10 British Cop Shows Set in Europe
Police dramas are a staple in almost all countries that produce local TV content and they are particularly popular in the UK. In fact, British television studios produce popular police dramas that are set in other countries outside Great Britain but with the lead characters all being British and the show is shot in English but in a foreign location with many supporting actors from the local country. This enables shows to be set in completely different even exotic locations where local architecture, scenery and customs can be showcased but the plots are easier to follow as the leads are familiar British actors and there is no need for sub titles. In these dramas, the local supporting actors also usually speak English but there is plenty of informal dialogue in the local language. It is a hybrid that is copied by other countries such as Midnight Sun set in Sweden but starring a French federal police officer investigating the murder of a French national in Sweden. These shows are ranked only by their IMDB aggregate rating. There are three shows of this genre that straddle different versions decades apart and another being a spinoff of the first.
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- StarsTchéky KaryoAnastasia HilleJames NesbittTony and Emily Hughes' vacation turns into a nightmare when their 5-year-old son Oliver disappears from a large celebrating crowd in Northern France.The Missing centers around the skills and expertise of retired French detective Julian Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo) who specializes in tracking lost people often children. The show covers two distinct series that explore completely different story lines for the entirety of that series. The first involves the attempts to recover a 5 year old boy Oliver Hughes abducted in northern France when his parents Tony (James Nesbitt) and Emily (Francis O'Connor) attend a Word Cup soccer match in 2006. This series is shot in Belgium and it covers the extended tale of Baptiste's attempts in the most intense and gripping way. Note that Karyo, whilst of Turkish birth, and raised in France, he mostly speaks English throughout both series.
The second series is set in Eckhausen, Germany on and around a British Army base and involves Baptiste's attempts to solve the mystery as to what happened to Alice Webster aged 17 who stumbles from the forest after going missing 12 years earlier. Baptiste has to try and work with Alice and her parents, senior Army officer Sam (David Morrissey) and Gemma (Keeley Hawes) to uncover what really happened and all is not as it appears at first glance.
In both series, Baptiste must work with local police (first French and then German) as well as the military command of a NATO base so this creates tensions as Baptiste is in effect a freelancer. Both series are fantastic with gripping well written scripts and were cast with some top flight British lead actors. - StarsStephen DillaneClémence PoésyCédric VieiraA prominent French politician is found dead on the border between the U.K. and France, and two agents must work together on behalf of their respective countries to find the murderer.The Tunnel is a joint British French venture however it was launched in the UK in English. The story lines all centre on crimes committed on or around the Channel Tunnel that connects Folkstone in southern England and Calais in northern France, hence the joint jurisdiction. Heading the Folkstone CID is Detective Inspector Karl Roebeck (Steven Dillane) and his counterpart in Calais is Lieutenant Elise Wasserman (Clemence Poesy). The two detectives are thrown together to jointly investigate the murder of a prominent French politician found dead on the train right on the border. The Tunnel gives a fascinating insight into the very different ways of policing in Britain and France, the differing procedures, hierarchies, legal frameworks and customs with both police forces fraught with the usual politics. It is a gripping and dramatic show with many twists and turns with each officer traversing between the UK and France sometimes multiple times a day as they investigate the murders and both having to adapt and adjust to the requirements that the other must comply with in their home country.
- StarsKenneth BranaghRichard McCabeJeany SparkUnable to unsee the dark crimes he's tasked to investigate, Wallander's job comes at a cost to his family and relationships.Wallander is set in Ystad in rural southern Sweden and features the exploits of introspective and scruffy Detective Inspector Kurt Wallander and stars world famous Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh. The series is an English adaptation of Swedish author Henning Mankell's famous crime novels of the same name. Whilst purists will always compare Branagh's Wallander with the original Swedish television rendition from the Mankell novels unfavourably, nonetheless Branagh is a force of nature bringing a mixture of Inspector Morse and Colombo to the role. The core plots are extremely well written and when you combine Branagh's finesse on camera with the Nordic countryside, it is an intriguing and appealing series.
- StarsMichael GambonGeoffrey HutchingsJack GallowayFrom Montmartre to the remote French countryside, Maigret encounters the dark side of the human psyche. Yet, he manages to maintain both compassion and a sense of humor as he explores the complex motives that lie behind every crime.The Maigret Mysteries were a large number of crime thriller novels written by Georges Simenon featuring the enigmatic and thorough Paris based Detective Chief Inspector Jules Maigret. They have spawned the largest number of TV series based on the novels, three in France (1958, 1991 and 2022) and three made in England but set in France (1960, 1992 and 2016). The English Maigrets begin with Rupert Davies, then Michael Gambon and finally Rowan Atkinson. Each adaptation of the novels delves deep into the Parisian underworld and each series gave British viewers insight not only into the French style of policing but against the picturesque backdrop of 1950's Paris, the time period of most of the novels. The Michael Gambon version attracted the most viewers and seems to have been the most popular although even comedian Rowan Atkinson is remarkably convincing.
- StarsRufus SewellCaterina MurinoStanley TownsendDetective Aurelio Zen brings justice to modern-day Italy.Zen features Rufus Sewell as the flamboyant and controversial Capitano Aurelio Zen originally from Venice now trying to navigate the complex politics of the Rome police department. Despite British lead actors even in positions of the Rome courts and prosecutions office, Zen manages to brilliantly capture the passion, volatility and corruption that infuses Italian policing all against the sumptuous backdrop of Rome's beautiful old buildings, apartments and villas, elegant and fashionable Italian clothes and cars and the omnipresent espresso cafes. There are plenty of local Italian actors and whilst the British lead actors display typical reserve and the wry obtuse British sense of humour, the show has all of the passion, chaos and intensity you'd expect from an Italian show. It is a fabulous combination of Italian and British culture.
