20 Must-Watch TV Shows on BritBox Right Now (September 2025)

Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley novels are beloved in Britain and have already been adapted into an equally admired series that ran from 2001 to 2007. The famous detective is back in a reimagined TV series, Lynley, with Vikings: Valhalla actor Leo Suter taking on the title role.

Born into privilege, Lynley forgoes the easy life to become a hard-working detective solving crimes in the English countryside. Not everyone is pleased with his arrival, though, particularly new partner Barbara Havers (Sofia Barclay). She doesn’t think he has what it takes to make it as an inspector, while he believes she isn’t as good as she thinks she is. They’ll have to find a way to work together to solve the many mysteries they’re assigned, or they’ll both be out of a job.

Lynley starts streaming on September 4.

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare — the child you’ve loved and raised isn’t actually yours. That’s what happens to Pete (Grantchester‘s James Norton) and Maddie (Niamh Algar), who are informed that their 5-year-old, Theo (Alban Guo), is not their biological child due to a mistake at their local hospital. Soon, they meet Theo’s real parents and come to an agreement — they’ll each keep the child they’ve raised and allow both boys to see their blood relatives. But their best laid plans are soon spoiled by mutual suspicion over each couple’s true intentions. 

Playing Nice is an absorbing series that milks every bit of drama out of its juicy premise. It presents an impossible situation to its two lead couples and chronicles how they try to find an easy answer to a hard question. Could you still love your child even if you knew he or she didn’t really belong to you? The beauty of the four-episode series is watching how each mother and father answers that question in their own devastating way.

Clive Owen is now a star, but 25 years ago he was just another struggling actor looking for his big break. He got it with Second Sight, a British detective series that ran for two six-episode seasons on BBC One. And while some of the digital camerawork is very much of its time, the show still holds up thanks to its intriguing cases, evocative, dreamlike score and Owen’s captivating lead performance.

Owen stars as Ross Tanner, a well-respected London detective who is hiding a secret — he’s slowly going blind. Only his partner, Catherine Tully (Claire Skinner), knows what’s going on, but she won’t say anything about his condition until he comes to terms with what’s happening. Meanwhile, there are several crimes to be solved, including the murder of a groom-to-be at a stag night and the mysterious death of a young child.

This sweet six-episode mini-series tells the true story of George Mottershead (Lee Ingleby), a WWI veteran who created the Chester Zoo in the 1930s. Amidst financial constraints and community resistance, George and his family face numerous challenges as they bring to life George’s vision of a more humane haven for animals — a zoo without bars.

The talented ensemble, which includes Liz White as Lizzie Mottershead, Anne Reid as Lucy Mottershead and Ralph Little as Billy Atkinson, tells a story of resilience with warmth and nostalgia. It’s a wholesome portrayal of a family’s dedication to an ambitious, compassionate project during a turbulent period in history. You’ll love the period-accurate production design and the clever narrative about sanctuary, both for the animals and for the family itself.

Catastrophe and Bad Sisters writer Sharon Horgan is one of the creators of this hilarious sitcom, which offers a dry and cynical look into the chaotic lives of middle-class mothers and their daily struggles to balance family, children, and work. Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin) is a career-driven mom trying to juggle her demanding job with the overwhelming responsibilities of motherhood — but her work-life balance is forever changed when her own mother (Ellie Haddington) announces she will no longer help with childcare.

As she learns to juggle her new parenting responsibilities, Julia befriends fellow struggling parents: Liz (Diane Morgan), who is laid-back and carefree; Kevin (Paul Ready), a stay-at-home dad; and the overly organized and seemingly perfect alpha mom, Amanda (Lucy Punch). Relatable and painfully honest, Motherland is a must-watch for any parent.

Are you ready for your next mystery show obsession? Because once you start watching Death Valley, you probably can’t stop until the last episode is over.

John Chapel (Harry Potter star Timothy Spall) is restless and bored. A beloved actor best known for playing a popular detective on TV, his retirement has so far proven to be a bit dull and uninspiring. But when John’s neighbor turns up dead, he’s inspired to solve the case himself. He’s helped by Detective Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth), who actually has experience solving crimes, and together, the duo solves numerous crimes in and around their sleepy Welsh village.

Death Valley works as both a mystery and a comedy, and that’s largely due to Spall, who imbues Chapel with enough wit and charm to make him a hero you want to root for — and sometimes strangle. He’s a quintessential British mystery lead — frustrating, eccentric and irresistible. That also describes Death Valley, a show you hope will have many more seasons in its future.

Apart from true crime enthusiasts, not many people outside of England know who Dennis Nilsen was. But those who do still shiver at the memory of the reign of terror he unleashed in the 1970s, and how his legacy still haunts some to this day.

