I do enjoy them, especially when Sherlock goes off on a tangent when he's meeting someone for the first time.





2. Jack Frost Frost


I always love watching Frost, we have all the box sets and we've watched all 14 series lots of times. I can't even remember how many times! The thing I love about Jack Frost is his attitude, he's tenacious, intelligent, and straight-talking. He doesn't claim to be better than anyone else, he cares about his co-workers (at the same time as ordering them about!), and he always gets his bad guy.





1. Leiutenant Columbo Columbo



My all-time favourite detective has to be Columbo. With his "just one more thing", the clever ways he traps the criminals, and his general attitude Columbo is, without doubt, the best TV Detective EVER! He drives an awfully old car, has a wife who you never see, and always catches the killer. The thing I love most about the Columbo series is you always know who did it. There is always that classic "oh please let me know how the investigation gets on", and as soon as they say that I'm sure Columbo knows they did it. Starring fantastic actors like Dick Van Dyke, Leonard Nimoy, Faye Dunnaway, Honor Blackman, and of course Peter Falk as Columbo, it will always be my favourite TV Detective Series.

Who is your favourite TV Detective?