Watch Crime Drama Outside UK on BBC iPlayer [2023 Collection]

Looking for what are the best Crime Drama TV Shows available outside UK? If you are a genre fan like us, you can watch Crime Drama outside UK on BBC iPlayer by connecting to an excellent streaming VPN like ExpressVPN.

The VPN allows you to bypass geo-restrictions and watch crime drama on BBC iPlayer free. BBC crime drama series come with the most original and intriguing storylines, but before we guide you through the best BBC crime dramas, let’s look at what BBC iPlayer is.

BBC iPlayer is a British on-demand streaming service created especially for all BBC’s content. You can access content from BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, CBeebies, BBC Bitesize, and Strictly Come Dancing It Takes Two.

You cannot directly watch BBC iPlayer outside UK, as the service is currently geo-restricted due to its copyrights and content restrictions policies. Connecting to an excellent VPN like ExpressVPN allows you to access the Best new TV crime dramas and detective series of 2023 on the platform.

A plus for the streaming service is no BBC iPlayer cost, so you can enjoy BBC iPlayer shows and BBC iPlayer movies on the content for free with a valid UK TV license.

Now, let’s proceed to what we all came here for. Here are the most Brilliant BBC dramas we can’t wait to watch in 2023 in the crime drama genre.

What are the Best Crime Dramas to binge-watch on BBC iPlayer Right Now?

If you are a crime drama genre fan and want to watch Crime Drama outside UK on BBC iPlayer. It is the perfect choice for your streaming binge as it is compatible with most streaming devices, meaning you can easily enjoy BBC iPlayer on Smart TV and Android, among other devices.

We have researched for you, and after scrolling through hours of crime drama, we have come up with a list of the top 20 best hard-line Crime Dramas to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Here are the best crime dramas and true crime docs to watch now on BBC iPlayer.

1. Snowfall (2017)

• Genre – Crime, Drama
• Director – Alonzo Alverez, Ben Younger, Logan Kibens
• Major Cast – Damson Idris, Carter Hudson, Sergio Peres-Mecheta, Isaiah John
• Runtime – 44 Minutes
• Year of Release – 2017
• Number of Seasons – 6

Synopsis – During the earlier years of the Los Angeles drug pandemic of the 1980s, a crime family decides to get involved in selling the newly introduced drug cocaine, code-named snow. Things get messier when a CIA operative gets involved in the whole ordeal.

The show intersects and combines the storylines of 20-year-old Franklin Saint, a Mexican Luchador, a CIA operative, Teddy McDonalds, and a Mexican crime boss’s niece, Lucia Villanueva.

2. We Hunt Together (2020)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Thriller
• Director – Gaby Hull
• Major Cast – Eve Myles, Babou Ceesay, Hermoine Corfeild, Vicki Pepperdine.
• Runtime – 45 Minutes
• Year of Release – 2020
• Number of Seasons – 2

Synopsis – Freddy and Baba, two individuals with troubled pasts, form a bond and go on a killing spree, which forces detectives Lola and Jackson to reunite once again after an unsavoury incident to catch these killers.

This reunion starts a brilliant cat-and-mouse game filled with emotional manipulation and sexual attraction as these two conflicted detectives work together to comprehend the deadly killers.

3. Peaky Blinders (2014)

• Genre – Crime, Drama
• Director – Steven Knight
• Major Cast – Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle.
• Runtime – 1 hour
• Year of Release – 2013
• Number of Seasons – 6

Synopsis – The British period drama centres around a crime family of mixed Irish Travellers and Romani Origins. The family is run by the cunning and ambitious crime boss Tommy Shelby, who has created a street gang that is still known to this day for their signature razor blades sewn into their caps.

4. Blue Lights (2023)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Thriller
• Director – Gilles Bannier
• Major Cast – Sian Brooke, Katherin Devlin, Nathan Braniff.
• Runtime – 1 Hour
• Year of Release – 2023
• Number of Seasons – 1

Synopsis – The series follows three probationary period police officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland assigned to the fictional Blackthorn Station in Belfast. The series focuses on fellow rookies Grace (Brooke), Annie (Devlin) and Tommy (Braniff), who are struggling under the immense pressure of being the frontline response police.

5. Happy Valley (2014)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Thriller
• Director – Sally Wainwright
• Major Cast – Sarah Lancashire, Siobhan Finneran, James Norton, Rhys Connah.
• Runtime – 58 Minutes
• Year of Release – 2014
• Number of Seasons – 3

Synopsis – The show is centred around Sergeant Catherine Cawood, who, following the grieve of her daughter’s suicide. Leads a team of strong-willed police officers to capture an organized crime criminal organization that is responsible for kidnapping women and holding them for ransom.