- CreatorHarry WilliamsJack WilliamsStarsTchéky KaryoAnastasia HilleTom HollanderMercurial retired police detective, Julien Baptiste, specializes in missing-persons cases.Baptiste is the more recent spinoff from The Missing and brings back retired Detective Julian Baptiste (again Tcheky Karyo) now based with his wife and adult child in Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Season 1 is set in The Netherlands but features Englishman Edward Stratton (Tom Hollander) engaging Baptiste to help find his missing daughter. Baptiste develops close relationships with an Amsterdam detective squad as well as Interpol. The plot is intricate and brilliantly builds tension over the series.
Season 2 is set in Hungary where the British Ambassador Emma Chambers (Fiona Shaw) engages Baptiste to try and find her two kidnapped teenage sons Alex (Stuart Campbell) and Will (Conrad Khan). Again a complex plot line that builds good tension but the storyline is a little far fetched. Karyo is an excellent fit for the role however he is, by his own admission, getting a bit long in the tooth for the rough and tumble of the underworld where abducted children invariably end up. Still a very binge worthy show. - CreatorSean CookStarsPaula MalcomsonAbby FitzEvan O'ConnorDI Colette Cunningham's no nonsense approach to policing has earned her the respect of her Merseyside Police colleagues. She seems unflappable, until she gets a call from the Garda in Dublin after the body of a young woman is discovered.Redemption is an Anglo-Irish joint venture that features Detective Inspector Colette Cunningham (Paula Malcomson) at the beginning of the show as a successful lead detective in the Merseyside (Liverpool in the UK) homicide squad. She is called back to her native Dublin in the Irish Republic (not Northern Ireland which is part of the UK still) due to the suspicious death of her long estranged daughter and, in order to tidy up her affairs and get to the bottom of her death, Colette arranges for a 6 month transfer as a Detective Constable with the Irish Garda (Police). The show features an all Irish cast, unlike all the other shows in this list who have British lead actors. It neatly contrasts the differences between the English and Irish legal systems and police procedures and set in the more gentle and unique pace of life that is Dublin, the Irish capital that is smaller than many of the UK's largest cities. The underlying story of how the daughter dies is a gripping storyline as Cunningham finds the truth difficult to unearth. There is an endearing sub plot of the difficult development of relationships with her hitherto unknown teenage grandchildren now effectively orphaned due to their father serving a prison sentence.
- StarsNancy CarrollRoger AllamKeala SettleAntoine Verlaque, Investigating Judge in Aix-en-Provence with his romantic partner Marine Bonnet, investigates the murders, mysteries and dark underbelly of their idyllic home in the south of France.Set in Aix in the Cote d'Azur of the famous Provence region of southern France, Murder in Provence follows the crime solving exploits of a unique team of: local Senior Magistrate Antoine Verlaque (Roger Hallam of Endeavour fame), his long time fiancé and criminal profiler Marine Bonnet (Nancy Carroll) and local Gendarmerie Captain Helene Paulik (Keala Settle). This team give a detailed insight into the quite different investigative and prosecutorial pathways used in France versus the English system seen in all English based police dramas (please note, the Scottish legal and prosecutorial system is different from England). The chemistry between them is fascinating and the show captures many attractive aspects of French culture, the stunning beauty of small medieval French towns and the laid back but glamorous lifestyle of the Cote d'Azur.
- CreatorRachel CupermanSally GriffithsStarsEmilia FoxTara FitzgeraldGiovanni CirfieraSylvia, a disillusioned British spy turned detective starts a new life in the beautiful heart of Italy. She soon finds out trouble follows her wherever she goes.Set in a gorgeous remote village in Umbria in Italy, Signore Volpe follows the decision of MI6 senior operative Sylvia Fox (Emelia Fox) to stay in Umbria after attending the aborted wedding of her niece. She buys an old decaying villa that she pays to have restored and is drawn into the web of crime that surrounds her niece's disappeared fiancé. Sylvia not only possesses fabulous unique skills as a long time spy but she retains excellent connections with the Italian police and intelligence agencies that she uses to great effect to chase down criminals. Everything about this show is sumptuous, from the stunning villas and cobblestoned streets of the ancient village, the fresh produce and Italian food from the fertile hinterland, the beautiful tailored designer uniforms of the handsome local police and a large cast of adorable and passionate Italian actors.
- CreatorNicolas FreelingStarsBarry FosterMichael LatimerJoanna DunhamCynical Dutch Detective Commissaris and his colleagues investigate murders, kidnappings, and political corruption.Like Maigret, Van der Valk is another popular British TV series that has had two renditions separated by almost 40 years, this time in The Netherlands. The both feature the efforts of Amsterdam based Detective Commissaris Piet van der Valk (Barry Foster - 1972 series). Van der Valk was one of the first British cop shows to be based abroad from the UK and featured plot lines laden with not just murders but kidnappings and political corruption infused with the liberal bent of 1970's Amsterdam and Holland in general, pretty racy stuff compared to the fare UK cop shows served up then in the early 70's and the more staid British lifestyle back then. It was so popular that the show lasted 20 years and its unique and catchy theme music became a Top 40 hit selling over 1 million copies.
The show was reprised beginning in 2018 (released in 2020) covering now 3 seasons this time with a younger and more hard edged Marc Warren as Commissaris van der Valk. It retains the gorgeous backdrop of Amsterdam, one of the world's most beautiful and intriguing cities and the team of Dutch actors give the show perhaps a bit more Dutch realism than the first series