6 Classic British Mysteries You Probably Haven't Seen
Mysteries are a comfort genre. These are soothing stories of the intelligent detective taking a chaotic situation (usually murder most foul) and restoring order by puzzling out the whodunit. In troubled times, readers and viewers turn back to this genre because they want to see smart people using their intelligence for the good of society. It speaks volumes that our current era has taken back up with them, with Knives Out becoming the biggest sleeper hit of 2019.
PBS has long been airing adaptations of classic 20th-century mystery stories under the Masterpiece Mystery banner. The series has been going since 1980, back when the program was known simply as Mystery! and aired on Thursdays with Vincent Price and Dame Diana Rigg as hosts. Some of these series have gone on to become classics of the genre, like the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series or David Suchet's character-defining take on Agatha Christie's Poirot.
But there are many more great series lost in the sands of time. For those stuck at home, looking for the old school comfort of mystery television, here are some of those favorites from decades past you might want to check out.