Along with the show’s main storyline, the team also solves other criminal cases around the area of their jurisdiction, Halifax, West Yorkshire.

6. Luther (2010)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Director – Neil Cross
• Major Cast – Idris Elba, Dermot Crowley, Michael Smiley.
• Runtime – 1 Hour
• Year of Release – 2010
• Number of Seasons – 5

Synopsis – DCI John Luther is a criminally gifted but obsessive, possessed, and sometimes violent Officer for the Serious Crime Unit. He pays the price for his obsessiveness by being consumed by the darkness of his profession and the cases he deals with.

Further along, he is caught in a cat-and-mouse game filled with an infatuation with a criminal, Alice Morgan, which leads to an unlikely partnership between the two.

7. Annika (2021)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Director – Nick Walker
• Major Cast – Nicola Walker, Jamie Sives, Jamie Leung
• Runtime –
• Year of Release – 2021
• Number of Seasons – 2

Synopsis – Annika Stranded is a Detective Inspector heading up the newly formed, Glasgow-based Marine Homicide Unit (MHU). The show’s main plot revolves around her and her team solving cases involving bodies and, in some cases, body parts that wash up ashore.

The subplot of the show revolves around Annika and her troubled relationship with her daughter, Morgan. The show often features Norweigan culture and folklore, as the main character is Norweigan.

8. Steeltown Murders (2023)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, History
• Director – Marc Evans
• Major Cast – Sion Alun Davis, Steffan Rhodri, Aneurin Barnard, Richard Harrington.
• Runtime –
• Year of Release – 2023
• Number of Seasons – 1

Synopsis – If you want to watch Crime Drama outside UK on BBC iPlayer, then you should put Steeltown Murders on your watch list. The four-part factual series documenting the first serial killer of Wales, the Saturday Night Strangler. He left 3 women dead during his time, with their cases remaining unsolved until now.

9. Silent Witness (1996)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Director – Thaddeus O’Sullivan, Richard Signy, Dudi Appleton
• Major Cast – Emilia Fox, William Gaminara, David Caves, Tom Ward, Liz Carr
• Runtime – 2 hour
• Year of Release – 1996
• Number of Seasons – 26

Synopsis – the long-running series is a must-watch if you want to watch Crime Drama outside UK on BBC iPlayer. The series has been running for 26 seasons and, over time, has featured different characters and teams as exceptional forensic pathologists who use their skills to investigate and provide useful insights into heinous criminal cases.

10. Sherwood (2022)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Director – Clio Bernard, Lewis Arnold, Ben. A Willams.
• Major Cast – Adam Hugill, Lorraine Ashbourne, Perry Fitzpatrick, Philip Jackson
• Runtime – 59 Minutes
• Year of Release – 2022
• Number of Seasons – 1

Synopsis – Leading to the biggest Manhunt in British history, two unexpected murders cause an already fractured community with a dark history to shatter. The story is loosely based on the murder of trade unionist Keith Frogson in 2004 during the miners’ strikes.

It begins with the murder of a former union activist, Gary Jackson (Alun Armstrong). Jackson’s interest in police activities within the community leads the police to suspect that there is a connection between the miners’ strike and Gary’s murder.

11. Vigil (2021)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Director – Tom Edge
• Major Cast – Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Shaun Evans
• Runtime – 1 Hour
• Year of Release – 2021
• Number of Seasons – 2

Synopsis – The British police procedural drama is one of, if not the best if you want to watch Crime Drama Outside UK on BBC iPlayer. In the show, Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva of the Scottish Police Service is sent to HMS Vigil.

She is there to investigate a murder that has taken place after the mysterious disappearance of a Scottish fish trawler. This investigation led to a conflict between the onshore police, the Royal Navy, and MI5.

12. Line Of Duty (2012)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Director – Jed Mercurio
• Major Cast – Martin Compston, Vicky McClure, Adrian Dunbar
• Runtime – 1 Hour
• Year of Release – 2012
• Number of Seasons – 6

Synopsis – The Anti-Corruption Unit 12 (AC-12) is under investigation due to its shady dealings and unlawful activities. DC Steve Arnott is partnered with DC Kate Fleming under the guidance of Super Intendent. Ted Hastings works to uncover the corruption that is taking place in the AC-12.