David Tennant stars as Nilsen, a lonely, closeted Scottish man who began murdering gay men in the late 1970s. No one notices what Nilsen is doing, or how many people he’s killed, until the dismembered remains of one of his victims clog up his building’s plumbing.

That’s only part of Des, which chronicles the before and after of Nilsen’s serial murder spree and subsequent trial. The three-episode series is dark and heavy, but it’s always involving and features Tennant’s best performance. He gives you a glimpse into the heart of evil, and you won’t soon forget it.

When a union activist is shot with an arrow and killed, a small Nottinghamshire village is torn apart by fear and suspicion. No one knows who did it or why, but Detective Ian St Clair (David Morrissey) believes it has something to do with a miners’ strike that happened in 1985. The key to the mystery might lie with the dead man’s widow, Julie Jackson (Lesley Manville), who knows more than she realizes. Can Ian find out who the killer is before they strike again?

Based on a real-life incident in 2004, Sherwood is a mystery so involving, you may have to binge all of season 1’s six episodes in one sitting. A good reason why is Manville, who is terrific as the no-nonsense Julie. She returns in Sherwood’s second season, which tackles another mystery involving a gang-related murder. 

Those who live outside of Britain may not have heard of the Mitford sisters, six siblings who defied conventions and became famous — and infamous — in the 1930s, but Outrageous will surely change that. The six-episode series chronicles the lives of the upper-class Mitford sisters as they pursue their careers — and romantic partners — in the Great Depression. Some of the sisters include Nancy (Bessie Carter), who yearns to be a popular writer, and Jessica (Zoe Brough), who wants to use her privileged status to bring light to revolutionary causes.

Outrageous lives up to its title — it’s an entertaining portrait of a family who touch all levels of English society. The show specializes in getting the look and feel of the period just right, and it spotlights a truly interesting cast of real-life characters who have been largely forgotten about today. The show begins streaming on June 18.

Barry Walker (Lennie James) is a respected member of his community, a devoted father to his grown-up daughters and a loving husband to his wife of over 50 years, Carmel (Sharon D. Clark). But Carmel suspects her husband may be cheating on her with another woman, and she’s determined to find out who it is. What she discovers proves she’s both right and wrong as Barry is indeed being unfaithful to her — with another man.

Instead of exploiting the soapy aspects of its plot, Mr. Loverman instead devotes most of its sympathetic attention to chronicling Barry’s unexpected coming-out to his family and friends and the ramifications it has on all of them. The series is surprisingly delicate and complicated in its approach to love and marriage, and it gives James and Clark, both respected actors of the English stage and screen, two meaty roles to showcase their considerable talents.

Gabe (Sion Daniel Young) and Andy (Fra Fee) have been together for eight years and want to start a family. But the adoption process in England is long and arduous, particularly for a gay couple, and Gabe and Andy disagree on what kind of child they want and how that child should be raised. Even if they are approved to adopt, what will life be like now that they are new parents with new responsibilities?

Lost Boys and Fairies looks like a straightforward drama, but it’s also a sweet rom-com about growing up with the one you love and a musical filled with extravagant production numbers. (Gabe is a performance artist at a local gay bar.) It’s a little bit of everything, which makes the show so entertaining and special to watch.

Jack Wright (Trevor Eve) dies at the beginning of I, Jack Wright, and no, that’s no spoiler. But the titular character’s demise is just the beginning of the drama and mystery that his immediate family is plunged into when Jack seemingly dies by suicide. Even worse, he left his third wife, Sally (Nikki Amuka-Bird), and two sons out of the will.

It’s not like Jack to do either of those things, which is why Sally thinks something’s amiss. Could her husband have been murdered and his will changed without his knowledge? That’s the heart of I, Jack Wright’s intriguing mystery, and why it’s already one of the most bingeable British shows of 2025. 

Nobody asked for an Agatha Christie adaptation with steamy sex scenes, but we got one with Towards Zero. The three-episode series stars Oscar winner Anjelica Huston as Lady Tressilian, a rich widow who invites some guests to her seaside property for a house party. A murder occurs, of course, and suspicion falls on the party’s guests, which include a disgraced tennis star (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and his new wife (Mimi Keene). Inspector Leach (Matthew Rhys) is on the case, but can he find the murderer before he — or she — strikes again?

Towards Zero is a fun adaptation of a largely forgotten Christie novel that changes just enough to make the story feel modern. Jackson-Cohen is a dashing suspect, and Huston has a ball cracking mean jokes as the bedridden matriarch. 

