Readers of TNL will likely know of my affection for detective, crime solving, courtroom, and spy shows, along with a few period dramas from time to time. My latest binge is Grantchester on PBS’s Masterpiece. The British detective series is set in 1950s Cambridge, England, and features the Anglican vicar Sidney Chambers (James Norton) developing a side sleuthing gig with Detective Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green). 

Father Chambers apparently gets replaced in a future season with a new vicar, William Davenport (Tom Brittney), but I’m just getting started. The best way to describe the series is “one part Endeavour smooshed together with one part Father Brown.” So far so good. My recent previous binges in this genre have included:

• Alias (Jennifer Garner)
• Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch)
• The Mentalist (Simon Baker)
• Covert Affairs (Piper Perabo)
• Broadchurch (David Tennant)
• Blue Bloods (Tom Selleck)
• Poirot (David Suchet)
• Father Brown (Mark Williams)
• Endeavour (Shaun Evans)
• Inspector Morse (John Thaw)
• Inspector Lewis (Kevin Whately)
• Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (Essie Davis)
• Columbo (Peter Falk)

Past and ongoing binges in the period-piece genre include:

• Victoria (Jenna Coleman, Tom Hughes)
• The Crown (Claire Foy, Olivia Colman)
• Reign (Adelaide Kane, Toby Regbo, Megan Follows)
• Downton Abbey (Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith)
• Pride & Prejudice (Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth)
• Sense & Sensibility (Hattie Morahan, Dominic Cooper)

And then there’s Stranger Things (Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown), which is in a class by itself, and the ubiquitous NCIS and Law & Order. Oh, and the Friday night Marvel binge with my son. (My waning love of professional sports has made more space for the arts and a better use of my brain.)

What are your favorite binges?

UPDATE (01.15.2021): As it turns out, Grantchester is rather slow moving, only marginally interesting, and unfortunately overt in its socio-political agenda. I’m not sure I’ll continue with it. Worst of all (for this genre, anyway), the viewer can never really solve the crime beforehand because important clues are concealed until the end. Where’s the fun in that?

Image Credits: mypostcard.com; medium.com.