13. Time (2021)

• Genre – Crime, Drama
• Director – Jimmy McGovern
• Major Cast – Siobhan Finneran, Sean Bean, Stephen Graham
• Runtime – 59 Minutes
• Year of Release – 2021
• Number of Seasons – 2

Synopsis – Mark Cobden is a newly imprisoned inmate who is ridden by guilt of his crime, he meets Eric McNally, an excellent police officer who does all in his might to protect the inmates, but when a dangerous inmate identifies Eric’s weakness. Eric finds himself having to choose between his principles and his loving family.

14. The Responder (2022)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Thriller
• Director – Tony Schumacher
• Major Cast – Martin Freeman, Warren Brown, Adelayo Adedayo
• Runtime – 57 Minutes
• Year of Release – 2022
• Number of Seasons – 1

Synopsis – Chris Carson, a crisis-stricken, morally compromised first responder, formerly an inspector, is demoted to a first responder. He undertakes a series of night shifts in the city centre, and as he does his duty, he is pushed into the depths of the criminal world and corruption that he must now combat with his partner.

15. Better (2023)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Thriller
• Director – Sam Vincent. Jonathan Brackley
• Major Cast – Leila Farzad, Andrew Buchan, Samuel Edward-Cook
• Runtime – 59 Minutes
• Year of Release – 2023
• Number of Seasons – 1

Synopsis – A corrupt police officer has a painful moral awakening following the almost loss of her son and tries to make amends for her sins. All the while trying to escape Col McHugh, the powerful criminal she previously worked for.

16. Hinterland (2015)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Director – Ed Thomas, Gareth Bryn, Marc Evans
• Major Cast – Richard Harrington, Mali Harries, Alex Harries, Hannah Daniels
• Runtime – 1 hour 30 Minutes
• Year of Release – 2013
• Number of Seasons – 3

Synopsis – DCI Tom Mathias, a troubled police officer, solves crimes while looking for redemption.

17. Shetland (2013)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Director – Jan Matthys, Thaddeus O’Sullivan, Rebecca Gatward
• Major Cast – Alison O’Donald, Steven Robertson, Douglas Henshall.
• Runtime – 1 Hour
• Year of Release – 2013
• Number of Seasons – 7

Synopsis – Based on novels by Ann Cleeves, Shetland revolves around a police investigation team, as they investigate crimes within a close-knit Island community in Scotland.

18. McMafia (2018)

• Genre – Crime, Drama, Thriller
• Director – James Watkins, Hossein Amini
• Major Cast – Yoalah Brinson, James Norton, Merab Ninidze
• Runtime – 1 Hour
• Year of Release – 2018
• Number of Seasons – 2

Synopsis – Alex Godman, the son of a Russian Mafia, has spent all his life trying to escape the shadow of his families business but when a murder unearths the families secrets. Alex must dive deep into the criminal underworld to protect the ones he loves.

19. Hidden Assets (2022)

• Genre – Crime, Drama
• Director – Peter McKenna
• Major Cast – Simone Kirby, Wouter Henderickx, Charlie Carrick, Angeline Ball
• Runtime –
• Year of Release – 2021
• Number of Seasons – 1

Synopsis – A team at the Criminal Assets Bureau while conducting a routine raid discovers that a small-time drug dealer is receiving diamonds as payment from an unknown source, which could be linked to a series of bombing in Belgium

With this knowledge the Criminal Assets Bureau must now work with Belgian Police Commissioner to find the truth and stop another potential bombing.

20. Murdered for Being Different (2017)

• Genre – Crime, Drama
• Director – Paul Andrew Williams
• Major Cast – Nico Mirallego, Abigail Lawrie, Sophie Shera, Chris Coghill
• Runtime – 1 Hour 2 Minutes
• Year of Release – 2017
• Number of Seasons –

Synopsis – The Bafta Winning real-life crime drama, Murdered for Being Different is a must watch if you are looking to watch Crime Drama outside UK on BBC iPlayer. 

The movie is based on the real-life murder of Sophie Lancaster in 2007. She and her boyfriend were attacked by a street gang of teenagers just because they liked to dress goth.

Wrap-Up:

If you are looking for a good crime drama to binge on, BBC iPlayer is the right place for you, also access to titles like Black Snow, Phoenix Rise Series 2, and Antiques Roadshow. Worried about not being able to access BBC iPlayer outside UK. Don’t worry.

You can watch Crime Drama Outside UK on BBC iPlayer by connecting to an excellent streaming VPN like ExpressVPN.

So don’t go delete BBC iPlayer account before you check out all of these excellent crime drama titles by connecting to ExpressVPN to enjoy seamless, uninterrupted streaming.