In a recent discussion of things we’re loving that are getting us through the Strange Quarantine Times (side question: how many ways in email, marketing pitches, and news articles have you seen the current situation described? I might have a complete bingo board’s worth at this point) Shana brought up…BritBox.
Oh, crumbs.
Shana: I splurged and got a Britbox subscription. It seems to have every BBC and ITV show ever made, and I’m watching all the British cozy mysteries.
We have watched an embarrassing number of hours during our free trial.
Sarah: BritBox is a subscription service full of British tv, as the name might imply. It’s $7US per month, or $70 for the year, and, yes, there’s a one-week trial.
I’m doomed. Or really, really happy. Or both? My guiding principle during the Weirdness Home Stay is, “Do what you feel like doing, and be gentle with yourself, and others, and especially with yourself again.”
So, I immediately replied.
Sarah: Any recs, Shana? I wish to join you, please?
Shana: For British mysteries? I love Rosemary and Thyme: it’s about two women who have a midlife job/life change and design gardens together while solving crimes—often with a plant-based hook.
Vera is one of my faves for excellent competence from the heroine, who is both prickly and kind. There is sometimes blood but it’s not gory.
Jonathan Creek is an older, more comedic show about a magician who solves difficult crimes. Caroline Quentin from Blue Murder costars (and that show’s pretty good as well).
Oh and Father Brown is on Britbox too. It’s hard to get cozier than that.
Susan: Oh, man, I spent SO MANY YEARS staying up past my bedtime to watch Midsomer Murders.
Shana: I find Midsomer Murders sooo relaxingly cozy. The ethnic diversity improves around ten years back for long running shows, including that one, so I’d feel free to skip over the first few seasons.
Can we talk about our favorite wacky episodes of all time? Like when they investigate a free love cult. Or when they go undercover in a different New Age cult.
Or the episodes about a supposed famous local cheese, or wine, chamber music or whatever?
Maya: I loved the one about the competitive bell ringers!
Or the one at the Literary Festival where an author and then their editor both get murdered! And I feel like there was one that featured mushrooms (some poisonous!) heavily
Shana: OMG, the competitive bell ringers ep is one of my faves. I have seen it at least 3 times.
Oh, I didn’t mention the Bletchley Circle San Francisco spinoff.
It’s only thinly connected to the original, but I’m really liking it.
Sarah: SHANA JUST THE FLOWERS BLOOMING on the intro of Rosemary & Thyme.
Friend, I am already in near-coma bliss.
I’m doing a lot of cross stitching during the Why Are We Out of Milk Again Times, and this is a perfect accompaniment.
This show is adorable. I do note that they both appear onscreen as Women in Comfortable Shoes. Literally, I mean. Their footwear is the subject of much envy.
Aarya: Wait, are their names Rosemary and Thyme?
Shana: Of course, they are, because what could be cozier: Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the show Sarah! Vera’s veering into darker territory, so I’m going back to the floral embrace of horticultural mysteries tomorrow.
Sarah: SHANA THE VICAR OF DIBLEY IS ON BRITBOX.
Omg, day is made.
Shana: Omg, thank you! I love that show and was so sad when it left Netflix.
Sarah: I am so happy. It’s under T which is really sad. I only thought to look there because I searched for it, thought it wasn’t part of the subscription, and then I got one of those weird cookied “I already bought this but I’m gonna see ads for it for the next year anyway” and there was a shot of Dawn French in a clerical collar.
Shana: T? Really, Britbox? You’re lucky I love you.
Sarah: For real. And it holds up, too! Episode one had me chortling.
Half an hour later: Well, no, I take that back.
It doesn’t entirely. Some gay jokes, A WHOLE episode of them dammit dammit.
Shana: It’s a hazard of watching vintage tv for sure. Gay jokes and evil lesbian killers. I’m lookin’ at you, Midsomer Murders.
Sarah: Some of the jokes poke at the “Oh Noes Gay Panic” but also plays directly into it in a way that makes my stomach hurt. Can’t I just have snarky, pompous parish council meetings and Dawn French telling bad jokes after the end credits?
Catherine: One of my church choirs periodically sings the version of ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ from the opening credits, and it’s so much fun.
Sarah: I love that arrangement! It’s on my workout mix of all things.
Here’s a question we’ve been debating in-house amid The Adults Are Around One Another All The Time Times: are there any “cozy mystery” shows on US tv that aren’t some kind of procedural? We have sixty-eleven medical, police, legal, and investigative procedurals that are variations of dark and angsty, but cozy mystery dramas seem difficult to find. Murder, She Wrote was the last one we could think of that might qualify as “Cozy US Mystery TV.”
