Image via BBC
Published Jul 19, 2026, 2:49 PM EDT
Remus is a writer, editor, journalist, and author with an eye for detail and an extremely active imagination. He is an enthusiast of everything to do with the graphic medium, whether it's Western comics and their adaptations or manga and anime. Remus is also the author of the sci-fantasy novel Once Upon a Time in Hyperspace and several works of short fiction in the mystery, comedy, and horror genres.
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Most people around the globe agree that Sherlock Holmes is the greatest fictional detective of all time, with a legacy that has endured for over a century across literature, cinema, games, and countless other forms of art and entertainment. Among the many film and television projects made about Sherlock Holmes over the years, the BBC’s Sherlock is unarguably one of the most beloved. A modern reimagining of Arthur Conan Doyle’s darling detective, the show remains a television landmark of the 21st century. However, the world of detective fiction is exhaustive and forever expanding, with endless new stories that deserve your attention, including some that arguably overshadow this popular icon.
These shows are not necessarily bigger in scale, but they bring a new narrative style to the genre, explore conventions from a new perspective, or feature more complex, mind-bending mysteries that can leave fans in shock, awe, and, in some cases, inspired. With every detective an intriguing character, each of these shows is a must-watch for genre fans. So, without further ado, here’s our selection of detective shows that make Sherlock look small.
1 ‘Luther’ (2010–2019)
Image via BBCA psychological crime thriller written and created by Neil Cross, Luther revolves around the titular detective, John Luther, who is famed for taking down notorious criminals but also infamous for getting consumed by his cases, often resulting in violent and obsessive behavior. The series follows his relentless mission to thwart crime while navigating his personal demons, but mostly his arch-nemesis, Alice Morgan. Idris Elba stars as Luther and Ruth Wilson as Alice, with Steven Mackintosh, Saskia Reeves, Warren Brown, and Dermot Crowley in other notable roles.
A highly acclaimed and popular police procedural of its time, Luther brings a darker, graver tone to the genre, with more emphasis on the psychological narrative of its characters. Idris Elba is widely acclaimed for his powerhouse performance as the troubled detective, as is Ruth Wilson for her impeccable turn as Alice. During its original five-season run, Luther earned sweeping accolades and was widely acclaimed for reviving the form of hard-boiled detective noir with morally grey themes and a contemporary setting.
2 ‘Mindhunter’ (2017–2019)
Image via NetflixCreated by Joe Penhall, Netflix’s Mindhunter is based on the non-fiction book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by FBI agent John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Dramatizing the founding of the agency’s Behavioral Science Unit in the 1970s, the series follows agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench, as well as psychologist Wendy Carr, as they interview imprisoned serial killers and profile them, hoping to use the data to solve ongoing cases. Jonathan Groff, Anna Torv, Holt McCallany, Cotter Smith, and Hannah Gross star in key roles.
Mindhunter puts a deep analytical spin on detective fiction with strong elements of the psychological horror, crime thriller, and murder mystery genres. Through fictional interviews with some of the most notorious killers in American history, like Charles Manson, Jerry Brudos, and Son of Sam, it provides chilling psychological background to their infamous crimes. With its near-perfect storytelling inspired by major real-life crimes and compelling performances that leave a lasting impression, Mindhunter has been widely praised as one of the best true crime shows on Netflix.
3 ‘Elementary’ (2012–2019)
Image via CBSCreated by Robert Doherty, Elementary is a contemporary reimagination of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, but with very different stories and characterizations, transporting the British detective from London to New York City as a recovering addict. Starring Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Watson, the ABC drama follows the duo as they help the NYPD with complex cases, using Sherlock’s genius deduction methods and Watson’s profiling skills. Aidan Quinn, Natalie Dormer, Rhys Ifans, Jon Michael Hill, and John Noble round out the main cast.
Elementary never feels like a pastiche of a literary icon; rather, it simply takes the classic characters and themes and invents new stories, modern crimes, and character backstories in a high-energy, modern procedural. Even the case-of-the-week stories are not adapted from Doyle’s originals, making this ABC hit series intriguingly original. Sherlock fans are sure to appreciate the reinvented Watson, Mycroft, and Moriarty, but most importantly Lee Miller’s Sherlock, which is considered one of the best portrayals of Holmes on television.
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz
Which Taylor Sheridan
Show Do You Belong In?
Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn't write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
FIND YOUR WORLD →
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan's world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
ALand, legacy, and a name that's been feared and respected for generations. BKnowing the deal better than anyone else in the room — and being willing to walk away first. CReputation. I've earned it the hard way, and everyone in the room knows it. DBeing the only person both sides will talk to. That makes me indispensable — and dangerous.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan's universe is always absolute — and always costly.
AFamily — blood or chosen. The ranch, the name, the people who carry it with me. BThe company — or whoever's signing the cheques. Loyalty follows the contract. CMy crew. The men who stood with me when it counted — I don't abandon them for anything. DMy community — even when my community is a powder keg and I'm the only thing stopping it from blowing.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it's crossed.
AQuietly, decisively, and in a way that sends a message to everyone watching. BI outmanoeuvre them legally, financially, and politically before they even know I've moved. CDirectly. Old school. You cross me, you hear about it to your face — and then you deal with the consequences. DI absorb it, calculate the fallout, and find the move that keeps the whole system from collapsing.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan's worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
AWide open land — mountains, sky, silence. Somewhere you can see trouble coming from a mile away. BThe oil fields of West Texas — brutal, lucrative, and indifferent to whoever happens to be standing on top of them. CA mid-size city where the rules haven't quite caught up yet — fertile ground for someone with vision and nerve. DA rust-belt town built around a prison — where everyone's life is shaped by what's inside those walls.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
AI do what has to be done to protect what's mine. I'll answer for it eventually — but not today. BGrey is just business. The line moves depending on what's at stake, and I move with it. CI have a code — it's not the law's code, but it's mine, and I don't break it. DI've made peace with it. Keeping the peace requires compromises most people don't have the stomach for.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they're defending.
AA way of life that the modern world is doing everything it can to erase. BMy position — and the leverage that comes with being the person everyone needs to close a deal. CRelevance. I've been away, I've been written off — and I'm proving that was a mistake. DWhatever fragile order I've managed to build — because without it, everything burns.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan's world is never given — it's established, maintained, and constantly tested.
ABy example and force of will. People follow me because they believe in what I'm protecting — and because they know what happens if they don't. BThrough negotiation and leverage. I don't need people to like me — I need them to need me. CBy being the smartest, most experienced person in the room and making sure everyone quietly knows it. DBy being the calm centre of a situation that would spiral without me — and accepting that nobody thanks you for it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
AThey'll learn. Or they won't. Either way, the land was here before them and it'll be here after. BI figure out what they want, what they're worth, and whether they're an asset or a problem — fast. CI was the outsider once. I give them a chance — one — to show they understand respect. DNew players destabilise everything I've built. I assess the threat and manage it before it manages me.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
AMy family's peace — maybe their innocence. The ranch demands everything, and I've let it take too much. BRelationships, time, any version of a normal life. The job eats everything that isn't nailed down. CYears. Decades in some cases. Time I can't get back — but I'm not done yet. DMy conscience, mostly. And the ability to ever fully trust anyone on either side of the wall.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
When it's over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan's characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
AThat I held the line. That the land is still ours and everything I did was worth it. BThat I was the best at what I did and that no deal ever got closed without me at the table. CThat I built something real, somewhere nobody expected it, and I did it on my own terms. DThat I kept the peace when nobody else could — and that the town is still standing because of it.
REVEAL MY SHOW →
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you're complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world's indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you're willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family's weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what's yours, you don't escalate — you finish it. You're not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone's world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn't make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You're a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they'll do to get it. You're not naive enough to think this world is fair. You're smart enough to be the one deciding who it's fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you're not above reminding people that the two aren't mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they'd be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they're more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don't need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you're the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky's world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You've made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
4 ‘True Detective’ (2014–Present)
Image via HBOAn anthology crime thriller series created by Nic Pizzolatto, True Detective explores various stories of uncanny crimes and the local police’s attempts to seek truth and deliver justice, while also navigating their personal demons. Each season follows a new homicide case revolving around a disparate set of characters, with the settings spanning Alaska, Arkansas, California, and Louisiana. The show’s revolving ensemble cast features Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Jodie Foster, and more across seasons.
True Detective is diverse in its storytelling, with styles spanning neo-noir to Southern Gothic, true-crime, and Nordic noir, making every season feel like an expansive new show. But all seasons are bound by the underlying philosophical themes, unsettling local legends, and deeply flawed detectives, which makes True Detective way darker, more complex, and layered than Sherlock. Since its premiere over a decade ago, True Detective has remained highly respected and has won major accolades, including several Emmys and a BAFTA.
