Acorn TV’s big catalogue of classics – mostly British, most of them mystery series – gets a thorough Amelia Berry investigation.
For a particular kind of person, Acorn TV is a godsend. Largely dedicated to British television, with a heavy emphasis on murder mysteries, it’s jampacked with classic series that have long been a pain to track down in New Zealand.
If that sounds like a bit of you (or perhaps your mum), then put down your knitting, make your cat his special dinner, and take a look at the best things streaming on Acorn TV right now.
Midsomer Murders
On the air since 1997 and now in its twenty-second season, Midsomer Murders casts a long shadow across the TV murder mystery genre with its wry skewering of English country life, its dark humour, and its absolutely banging theremin-led theme tune. If it’s been a minute since you’ve made the trip to Badger’s Drift, then rest assured that the new seasons are just as cozy and riveting, managing to cast off much of racial parochialism and odd homophobia that make the early seasons a little grating to revisit.
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
Based on Kerry Greenwood’s popular novel series, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries follows glamourous private detective Phryne Fisher as she struts around 1920’s Melbourne, solving murders and being scandalous. Fruity, fun, and exquisitely realised, it deftly balances its well-constructed mysteries with genuinely engaging episode-to-episode character development. If you ever wanted a bit of Mae West in your Agatha Christie then Miss Fisher’s is a must-watch.
Rosemary & Thyme
The pinnacle of the absurdly high-concept murder mystery series (at least until we get an adaptation of the Southern Sewing Circle Mystery books), Rosemary & Thyme follows Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme as they use their gardening-based expertise to solve all manner of horrific arboreal crimes. While you might be forgiven for thinking this was a French and Saunders sketch, it’s actually bloody good fun with some well-constructed mysteries up there with anything on Midsomer Murders.
Inspector Morse
An absolutely iconic detective drama, curmudgeonly opera-loving sleuth Endeavour Morse and his Mark 2 Jaguar are rightly the subject of a lot of nostalgic TV feelings. While modern viewers might find the pace a bit slow, and Morse’s attitude edging from ‘lovable old grump’ into ‘late night talkback enthusiast’ (and really everyone should skip S02E03 entirely), there’s still a hell of a lot of enjoyment to be had with this cynical old crime-solving classic.
Blue Murder
Starring Caroline Quentin of Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek fame, Blue Murder seems absolutely intent on proving that no, women absolutely cannot have it all. With her husband leaving her in episode 1, DCI Janine Lewis struggles to balance raising her young family with solving a series of charmingly 2000s murders in the Greater Manchester area, to dramatic effect. Come for the crime solving, stay for the slightly jarring trip-hop incidental music.
Fingersmith
Way, way back before people on Twitter were having long arguments about the dire morsels of gay representation tossed out in Disney movies, regular old TV used to just show erotic lesbian romps like it was no big deal. Sharing source-material Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, Fingersmith is adapted from a novel by Sarah Waters, author of classic bodice-ripper Tipping the Velvet. Set in 19th Century England and indulging in every fantastically melodramatic Dickensian trope it can manage (Switched at Birth! Raised by Thieves!), simply put, Fingersmith is good, gay fun.
Death Comes to Pemberley
With all the controversy surrounding the new Netflix adaptation of Persuasion, it could be the perfect time to revisit Death Comes to Pemberley. The basic pitch is ‘murder mystery sequel to Pride and Prejudice’, and it manages to realise this rather silly idea with a shocking degree of gravity. Based on a novel by P.D. James, and with an incredible cast (including UK comedy greats Kevin Eldon and Rebecca Front), if the idea appeals to you, then you’re bound to have a good campy, costumey time.
Vera
Kicking off in 2011 and based on Ann Cleve’s beloved novel series, Vera was (and is) part of major trend within detective dramas to eschew the winking whimsy of Midsomer Murders and embrace a grim-dark grubbiness, a vision of the world where even the police all get tragic backstories. If your taste runs closer to Broadchurch than Father Brown, it’s hard to go past Vera with its bleak and meaty mysteries, gorgeously miserable Northumberland setting, and absolutely winning performance from Vera herself Brenda Blethyn.
Agatha Christie’s Poirot
Starring the most prolific, and second-best Poirot, David Suchet, Agatha Christie’s Poirot is a massive collection of high quality Agatha Christie mysteries graciously all in one place. Classic murder mystery television doesn’t get more classic than this, and there are few things more satisfying to throw on on a rainy Sunday evening that a bit of Poirot. (Also, fans are advised to watch David Suchet: Being Poirot, if only for Suchet’s intriguingly breathless insistence that Poirot is Not Gay.)
The Field of Blood
Set in Glasgow in the 1980s, Field of Blood follows aspiring journalist Paddy Meehan as she listens to Scottish indie music and takes it into her own hands to solve horrible Scottish murders. With an excellent central performance from Jayd Johnson, and some truly stunning production design, the real crime is that Field of Blood only ran to four episodes. No other murder mystery has the class to use poncy hearthrob Lloyd Cole for the main theme; please bring back Paddy, there’s still one Denise Mina novel to adapt!