Aarya: Would you consider Pushing Daisies to be a variant of a cozy mystery? That’s what I’ve been rewatching in the past week.
Obviously it’s PNR and funny, but it’s also not a typical procedural imo.
Sarah: Oh, you’re totally right, Aarya. Pushing Daisies is a great example.
Shana: Eva and I are now debating this. She suggested The Finder, I’m wondering if Psych is too much of a comedy to count.
Sarah: Good question. That’s a hybrid for sure.
More streaming options, anyone?
I also learned about other imported shows available on Sundance Now without a paywall: the first seasons of Riviera, The Restaurant, Public Enemy and The Bureau, through April 14. You can also get a 30-day trial of Sundance Now with code SUNDANCENOW30.
Riviera stars Julia Stiles as an American widow whose billionaire husband dies under suitably mysterious circumstances. The Restaurant is a Swedish import, focusing on a restauranteur family in WWII and subsequent decades.
Romance fans might like Idiomatic, which is a Finnish comedy about a couple, one of whom is from Finnish Lapland, and the other is Swedish. They move into an apartment owned by and next door to his wealthy parents. There’s class, language, and family conflict, plus comedy.
Sundance Now also has A Discovery of Witches.
And Acorn, another source of British and other international imported television, has a 30 day free trial with code FREE30. Among the shows on Acorn, such as the ever-cozy Midsomer Murders, there’s also Deadwater Fell, which stars David Tennant.
Queens of Mystery is a “contemporary murder-mystery series follows the adventures of a perennially single detective and her three crime-writing aunts as they solve murders in the picturesque English region of Wildemarsh.”
OF COURSE IT IS PICTURESQUE IT IS A REQUIREMENT.
Lara: I love The Detectorists, a quiet series that ends in the most life-affirmingly wonderful way. Each episode is the equivalent of a warm bath followed by a comfy bed.
Sarah: The description I have access to says it’s a “BAFTA Award-winning comedy [that] follows the eccentric members of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club as they search for treasure in the English countryside.”
HI HELLO THERE YES. Here for that!
Shana: Murdoch Mysteries is on Acorn. It’s a historical mystery series set in early 1900s Toronto, with a science-loving detective, Murdoch, whose inventions help him solve crimes. It’s adorable, earnest, and super feminist. The coroner is a woman, and she’s also the love interest.
So that’s our streaming addiction so far during The Dogs Are Really Pleased Everyone is Home More Belly Rubs Meanwhile The Cat is Annoyed-er Times.
What about you? Any cozy imported shows you’re dying (HA HA HA) to recommend?
Love love love Rosemary and Thyme. I have no idea how/if it’s accessible in the States, but Shakespeare and Hathaway is a more recent BBC cozy mystery that’s the same level of gently enjoyable/fun, with brilliant levels of Shakespeare-related puns.
I live in the UK, so for me, they are not imported 🙂 but what about Death in Paradise? Not set in the UK but definitely a cozy. A detective inspector is transferred from London to the fictional island of Saint-Marie in the Caribbean and much murder ensue. All the victims and their entourage are well known British tv actors who clearly enjoy coming to Guadeloupe for a bit of a holiday disguised as work. There have been a few series and the main guy has changed a couple of times. Sort of Midsomer murders in the Caribbean.
Because streaming services can’t always be relied on to have all the shows we like, we usually end up getting all our favorite murder-mystery series on dvd—in fact, we just watched Joan Hickson as Miss Marple in “The Moving Finger” on dvd last night. Midsomer Murders is a family favorite—we call it “Midders” in our house (as in, “Let’s watch a Midders tonight”). We love looking for actors in episodes of Midders that we’ve seen in previous episodes (or in episodes of some of our other favorites like Poirot, Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Lewis, inspector Gently, Vera, Shetland, etc.). Our favorite Midders episodes include “Country Matters,” where a woman uses her business of giving cooking lessons as a guise for running a prostitution service; “The Creeper” (featuring Rick Mayal, RIP); “The Sword of Guillaume,” where the title sword is used to decapitate a character who is so horrible you don’t mind that he gets his head cut off while on an amusement park ride; and the aforementioned “Ring Out Your Dead.” If there is an award for most creative murder on Midders, I’d give it to the one where a man is killed by being bombarded via catapult by his own wine collection!
Otoh, I must admit that I didn’t care for Rosemary & Thyme and I gave up after a few episodes (ditto Pie in the Sky)—I never felt that R&T actually ever solved any crimes, just were fortuitously present when significant things occurred. Sometimes a cosy mystery can just be too cosy.