5 ‘Poker Face’ (2023–2025)
Image via PeacockRian Johnson’s first major TV show as a creator, Poker Face is a crime comedy series that uses a case-of-the-week format, centering on Charlie Cale, a casino employee in Nevada who happens to be a bona fide human lie detector. After getting on the wrong side of her mobster boss, Charlie goes on the run, traveling across the country and solving murders using her unique ability and remarkable social skills. Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie, with Benjamin Bratt, Ron Perlman, Rhea Perlman, Simon Helberg, Patti Harrison, and Steve Buscemi in recurring roles, and several famous guest stars appearing in individual episodes, including Giancarlo Esposito, Katie Holmes, and more.
Unlike most contemporary detective shows or case-of-the-week procedurals, Poker Face is a “howcatchem” that takes inspiration from classic detective series like Columbo and Magnum, P.I. Johnson brings his signature brand of mystery storytelling to this colorful ride with a quirky nomad who entirely changes the perspective of the genre. Driven largely by Natasha Lyonne’s live-wire performance, often compared to Peter Falk’s, Poker Face is a fantastic detective show with mature themes beneath its fun exterior.
6 ‘Bodies’ (2023)
Image via NetflixA British sci-fi mystery thriller created by Paul Tomalin, Bodies is a Netflix adaptation of Si Spencer’s DC Vertigo comic book series. The show follows a murder mystery that spans generations, time, and space. The plot follows four different detectives who try to solve the same mystery of a dead body found in a London back alley in four different timelines. The series stars Stephen Graham, Amaka Okafor, Kyle Soller, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Shira Haas, and Greta Scacchi in key roles.
A unique, genre-blending, and mind-bending sci-fi show, Bodies is detective noir, high-concept sci-fi, and period drama, all rolled into one. Highly suspenseful, with unexpected outcomes in every episode, Bodies keeps the audience constantly on the edge, confounded by the story’s movement and engrossed in the convincing performances. Though the show quickly went off the radar after its release, the Netflix original has been critically praised for its elevated narrative and incredible cinematography, and is a must-watch for mystery fans.
7 ‘Monk’ (2002–2009)
Image via USA NetworkA multi-Emmy Award-winning mystery comedy drama series created by Andy Breckman, Monk follows the pursuits of former San Francisco police detective Adrian Monk, who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and various phobias, which worsen after his wife’s mysterious death. Gifted (and cursed) with sharp observation skills and odd crime-solving methods, Monk solves various crimes as a consultant for the SFPD while navigating his afflictions, which often become exhausting for everyone around him, especially his assistant. Tony Shalhoub, Ted Levine, Bitty Schram, Jason Gray-Stanford, and Traylor Howard star in the main roles.
Powered by Shalhoub’s phenomenal performance as the so-called “defective detective,” Monk is an inverted Sherlock. Adrian Monk is everything Holmes is, and not at the same time, which makes this detective series one of a kind. Charming and heartwarming, with its odd-ball detective, ample humor, and character-driven stories, the comedy procedural is exceptionally addictive. Often hailed as one of the best crime shows of the 21st century, Monk puts a more accessible, comedic twist on the traditional detective persona.
8 ‘Agatha Christie's Poirot’ (1989–2013)
Image via ITVCreated by Clive Exton and Brian Eastman, Agatha Christie’s Poirot is a serialized TV adaptation of Agatha Christie’s popular crime fiction series featuring the titular detective, Hercule Poirot. Starring David Suchet as the famous Belgian detective, the series follows his meticulous investigations as he travels around the world solving the most complicated crimes, with his friend, Captain Arthur Hastings, and Inspector James Japp of Scotland Yard by his side. Hugh Fraser, Phillip Jackson, Pauline Moran, and Zoë Wanamaker play recurring roles across the show’s 13 seasons, alongside a rotating ensemble guest cast.
A British television landmark, the ITV show successfully and faithfully adapts almost every Poirot novel and short story penned by Christie. Suchet brings life to the persnickety detective with his near-perfect depiction, which is often considered the definitive screen version of the mystery icon. Spanning 13 seasons and 25 years, Agatha Christie’s Poirot is an exhaustive detective show that does every bit of justice to the setting, storytelling, and character design of the Poirot universe as created by Christie.
Poirot
Release Date 1989 - 2013-00-00
English (US) ·