Goodnight Sweetheart
In this cult 90s UK comedy, hapless television repairman Gary Sparrow (Nicholas Lyndhurst) finds a secret path that allows him to travel back to London in the 1940s and soon finds himself spending more and more time in the war-torn past. While it has its fair share of broad 90s battle-of-the-sexes gags, what sets Goodnight Sweetheart apart from its contemporaries is its willingness to lean into the weird melancholy and angst generated from Gary’s increasingly involved double life. Tonally odd, but very compelling.
Endeavour
A prequel series to Inspector Morse, Endeavour takes quite a different tack to the original series. With a greater emphasis on overarching character development, and a truly striking recreation of 1960s Oxford, Endeavour is a cracker of a modern detective series, whether you’re a Morse fan or not. While Shaun Evans does a great job in the title role, the real treat here is seeing Roger Allam (V for Vendetta, Speed Racer) in full bluster as Detective Inspector Fred Thursday. Good show.
Agatha Raisin
The title of the pilot episode, ‘Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death’ probably tells you everything you need to know about Agatha Raisin. Light, fluffy, and often pretty eggy, this adaptation of M. C. Beaton’s novel series is a delightfully goofy take on the small town detective serial, centred on a characteristically charming performance from Ashley Jensen (Extras, Ugly Betty) as the high-flying PR wiz turned sleuth.
Lewis
Another Inspector Morse spinoff, this one focussing on Morse’s erstwhile sidekick, the easygoing DI Robbie Lewis. With mysteries centred around fantasy novels, psychics, Jacobean revenge dramas, and, weirdly, the harvesting of adrenochrome (2007 was a more innocent time), Lewis is a real cornucopia for dweebs and nerds. But even if you’re not salivating at the idea of an episode modelled after Hamlet featuring a joke about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, it’s hard to imagine a fan of this genre who wouldn’t appreciate Lewis’ solidly-constructed, cleanly produced mysteries.
Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries
A sequel of sorts to Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, the Ms Fisher in question is Phryne’s niece Peregrine, who inherits a fortune after her aunt goes missing over the highlands of New Guinea and decides to follow in her footsteps as a private investigator. While not quite reaching the very high bar of the original Miss Fisher’s, Modern Murder Mysteries (or MODern Murder Mysteries if you’re that way inclined) is a fabulously campy romp through mid-60’s Australia that is well worth a watch.
Agatha Christie’s Marple
Like its counterpoint Agatha Christie’s Poirot, this is perhaps unlikely to be a conoissor’s favourite interpretation of the iconic investigator. But taken as a standalone murder mystery series, it’s hard to deny that Marple is cracking stuff. With three seasons each of Julia McKenzie and Geraldine McEwan in the lead role, and appearances from the likes of Rita Tushingham, Timothy Dalton, Benedict Cumberbatch and Joanna Lumley, it’s best you pop the kettle on, open a packet of biscuits, and settle in for some quality crimes.
The Madame Blanc Mysteries
Sometimes the murder is just a messy necessity getting you to the real good stuff; watching a slightly flustered woman navigate juicy family drama and be knowledgable about objet d’art in the scenic South of France. Following a Cheshire antiques dealer, Jean White (Sally Lindsay), as she solves crimes in the fictional French village Sainte Victoire, The Madame Blanc Mysteries is less grizzly ripped-from-the-headlines detective fiction and more of a particularly eyebrow-raising piece of brunch-time gossip. The delicious eggs benedict of murder mysteries.
Shetland
Shetland is a bloody relentlessly miserable piece of television, but then I suppose being murdered probably isn’t all clowns and rainbows. While it may be grim, grey, and cloaked in a constant haze of freezing drizzle, this adaptation of Ann Cleves’ Shetland Islands novels is uniformly brilliant with gorgeous Scottish scenery, fantastic performances, and an unparalleled sense of tension and foreboding.
Doc Martin
This overwhelmingly charming comedy-drama centres on Doctor Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) as he struggles to adjust to life in the quirky Cornish seaside town of Port Wenn. Feeling very much like the spiritual successor to 90s cult classic Northern Exposure, Doc Martin is the rare slice of life drama that makes you feel pretty good about the state of humanity. While Acorn TV New Zealand only has Season 8, you don’t need to catch yourself up on the plot, it’s more about soaking in the atmosphere.
Reilly Ace of Spies
If you like stories about attractive, cruel men, going on wild international adventures à la Sean Connery era James Bond, then you just might want to check out Reilly Ace of Spies. Based on the life of real UK spy Sidney Reilly, Ace of Spies stars a hot, young Sam Neill as the titular Reilly, traipsing about turn of the century Eurasia, being devious, and ruining women’s lives. Classic stuff.