I forgot to mention The Brokenwood Mysteries which are set in New Zealand and are touted as being the “Kiwi version of Midsomer Murders.”
since everyone loves MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin, in the 90s they did her other sleuth Hamish MacBeth series. He’s much more likeable character. another mystery is Hetty Wainthrop investigates with the marvelous actress that did Keeping up Appearances.
If you have Britbox, I’m going to highly recommend As Time Goes By, starring Judy Dench & Geoffrey Palmer. They were young lovers at the time of the Korean War & lost touch for 38 years before reuniting by coincidence. It’s a sweet & funny comedy show with a long-lost love romance theme underlying it. My husband & I love it. It’s one of our keeper TV shows.
Shakespeare and Hathaway, Murder in Suburbia, and Mrs. Bradley mysteries (Diana Rigg!) are on Britbox.
Acorn did Midwinter of the Spirit from the Merrily Watkins series. They did a good job, but content warnings for sexual assault/pedophilia. I always wonder how they cast these parts. “Frank, if you grease up your hair a lot, I think you’d be perfect for the ghost of the demonic rapist…What do you mean pass? There Are No Small Parts, Frank.”
I second As Time Goes By. Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer have such great chemistry, and the show is like a warm hug. I own the DVDs.
Not cosy mysteries but does the subscription have;
Absolutely Fabulous – the antics of Eddy and Patsy can definitely entertain but I’m not sure how they hold up.
I always love Yes Minister – politicians vs the staff.
Fawlty Towers if you love John Cleese.
Red Dwarf for sci-fi comedy, the book is excellent.
Just some ideas to explore.
On Britbox, Scott and Bailey– police procedural set in Manchester where all 3 main characters are incredibly competent women (So Much Competence P0RN!), and two of them are working mothers. And the way they handle the often brutal or sexual nature of the crimes is not sensationalized in a way that is starkly contrasting to Law & Order type shows. (The 5th season is a different animal, though)
Britbox also has A Very British Murder, with Lucy Worsley, on how interest in real-life crime led to the writing of crime fiction. It added to my reading list!
They have Bramwell too, about a woman doctor resisting Victorian/Edwardian patriarchy – and solving some medical mysteries.
Ooooh The Brokenwood Mysteries are so good
Is As Time Goes By up? One of my favorite British romantic comedies, about World War II lovers who find each other in the 90s and fall in love – with further complications thrown in by his literary agent and her daughter. Has Dame Judi Dench in it!
It’s not a mystery series, but I love A Stitch in Time on Acorn. It’s a six-part documentary series in which a fashion historian and a historical costumer recreate garments depicted in historical works of art. It’s pretty, soothing, and interesting. Plus, each episode is only half an hour long, great for watching if you’re tired, but still want to watch something before bedtime.
My favorite show on Britbox is Shetland, a procedural based on novels by Ann Cleeves, who wrote the Vera mysteries. Thoughtful in tone, and my God, the SCENERY.
Currently subscribed to Acorn and loving “Brokenwood” (as they say NZ Midsomer Murders with a hint of Death in Paradise), “Murder is my Life” (Lucy Lawless as a retired Australian Detective)and “Rebecka Martinsson” (Swedish mysteries set in the arctic, a bit gory but good)
Other shows I recommend (not sure where they are all streaming on but ones to look out for) : “Unforgotten” (British, was on some PBS stations, mystery about investigations when bodies are found, many years later, there have been 3 series), “Death in Paradise” (quirky British mystery series set in Caribbean, I think about 8 series, there have been 4 different lead detectives all with their own quirks), “Line of Duty” (British, about anti corruption squad), “The Bridge” (The Swedish/Danish original version, 4 seasons, I especially like season 1 and 3, they are about co-investigations that occur because those two countries are connected by a bridge Can be a bit gory), “Scott and Bailey”(British female detectives).
You might also want to try a couple of Canadian shows: “Frankie Drake Mysteries” and for some light relief “Schitts Creek” (First couple of series a bit slow going but as they move on very good) and “Corner Gas” (older show set in small town Canada, about the odd personalities and somewhat quirkey but all to familiar life they lead)
I loved Scott and Bailey, but I really wouldn’t describe it as cosy and I’d say the same about Inspector Gently. If you want something else in that line Unforgotten is unforgettable (not at all sorry). Foyles War is cosier, but still has some edge.
