October 2026
What Makes Acorn TV Worth It
Acorn TV's library is smaller than BritBox's, but it's more tightly focused on mystery and crime drama — plus a run of genuine Acorn TV Originals you won't find anywhere else. This guide sorts the best of it by what kind of mystery you're after, not just what's newest.
Best for Beginners
The gentlest entry points into Acorn TV's British catalogue.
Doc Martin
A brilliant London surgeon develops a sudden phobia of blood and retreats to a sleepy Cornish village as the local GP — gorgeous Port Isaac scenery, gentle humour, and ten series of pure escapism.
Whitstable Pearl
Kerry Godliman's Pearl Nolan runs a seafood restaurant and a private detective agency out of the same coastal Kent town, often beating the local police to the answer.
Cozy Mysteries
Gentle whodunits with more warmth than menace.
Agatha Raisin
Ashley Jensen's PR-executive-turned-amateur-sleuth swaps London stilettos for Cotswolds wellies, solving murders with equal parts nosiness and charm.
Mrs Sidhu Investigates
Meera Syal as a Berkshire caterer with a knack for solving crimes — four feature-length episodes of warm, funny, gently cozy mystery that never got a second series.
Signora Volpe
Emilia Fox stars as a disillusioned former MI6 operative who settles into a quiet new life in the Umbrian countryside, only to keep stumbling into local mysteries.
Classic Detectives
Slower, more literary mysteries built around a single distinctive lead.
Foyle's War
A quietly principled detective investigates crime on the English home front during WWII, in thoughtful mysteries that reward a slow, attentive watch.
Dalgliesh
P.D. James' poet-detective solves cases with slow-burning, literary mysteries and some of the most beautiful cinematography in the genre.
Pie in the Sky
Richard Griffiths plays DI Henry Crabbe, a detective trying to retire and run his own restaurant, only for his boss to keep pulling him back onto delicate cases.
Darker Crime Dramas
For when you want more tension than cozy.
Hidden
Welsh crime drama set against the landscape of North Wales, from the same team behind Hinterland, with Sian Reese-Williams as a detective drawn into disappearances in Snowdonia.
Manhunt
Martin Clunes in a restrained, true-crime police procedural — a real change of pace from Doc Martin, as DCI Colin Sutton hunts a serial killer using nothing but painstaking, unglamorous police work.
Bloodlands
James Nesbitt's tense Belfast thriller follows DCI Tom Brannick as an old, buried secret threatens to catch up with him — the show wrapped for good after two series.
Short Weekend Binges
Complete stories you can finish in a weekend.
The Assassin
Keeley Hawes stars as a retired assassin drawn back into her old life when her estranged son turns up looking for answers about his father, in a tense six-episode thriller.
The Chelsea Detective
London mysteries with an unusual detective and a lovely setting — Adrian Scarborough's DI Max Arnold works Chelsea's glossiest streets from a modest houseboat.
The Detectorists
Mackenzie Crook's gentle comedy-drama about metal detectorists in rural Essex is one of the most quietly beautiful British shows around — two series of pure television treasure.
Kingdom
Stephen Fry as a small-town Norfolk solicitor quietly holding his community — and his own grief — together. Gentle, warm, and quietly wonderful.
Art Detectives
DI Mick Palmer (Stephen Moyer) and DC Shazia Malik solve murders connected to the world of art and antiques, from Old Master paintings to Banksy street art.
The Monthly Guide
Want to know what's arriving on Acorn TV right now, rather than the evergreen best-of list above?
Explore More
What Readers Ask Most
What are the best British mysteries on Acorn TV?
Doc Martin and Whitstable Pearl are great starting points. For something more literary, Dalgliesh and Foyle's War are excellent. Art Detectives, Signora Volpe, and The Chelsea Detective are recent Acorn TV Originals worth seeking out.
What's the difference between this guide and the monthly Acorn TV guide?
This page is an evergreen, curated list of Acorn TV's best British mysteries across the whole catalogue. The monthly Acorn TV Guide covers what's new arriving each month.
Are any of these shows complete, with no more seasons coming?
Yes. Foyle's War, Manhunt, Bloodlands, Mrs Sidhu Investigates, Pie in the Sky, Kingdom, and The Detectorists have all concluded, so you can watch the whole story without waiting for renewals.
Which of these are Acorn TV Originals?
Mrs Sidhu Investigates, Signora Volpe, The Chelsea Detective, Dalgliesh, and Art Detectives were all made specifically for Acorn TV.
Affiliate disclosure: British TV Hub is a participant in the Amazon Associates program and earns from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page may be affiliate links to Acorn TV. This never affects the recommendations — these are genuine editorial favourites.
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