John “Ludwig” Taylor (David Mitchell) doesn’t like people all that much. A recluse, he prefers to stay inside and indulge in his primary passion — making puzzles. But when his twin detective brother, James, disappears, he’s forced to impersonate him to find out what happened. To make matters more stressful, he has to use his skills as a puzzlemaker to solve crimes in his brother’s absence.

Ludwig uses its far-fetched premise to create a hugely entertaining mystery show that’s also a fish-out-of-water comedy. With the aid of his brother’s wife, Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin), Ludwig has to be as charming and outgoing as his brother is while solving crimes. He’s not usually successful, which results in awkward scenarios that are pure comedy gold.

If you miss Monk and want a murder mystery series that isn’t all that serious, check out Ludwig. It’s one of the best-reviewed shows of 2025 and has already been renewed for a second season.

A crude joke told at a party could be one man’s downfall in the excellent three-episode drama Douglas Is Cancelled. The man in question, Douglas Bellowes (Hugh Bonneville), is a longtime news anchor with a journalist wife (Alex Kingston), a coanchor who looks up to him (Karen Gillan) and the respect of his peers. But when a tweet alleging he told a sexist joke at a wedding starts to gain traction, Douglas is forced to defend the things he has always taken for granted.

Douglas Is Cancelled examines the role of social media, journalism and gender politics in the post-#MeToo era. If that sounds serious, relax  — the show has that wicked humor the Brits have refined for centuries. Bonneville is fine as the hapless Douglas, but it’s Kingston and Gillan who shine as the main women in his life, who aren’t exactly pleased with his behavior.

The spirit of Twin Peaks lives on in Passenger, a seemingly typical police procedural that’s accentuated with dashes of weirdness. Detective Riya Ajunwa (Wumni Mosaku) has been working in the small town of Chadder Vale for five years, and she’s grown a bit bored. But when a young girl mysteriously disappears, she gets more than she bargained for as a series of strange incidents suggests something otherworldly is at play.

Passenger isn’t perfect — it’s about two episodes too long, and the plot is a bit of a mess. But it conjures a creepy vibe that recalls David Lynch’s seminal ’90s drama, and the synth-heavy score and moody visuals will cause you to look over your shoulder more than once.

Charming, handsome and suave — you may think you know Cary Grant, but you’d be mistaken. “Cary Grant” was just another role the actor played and was a carefully constructed persona by Archibald “Archie” Leach, Grant’s real name and identity.

Over four episodes, Archie examines how a poor British boy who was kicked out of school and worked as a traveling acrobat became one of the most popular movie stars ever. The White Lotus season 3 star Jason Isaacs is unrecognizable as the older Grant, who, at the peak of his fame in the ’60s, is unhappy with his current role in life. Archie is less a hagiography of a beloved icon and more a dissection of what made Archie/Grant tick, as well as an exploration of how he never reconciled with the past he was so desperate to cover up.

It’s 1954, and all Luke Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson) wants to do is board his train on time and rest. He gets more than he bargained for when he meets Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton), who tells him about a mysterious string of deaths happening in a nearby small village. When Miss Pinkerton herself is killed, Luke decides to avenge and capture the killer at any cost.

Murder Is Easy is a typical Agatha Christie tale, but this adaptation is a little livelier than the rest. That’s primarily due to the casting of Jonsson and Wilton, who both bring a sense of fun and mischief to their roles. The production values are top-notch, and the mystery is good enough to keep you guessing throughout the show’s two episodes.

Northern Ireland is well represented in Blue Lights, an absorbing police procedural that just wrapped up its second season in 2024. The first season follows three novice police officers as they are trained by their mentors and experience their first work assignments. The second season is set a year later and shows how much they’ve grown and what they still need to learn about police work.

Blue Lights is a bit like the “Law” part of Law & Order, as it focuses mostly on police work rather than getting too specific about each officer’s personal lives. The show is set in Belfast and takes a “slice of life” approach that gives it a captivating, gritty realism. 

True crime aficionados will surely enjoy The Pembrokeshire Murders, a three-episode dramatization of the dramatic capture of Welsh serial killer John Cooper. In 2006, Detective Steve Wilkins (Luke Evans) reopens two cold cases that were never solved. Both involved random acts of murder, and the only thing linking them is a series of burglaries that could hold the clue to the killer. Facing resistance from his peers, Steve becomes obsessed with cracking the case and bringing the killer to justice over 20 years after the crimes were committed.

The Pembrokeshire Murders is set in Wales, which isn’t your typical location for a murder mystery. That alone sets it apart from the others in the genre, but the show’s incredible true story is gripping, and Evans is good as a stoic protagonist. The series is three episodes long and is based on the book The Pembrokeshire Murders: Catching the Bullseye Killer by Wilkins. 

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