Brokenwood is brilliant, I suspect it is rather like Midsommer Murders and Murder in Paradise are for the British theatre woeld, but for the New Zealand industry with lots of well known to them actors turning up to be murdered or be suspects, but I can’t say I know enough about the New Zealand theatre world to say for sure.
Sorry missed the bit about which “cosy” mysteries would you recommend, not all mine are “cosy” but are recommendations (some echoed by others I see)
We have three PBS outlets via FiOS, two of which have SD channels with lots of BBC programming. I LOVE VERA – when Brenda Blethyn calls another character pet, you know that she sees right through them. One other program that I fell hard for was The Coroner. Single mum returns home with her daughter to live with her own free spirit mother. Her high school boyfriend is the DCI, so there’s some unresolved feelings there. Shakespeare and Hathaway is definitely in the cozy family.
I took advantage of the 30 day trial of ACORN specifically for the Crypt of Tears movie. It didn’t have the full array of programs I was looking for so I am letting it go. Looking seriously at BritBox, but the cheapskate in me wonders if I’m better off taking advantage of what’s offered by my PBS stations?
Ladies
You have missed some Aussie greats that are on BritBox & Acorn: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, a HUGE favorite of mine, & Brokenwood, set in New Zealand!! I promise you’ll like both!
Oh my gosh thank you everyone this entire thread is exactly what I needed. Thank you thank you thank you. <3
To get away from cosy mysteries, Acorn has 800 Words, AU/NZ show about a recent widower taking his teenage son and daughter to the small town in NZ where his family used to vacation. He THINKS he’s bought the right house; he’s wrong. Mayhem ensues.
Also, Land Girls, WWII women on the farm. Just finished The Schouwendam 12, a Dutch mystery. I didn’t see that ending coming. And, of course, A Place to Call Home, Aussie soap opera, binge worthy. Mystery Road, a not so cosy AU mystery and Harry, a NZ entry.
I have, obviously, watched too much Acorn. And, one more if it’s still available, Delicious. Chef dies and leaves his successful business to his wife and ex-wife.
I love Murdoch Mysteries- I believe that it is available on Netflix- I do live in Canada, so it may be only netlifx canada?? But Murder in paradise is exceptionalll !! so much fun!!
Broadchurch with David Tennant is also really good. Lots of good stuff on Amazon Prime. Poirot & Miss Marple too.
BritBox-addictions:
– DEATH IN PARADISE: already rec’d in the comment thread. Very much Poirot-style mysteries, in the Caribbean, and the four people working the police station there. Who are easy to care for.
– PANEL SHOWS: Would I Lie To You?, Q.I., : it’s British people having fun at each other, points are just an excuse.
FOR THE BITCHERY: WILTY? S13xEp02: has a moment with real-life married couple discussing the reading habits of each other. It’s
– UPSTART CROW: David Mitchell plays Will Shakespeare as he tries to come up with the arguments for his plays. Extra points for what is, actually, a sweet relationship between him and his wife.
-ROYAL VARIETY SHOW: Single episode, a bit of everything.
My mom and dad recommend: SCOTT & BAILEY, VERA, FATHER BROWN, MORSE (Which is why they got her own subscription as a Xmas gift)
I don’t have BritBox, but I absolutely adore Doc Martin, starring Martin Clunes as a socially-inept former surgeon who retreats to a picturesque Cornish village after he develops a fear of blood. Wonderful acting and a marvelous cast of characters.
I’m a Brit who doesn’t actually watch much of any, let alone homegrown TV (shame on me), so only have a few to mention that are hopefully all on the service…
Line of Duty is an incredible anthology style police procedural about an anti-corruption yet. It also has a meta arc that starts in season 1 and is ongoing through to the last one (season 5). Season 6 has halted production like many others currently due to COVID-19. It has a fantastic core cast, but has also included some fab guest actors each season including Lennie James and Thandie Newton,
Save Me is about a father out to find his missing daughter who disappeared whilst out to ‘meet’ him. Created bt and stars Lennie James and his hideous yellow bomber jacket!
Humans 3 seasons of a contemporary sci-fi discussion of humanity in the time of sentient AI. Superb low ‘action high intelligence show that was canceled far too soon.
My library apparently doubled the number of borrows I can get through Hoopla, from 5 to 10. I was saving those for graphic novels, but with the extras, we are finally watching The Librarians!
If you’re trying to figure out where a show can be streamed, try https://www.justwatch.com/us/.
I subscribed to Acorn because I wanted to catch up on Midsomer Murders, which is no longer on my local PBS. After I paid for it, I found out one of my local libraries has an Acorn subscription for card holders!
