The Best True Crime Drama Series To Watch
True crime remains ever-popular, with an abundance of documentaries and podcasts telling real stories about real people. The genre also lends itself to TV- there have been plenty of acclaimed TV shows released recently that are based on true events, from Netflix’s hugely popular Baby Reindeer to Disney+’s Under The Bridge. Here’s seven that you can’t miss:
Baby Reindeer
One of 2024’s biggest shows, Baby Reindeer gained a big following in part because it was based on a true story that’s hard to tear yourself from as you watch. It follows the story of Donny Dunn, a fictional version of series creator Richard Gadd, and adapts Gadd’s real-life story of working as a bartender and aspiring comedian. When a customer named Martha comes into the pub where he works and he offers her a drink out of goodwill, he has no idea about the ordeal that will unfold. Martha will develop an unhealthy obsession and attachment to him, starting to stalk him online, appearing in person whenever she can and acting in a disturbing fashion. It received plenty of media coverage for its portrayal of its real-life counterparts, but it’s worth seeing if you’ve not watched it yourself yet.
Watch it on: Netflix
The Long Shadow
This ITV series, consisting of seven episodes, forms an overview of the five-year manhunt for the British serial killer known as The Yorkshire Ripper, who murdered several women in the mid-to-late 70s. Unlike other shows/documentaries based on true crime events that might glamourise the criminal a bit, The Long Shadow focuses more on the victims than the actual perpetrator, telling their stories and how they happened. Women such as Wilma McCann (Gemma Laurie), Emily Jackson (Katherine Kelly) and Marcella Claxton (Jasmine Lee-Jones) are some of those who have their stories told in this heartbreaking but excellent viewing. The manhunt for Peter Sutcliffe was one of the biggest in UK history, but the series examines the destruction left in its wake. Toby Jones, David Morrissey and Daniel Mays also star.
Watch it on: ITVX
Griselda
Sofia Vergara turns in one of her best dramatic performances in this Netflix miniseries that tells the life story of Griselda Blanco, one of the most powerful drug barons in history. Blanco, dubbed a “queenpin” here instead of the usual “kingpin” crime title, rose from poverty into the Miami drug business, becoming feared and admired in the criminal underworld. Her increasingly bold moves and paranoid mindset create serious problems for herself, however, ones that threaten her drug lord status and could well lead to her downfall. Violence, power and gratuitous wealth feature aplenty, and the miniseries is produced by some of the minds behind Netflix’s highly popular Narcos series. If you’re looking for a gritty true crime drama anchored by a career-best performance, Griselda is for you.
Watch it on: Netflix
Lady in the Lake
Natalie Portman leads the Apple series Lady in the Lake, a true crime drama that explores the disappearance of a young girl in 1960s Baltimore. Eleven-year-old Tessie Fine vanishes and is believed to have been murdered, and the case intrigues amateur investigative journalist Maddie Schwartz (Portman). Maddie is so keen to grow into her new life in investigating that she drops everything, including her husband, to try to solve the case. Meanwhile, Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram), a mother struggling to provide for her family and trying to navigate the political underbelly of Black Baltimore. When Cleo is found dead in strange circumstances, Maddie becomes ever more engrossed in the case.
Watch it on: Apple TV+
Under the Bridge
A dark detective story based on a harrowing true story, Under the Bridge debuted earlier this year and stars Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone and Daisy and the Six’s Riley Keogh as investigators of a murder case. In the late 1990s in Canada, teenager Reena Virk was killed by a group of teens of a similar age in what would become a highly publicised case in the country. The series follows the formal case investigation carried out by police officer Cam Bentland (played by Gladstone), and the journalist who arrives to cover the distressing events, Rebecca Godfrey (Keough). Throughout, we meet the teenage suspects who are accused of carrying out the murder as Cam tries to find their motive, while Rebecca endeavours to tell Reena’s story and honour her life. It’s based on a non-fiction book, written by the real-life Rebecca Godfrey in 2005.
Watch it on: Disney+
Under the Banner of Heaven
With both Daisy Edgar Jones’ movie Twisters released in cinemas and Andrew Garfield’s upcoming dramedy We Live in Time releasing soon, it’s a good time to catch up on this underrated miniseries that released in 2022. Under the Banner of Heaven is based on true events in the 1980s, as detective Jeb Pyre (Garfield) investigates the killing of a mother who is part of the Church of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons. The brutal nature of the case is not easy for anyone to handle, but Jeb is particularly shaken as he finds that the murder has apparent connections to and may involve the church itself- he himself is a devout Mormon. Like Under the Bridge, the acclaimed miniseries is based on a non-fiction book, and Edgar Jones plays Brenda Lafferty, the woman who is murdered.
watch it on: itvx
Manhunt
One of Apple TV+’s most recent dramas, Manhunt takes on one of the most famous crimes of all time, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The American president is shot in 1865, leaving behind a shocked and divided country, and sparking off a huge manhunt. Leading it is Lincoln’s secretary of war and personal friend Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies), who begins to become obsessed with finding John Wilkes Booth (Antony Boyle). The unfolding 12-day chase becomes one of the most important in history, as the assassin attempts to evade the law, while Stanton and others try to put the pieces of a civil war-torn nation back together, as Lincoln intended.
watch it on: apple tv+