Shows Like Sherlock

If Sherlock left a gap, start here. These 30 series were picked from what Sherlock viewers actually went on to watch next — Inspector Morse, Above Suspicion and Dalgliesh lead the list. Same tone, same pull, a new set of episodes to disappear into.

30
shows
7.3
average score
Inspector Morse
tops the list
updated

The top 5 picks

  1. 1Inspector Morse (1987) poster

    Inspector Morse (1987)

    7.9 · 143 ratings

    Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis, as well as a large cast of…

  2. 2Above Suspicion (2009) poster

    Above Suspicion (2009)

    7.0 · 34 ratings

    Above Suspicion is a British crime drama programme starring Kelly Reilly as Anna Travis, a rookie detective determined to prove herself in the male-dominated police department by solving a trail of gruesome murders left…

  3. 3Dalgliesh (2021) poster

    Dalgliesh (2021)

    6.7 · 65 ratings

    A recent widower and acclaimed poet, enigmatic Inspector Adam Dalgliesh employs his exceptional empathy and insight to plumb the darker depths of the human psyche while investigating complex crimes in 1970s England.

  4. 4Luther (2010) poster

    Luther (2010)

    7.9 · 1,235 ratings

    A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.

  5. 5DCI Banks (2011) poster

    DCI Banks (2011)

    7.1 · 82 ratings

    A thrilling drama based on the novels by Peter Robinson. Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe star as the tenacious and stubborn Chief Inspector Alan Banks and the feisty and headstrong Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot.

25 more worth your time

Editor’s guide1 min read

What "like Sherlock" actually means

Similarity is not one thing

Two series can resemble Sherlock in completely different ways, and knowing which one you are after saves a wasted evening. There is tonal similarity — the same mood, pace and sense of humour, regardless of subject. There is premise similarity, where the setup rhymes but the feel does not. And there is the weakest kind, surface similarity: the same genre label, the same era, the same lead. Most disappointing recommendations are the third kind dressed up as the first.

The list below is built from what people who watched Sherlock went on to watch and rate highly, which catches tonal and premise similarity reasonably well and surface similarity by accident. So it is worth reading the top few entries with the question "similar how?" rather than taking the order as a ranking of quality.

Where to start

If you loved Sherlock for how it felt, start at the top and trust the first three or four — the strongest tonal matches concentrate there, because that is where the overlap in audience is densest.

If you loved it for what it was about, read further down instead. The middle of a list like this is where the interesting divergences live: series that took the same idea somewhere the original series did not go, which is usually a better evening than watching something that simply repeats it.

How this list was put together

We build this page from TMDB's recommendation graph — the titles that people who watched Sherlock went on to watch and rate highly — then drop anything without a poster or a meaningful number of ratings. It refreshes daily, so as viewing habits shift the list shifts with them.

Frequently asked questions

What should I watch after Sherlock?

Inspector Morse (1987) is the closest match, rated 7.9 by 143 viewers. Above Suspicion, Dalgliesh and Luther are the next best bets.

How do you decide what is similar to Sherlock?

From what Sherlock viewers actually watched and rated next, not just from matching genre tags. That surfaces titles that share its tone and themes even when they sit in a different category.

Is this list updated?

Yes. New shows join the list once enough people have rated them for the score to mean anything. Browsing is free and there is no account or paywall on anything at MovieAI.

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Film and series data, artwork and trailers provided by TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.