I will always recommend the first few seasons of Death in Paradise (currently only on BritBox). Not a fan of the later seasons, but those early seasons are perfect! Lots of comedy, and the mystery elements are great! I mean, there’s an episode where a prisoner gets murdered while handcuffed to the detective!
Ooo. Scott & Bailey looks like a British Rizzoli & Isles. *adds to watch list* Thanks ladies!
Foyle’s War (Acorn, Hoopla) is really well done. Not as light as most cozies, but it makes up for the lack of comedy with historical accuracy.
I watched the Agatha Raisin series (Acorn, Hoopla) because I had recently read the first book. If you liked the book, give it a go. Not sure that it *really* stands alone, though. I have book 2 on hold now.
I recommend: AcornTV – Trial & Retribution, The Helen West Casebook (both are crime dramas). BritBox – Benedorm (hilarious).
Unforgotten as Helen mentioned above is very good – stellar writing and acting. It’s based on a cold case unit in the UK and takes one mystery per season. I’m watching it now on Amazon Prime. Not sure if anyone mentioned above, but Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren is still a favorite of mine and one that I hold others up to for quality.
I can also recommend Upstart Crow – it presents the 16th Century as not too different from the 21st (and commuting is horrible, regardless of the year). Rosemary and Thyme is nice – there have been some episodes where someone was in real danger, but a good deal of interesting (to me) garden information (one has a giant hogweed). Most of my favorites have been mentioned – and Miss Fisher is worth watching for the clothes and the relationships if nothing else. Frankie Drake is good – one of the characters is a “morality officer” – she’s authorized to check hem lengths!
If you want something as far from cozy as possible, there’s Whitechapel. It starts off with a young police officer put in charge of the Whitechapel station; his father was a top-notch homicide detective, but the son starts off clueless. Each episode has a crime which reflects a historical crime (or crimes); in the first or second episode they bring in a historian specializing in crimes who can trace the similarities.
This is going to sound completely daft, but one of the shows getting me through this is Gardeners World, which is on Britbox. It’s visual chamomile. Calming, visually appealing, with the occasional interesting factoid to keep my curious. Also, check out Time Team, which I think is on amazon prime. Archaeologists traveling around the UK and investigating local history. Literally digging up people’s backyards.
We did the trial of Britbox just to watch more Shetland. We have to watch it with the subtitles on though so we can understand what they’re saying.
Cozy on Netflix = The Good Witch!
I went searching for Randall and Hopkirk, Deceased (the first series, but would have tried the second) and Capital City (featuring, among others, a young Jason Isaacs) and didn’t find either.
Is the list once you subscribe longer?
We subscribed to ACORN just to re-watch I, Claudius (1970’s BBC Ancient Roman soap opera with HISTORY!-and the reason I took Latin in High School) and then listen to John Hodgeman’s podcast; I, Podius. Then I began binge watching Poirot, a comfort watch for me (I watched it during the labor with my daughter), Brokenwood Mysteries, A Stitch in Time (not a mystery, but wonderful history of fashion based on famous art works), Queens of Mystery and now I’m deep diving into The Detectorists. We also really enjoyed the comedy, Raised By Wolves.
A big omission is the Inspector Lynley Series on Acorn.
There’s some continuity as well.
Inspector Morse
Lewis (Lewis was Morse’s assistant)
Endeavour (technically prequel to Morse – e.g. Morse when he was a newbie)
There’s also Prime Suspect starring Helen Mirren! And Tennison which is the prequel or her newbie years.
Has anyone mentioned Murder in Suburbia yet? There’s a scene where they reconstruct the crime scene using Barbies. 🙂
I’m stunned no one has mentioned RAISED BY WOLVES on Acorn, the loosely autobiographical sitcom created by Caitlin Moran and her sister Caroline. Originally you’re drawn in by the daughters’ lives (Helen Monks does a great job as exuberantly iconoclastic [and sometimes obnoxious!] teenager Germaine, and Alexa Davies more than holds her own as more reserved, intellectual younger sister Aretha), but you’ll come away thinking mother Della is the biggest badass EVER. (Apparently Rebekah Staton told Caitlin Moran “I’m going to play her as Clint Eastwood, is that okay?” Only better, you’ll see.) It doesn’t shy away from the nitty-gritty of female adolescence (Caitlin Moran can be a polarizing figure, and how you feel about her will color how you perceive Germaine in particular) and feminism, but it’s also just genuinely funny.
Yes, shout-out for Rosemary and Thyme! Need to check out Shakespeare and Hathaway, methinks…