Have your say on The Killing Times’ Top 15 crime dramas of the year

A very happy New Year to all our readers. Two-thousand-and-fifteen has been a great year for the site, so a big thank you to everyone who has stopped by to have a read and taken the time to comment or share our posts on social media. In the lead up to New Year we published our list of Top 15 crime dramas. It was a subjective process and it was fun to compile it. But now we want to hear from you – did you agree with our list? Did we miss your favourite? After the jump there’s a poll, so do click on your favourite and let us know what you think by commenting!

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The Killing Times’ Top Crime Dramas Of The Year 2015: Part Three, 5-1

(C) Kudos – Photographer: Nick Briggs

Once you lay out your favourite crime dramas of the year, you see certain themes and ideas replicated. We saw a bit of The Bridge in Witnesses; there was a bit of River in The Bridge, and so on. What was clear from looking back at this year’s cream of the crop was that the standard was incredibly high in 2015, without actually producing a masterpiece like a True Detective series one or a Broadchurch series one. There were plenty of outstanding moments, performances and bits, for sure, but I would say that only the top three of this list approached total awesomeness. And, I have to say, I went back and forth on our top three because each had a case to be number one. In fact, I changed positions right up until the moment I settled down to write this list. See what you think of our Top Five…

River, Fargo, Unforgotten: The crime writers’ best crime dramas of the year

(C) Kudos – Photographer: Nick Briggs

Last year I asked crime writers (novelists, that is) I liked and admired to share with us their favourite crime dramas of the year (see that post here). Even though television and the novel are different mediums, there’s obviously lots of common ground between the two and it was fascinating to read what these wordsmiths thought of their near neighbours in TV Land. I decided to do the same this year, and I’m chuffed to say that another terrific bunch of talented writers have taken the time to write something for the site. Have a read of the crime writers’ favourite crime drama over the jump…

Review: River (S1 E6/6), Tuesday 15th November, BBC1

Photographer: Nick Briggs

“The closer you get to the truth, the further you get away from me. An then you’ll see who I really am. Solve this, Mr Magoo, and you know what happens.” This was the inescapable truth. We were being set up for an emotional climax, a climax that would contain something that I and River dreaded – saying goodbye to Stevie.

The 10 Best Crime Dramas This Week (Monday 16th – Sunday 22nd November)

It’s a big week for crime drama fans, and Scandinavian crime drama fans in particular, because one of the most highly anticipated series since the second run of Broadchurch finally looms into view. Yes, that means Saga Norén is back, but no Martin. Blub. Still, it’s great to have The Bridge back with us, with Saga getting stuck into another case. Elsewhere, River comes to an end and the US version of Sherlock – Elementary – is back for a fourth series.

River finale: Who killed Stevie?

(C) Kudos – Photographer: Nick Briggs

River has definitely divided critics and viewers alike during its five-part run, and its sixth, final episode this Tuesday still has some questions to answer. Leave aside all the manifest business, there’s a murder to solve here – that of his beloved partner, Jackie ‘Stevie’ Stevenson. Yes, we want to know if River can vanquish his demons and start on the road to recovery, but we also want to know who killed Stevie. Who are the suspects?

Review: River (S1 E5/6), Tuesday 10th November, BBC1

 (C) Kudos – Photographer: Nick Briggs

We left River having grave suspicions about Chrissie Read’s husband, Tom, and he wasted no time in confronting him. That’s one of the things I like about this series – it confronts things head-on and doesn’t leave things to fester. This confrontation with his friend’s partner meant that they were both now implicated in the case, which was bad news for Chrissie and bad news for River – he needed to display the kind of tact he had been incapable of showing in previous episodes.

Is River ‘an absolute stinker from top to bottom’?

(C) Kudos – Photographer: Nick Briggs

There was an interesting article on the Radio Times website yesterday (have a read of it here) from a respected journalist who presented a fulsome argument against River, Abi Morgan’s six-part thriller-with-a-difference. The headline itself – Why River Is A Stinker, From Top To Bottom – leaves us no doubt which way Alison Graham’s argument is going to go. But is she right?

Review: River (S1 E4/6), Tuesday 3rd November, BBC1

(C) Kudos – Photographer: Nick Briggs

Straight away the pace and the intensity of this episode was a notch above episode three, mainly because the search was on for Haider – the man who worked at Crystal Kebabs and the man Stevie was spotted in an embrace with on CCTV. The investigation took River and Ira (and Chrissie now) into the world of Somalian refugees. What could have been a hackneyed view of these economic migrants panned out into something sensitive and heartbreaking.

The 10 Best Crime Dramas This Week (Monday 2nd – Sunday 8th November)

(C) Kudos – Photographer: Nick Briggs

Here we go then – another week of murder, mayhem and shrewd detective work. But this week is a bit of a rarity, as there doesn’t seem to be anything new starting, which is a blessed relief. There’s enough to be catching up with!