This year has been a great year for TV and streaming. You can find tonnes of binge-able crime-focused shows across all the best streaming services, covering everything from stalkers and serial killers to spies and cartels.
A handful of on-screen moments have caused a stir online, and crime dramas have regularly been at the centre of the conversations. Baby Reindeer was arguably one of the biggest shows of the year, much-loved Slow Horses returned to Apple TV+, and Eddie Redmayne took to the small screen as an assassin.
There have been some unmissable crime dramas in 2024, so if you need something to watch in the winter downtime, these top shows of the year will keep you on the edge of your seat – and they're all streaming right now for your viewing pleasure.
Baby Reindeer
You can’t talk about the best shows of 2024 without bringing up Baby Reindeer. At one point it seemed like the whole world was tuning in to Netflix to watch this dark comedy mini-series. Written and starring Richard Gadd, it’s adapted from his one-man stage play and is based on true events.
A British-made TV show set in London, it tells the story of a struggling comedian who shows kindness to a woman he serves at work. But he soon comes to regret it when she becomes dangerously obsessed with him. The themes of abuse, trauma and stalking are explored from an angle we haven't seen before.
If you missed it at the time of launch, then it's well worth a watch. You can stream all seven episodes of Baby Reindeer right now on Netflix.
Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent is a series inspired by the 1990 film by Scott Turow. It’s about a prosecutor in Chicago who becomes the main suspect in the violent killing of his colleague and lover. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, this courtroom drama will keep you guessing until the end.
Created by David E Kelley, whose portfolio boasts other popular series like Big Little Lies and The Undoing, Presumed Innocent is one of the best legal dramas of the year. It is eight episodes long and available to stream right now on Apple TV+.
The Gentlemen
After the huge success of the film of the same name in 2019, The Gentlemen was one of the most anticipated series of 2024. Once again, Guy Ritchie was the brains behind it, as you can tell from its fast-moving cinematography.
This time, we meet Eddie Horniman, whose aristocratic father dies and leaves him his estate, bypassing his quirky and erratic older brother. But all was not as it seemed when they discovered the Duke had a secret weed empire on the property – and those who control it weren’t willing to move the operation elsewhere.
You can stream all eight episodes of The Gentlemen now on Netflix. It'll be returning for a second season, too, although that's not likely to screen until 2026...
Sweetpea
Available to watch on Now TV or with a Sky subscription, Sweetpea is a comedy crime drama that plays out in eight parts.
In the show, we meet Rhiannon, a girl in her twenties who is bullied, ignored, dismissed and downtrodden. After her father dies, her anger towards the world escalates and she starts to take it out on those around her, leaving a trail of dead bodies and missing people behind her.
Sweetpea is based on a book of the same name – and has proved to be a big hit on the small screen. It was so popular that it has been renewed for a second series – and no wonder, as it's so easily bingeable.
Slow Horses
If you're a fan of spy shows, Slow Horses should be at the top of your watchlist. Based on the Slough House novels by Mick Herron, it follows a team of MI5 agents who have all made big mistakes in their careers and have been dumped into Slough House – a grotty department of the UK Security Service. Still, they manage to find themselves defending their country against criminals.
Slow Horses has some huge names on its cast list, including Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden and Kristin Scott Thomas, to name but a few. There’s plenty to get your teeth into, four seasons of the show are available to stream on Apple TV+ right now – and it's proven so popular that a fifth season has also been confirmed.
Bad Monkey
Another Apple TV+ hit in 2024 was Bad Monkey, an American crime drama starring Vince Vaughan. He plays Andrew Yancy, once a police detective who now inspects restaurants for a living.
A tourist finds a severed arm while out fishing and it sparks a murder investigation that reveals all sorts of corruption and other crimes... and there’s a dodgy pet monkey too.
Highly rated with 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, Bad Monkey is well worth a watch. It’s both dark and funny but will have you thinking about environmentalism and politics too. Watch it now on Apple TV+ – and, with a second season now confirmed, there'll be more madcap antics in the future to look forward to, too.
Day of the Jackal
It’s hard not to be drawn in by a classic cat-and-mouse plotline, and Day of the Jackal is exactly that. Based on a popular book, The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, it’s about an assassin – the “Jackal” played by Eddie Redmayne – who carries out hits for massive fees.
After a German politician gets killed, his work gets noticed by Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch), who works for the MI6 in London and quickly sets to work tracking him down.
This is a big-budget series with an impressive cast; it’s engaging, tense and packed full of action. If you’re a fan of thrills and suspense, it’s a great watch. You can stream it today on Now TV or with a Sky subscription.
