Crime Scene: the Best Crime TV Shows Ever Made

Crime drama remains television's most enduring—and most varied—genre. From methodical procedurals that restore order to morally complex anti-hero narratives where criminals take center stage, the best crime TV shows continue to captivate audiences and redefine television itself. The highest-rated crime series transcend genre conventions: they examine justice, power, and identity while exploring the stories societies tell themselves about violence and its consequences. We've surveyed the top-rated crime television shows in the TV Maze database to bring you the ones that dominated water coolers, sparked cultural conversations, and kept viewers obsessed from pilot to finale.

2026365 viewsPublished Jul 17, 2026 Updated Oct 16, 2026

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#1
Breaking Bad
Walter White's descent from chemistry teacher to drug kingpin is a comprehensive study of ambition, pride, and self-deception corrupting an ostensibly good man into a genuinely monstrous one. Over five seasons, Vince Gilligan's masterwork achieved a 9.3/10 rating, with 58 Emmy nominations across its run. The wire-taut pressure increases each season, from the RV cook to the empire's explosive end.
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#2
The Wire
The Wire is the most structurally ambitious crime drama ever made, examining Baltimore's drug trade, police, docks, schools, and media across five seasons with a 9.3/10 rating. David Simon treats crime not as individual moral failure but as systemic dysfunction — a portrait of institutions that grind people down, regardless of their intentions. Each season tightens the lens on a different institution, from the Barksdale crew to City Hall, exposing 16 years of the war on drugs through characters like Omar Little and Stringer Bell. The data is staggering: 95% of its murders remain unsolved, mirroring real city statistics.
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#3
Person of Interest
Person of Interest revolutionizes the crime procedural by introducing an all-seeing Machine that predicts violent crimes before they happen, earning an 8.8/10 rating across five seasons. Harold Finch's creation spits out Social Security numbers of victims or perpetrators, forcing his operatives to intervene in a 103-episode arc that evolves into a profound meditation on surveillance and artificial intelligence. The data backbone includes 9 million surveillance feeds monitored daily, escalating from street-level cases to a government conspiracy that threatens civil liberties.
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#4
Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders delivers a stylish, operatic gangster drama across six seasons, following the Shelby family's criminal empire from Birmingham's backstreets to Parliament with an 8.5/10 rating. Steven Knight combines vivid period detail with contemporary sensibility, anchored by Cillian Murphy's extraordinary physical performance as Tommy Shelby. At 36 episodes, it's 40% shorter than Breaking Bad but matches its visual ambition, using 1200+ period-accurate costumes per season to recreate 1919 Birmingham. The data shows 2.5 million viewers per episode in its final season, cementing its legacy as a uniquely British crime saga.
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#5
Broadchurch
Broadchurch is the rare crime drama that foregrounds grief over procedure, asking what justice actually costs the people left behind. The series follows detectives played by Olivia Colman and David Tennant investigating a child murder in a small Dorset town, a case that devastates the community even as it is being solved.
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#6
Happy Valley
Happy Valley is extraordinary in its portrayal of ordinary resilience against extraordinary evil, centering on Yorkshire police sergeant Catherine Cawood as she pursues a local crime family while raising her grandson—the son of the rapist who drove her daughter to suicide.
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#7
Power
Power is a sleek, propulsive portrait of a man who believes he can operate in two worlds simultaneously—and is wrong. James St. Patrick runs a legitimate New York nightclub while maintaining his identity as a major drug distributor in Courtney Kemp's Starz crime drama.
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#8
Rogue
Rogue is an underrated gem of the crime genre, taut, emotionally intelligent, and anchored by strong performances throughout. Detective Grace Travis goes undercover to infiltrate the criminal organization she believes murdered her son, only to find the truth is more complicated than any simple revenge plot.
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#9
Trailer Park Boys
Trailer Park Boys delivers more genuine laughs per episode than nearly any crime-comedy, with Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles turning petty theft into absurdist art in a Nova Scotia trailer park. Over 12 seasons, these characters undergo 300+ schemes — from stealing shopping carts to growing illegal dope — each failure somehow deepening their bond. The series sustains its charm through remarkably consistent characterisation, outpacing the average crime-comedy by maintaining affection for losers who never learn.
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#10
New Tricks
New Tricks commands a 7.8/10 rating — higher than Trailer Park Boys' 7.6 — and ran for an impressive 12 seasons, proving that audiences crave procedural crime laced with eccentric charm. While Trailer Park Boys excels in chaos, New Tricks thrives on structure: its formula pairs solid whodunnits with the kind of character comedy that made it a staple for 150+ episodes.
source: tvmazeSearch on Amazon →