Britain’s Favourite Detective

They're intelligent...

They call me Fitz, what do they call you?

..but flawed.

Determined... Only interested in one thing here,

and that's bent coppers.

..and complex.

What are we dealing with? Something new.

Can be scruffy or stylish...

..but are always driven.

You have no right to take the law into your own hands!

And sometimes fierce.

Drop the gun!

From the mean streets of 1980s New York City...

to the breath-taking scenery of modern day Northumberland.

Well, you were right. Well, it's like I've done this before.

From the peace and tranquillity of Oxfordshire...

to the sprawling metropolis of 21st century London.

Call him off.

They've been gracing our TV screens for over 70 years...

Are you up to something, Miss Marple? Am I?

..and have become some of the most beloved characters

to appear on the box.

My name is Columbo. Frost.

Taggart.

These are the top 25 crime-fighters

the ITV audience voted for in their thousands

as Britain's Favourite Detective.

PHONE RINGS

DCI Tennison.

The fictional detective has been a feature in popular culture

since Edgar Allen Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue

was written in 1841.

For nearly 200 years, writers have been creating

these complex and fascinating characters.

Firstly, on the page, before bringing them to screens,

both big...

You got a gun? No.

What'd you do with it? I never had one.

..and eventually small.

It wasn't long, though, before law enforcement officers

became a regular fixture on TV screens.

In the 1950s, shows like Dragnet became hugely popular in America,

while in the UK,

we had Dixon of Dock Green,

followed a few years later by Z-Cars.

It's these shows that paved the way for the many detectives

that have graced our screens over the past 70 years,

which is why we charged you, the ITV audience,

with the task of uncovering the nation's favourite.

Get on with it, then. So let's start the countdown

by heading to Scandinavia

for the detective duo that are first up at number 25.

In 2005, Swedish novel The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

was published to huge international success.

Two years later, a Danish TV series called The Killing was broadcast,

and when it came to the UK in 2011, it became a break-out hit.

Then the following year,

BBC Four broadcast what it hoped would be

the next great detective drama from Scandinavia.

This one was set in both Sweden and Denmark,

and the mystery starts when a body is found on the bridge.

The bridge in question is the Oresund Bridge,

which links Malmo, Sweden, with Copenhagen, Denmark.

A body is found exactly in the centre of the bridge,

so a joint investigation is required,

with Saga Noren, played by Sofia Helin,

leading the Swedish investigation,

and Martin Rohde, played by Kim Bodnia,

acting as her Danish counterpart.

As well as being from different countries,

the lead detectives had very different personalities.

Saga was aloof, humourless, with no social skills.

Whereas Martin was warm, friendly and likeable.

Although very much a team,

it was the brilliant and devoted police investigator Saga

who emerged as an unlikely heroine with the audiences.

As well as having a compelling lead character,

the programme also had a labyrinth plot

that twisted and turned throughout the first series,

leaving viewers on the edge of their seats.

Such was the success of The Bridge

that it was remade in a number of territories,

including America and the UK.

Three more series followed the original,

and its popularity saw it broadcast in over 100 countries.

Our next detective had a rather unusual

and fortuitous journey to the small screen.

The setting for this particular police procedural

was the north-east of England in the Swinging Sixties.

And it was just as focused

on offering viewers a gripping detective drama

as it was a realistic snapshot of time and place.

This is the world of Inspector George Gently.

Screenwriter Peter Flannery discovered the George Gently stories

in a dusty, old book shop

and decided they were ripe for a television adaptation.

The person chosen to play the leading man was Martin Shaw.

I need all the facts, John, no more evasions.

Like all good detectives, Gently needed a partner,

and it was actor Lee Ingleby

who would take on the role of Detective Sergeant John Bacchus.

You and Ronnie Chadwick went to Rakes

and you picked a fight with Patrick Donovan.

Why?

Gently was a bit of a father figure to Bacchus,

and they both had different approaches to the job.

The old school inspector versus the modern man.

You're just a kid, aren't you?

You've got no self-discipline, you want sweeties all the time.

I want a full account. Come and find me tomorrow.

But...

Sir...

Look, I didn't bring my car.

Well, walk!

The show embraced its '60s setting

and reflected real social issues of the time.

There is a house in this city

where abortion is performed on a weekly basis,

and a blind eye is turned towards it.

In England, in the 20th century.

Why aren't you investigating those murders?

More of a whydunnit than a whodunnit,

the show proved to be more about the relationship

between Gently and Bacchus

that builds over 25 episodes and ten years.

And the combination of detective drama,

nostalgic history lesson, and character study

is the reason why George Gently counts himself

firmly amongst your favourites.

In the past, female detective duos have been a bit thin on the ground.

So actresses and friends Suranne Jones and Sally Lindsay

decided to do something about it.

They came up with the idea of a Mancunian Cagney & Lacey,

and with the help of writer Sally Wainwright,

created a brand-new pair of police officers.

Working in the Major Incident team,

they went by the names of Scott & Bailey.

You ready, mate?

The show was first broadcast in May 2011... Yeah.

..and was an instant hit for ITV

with over nine million viewers tuning in.

Turkish girl, 18 years old,

the husband found her at half six last night when he got in from work,

rang for an ambulance at 6:37 saying his wife's killed herself.

Writer Sally Wainwright

was keen that the show move away from the idea

of the woman against the boys club narrative

that had been used in the past.

She wanted to show that it was perfectly acceptable

to be a woman in a high-powered job.

I'm Detective Constable Janet Scott

and this is Detective Constable Rachel Bailey.

The cases they were working was only half the story, though,

and the real appeal of the show

came from the relationship between the two lead characters.

He's finished with me.

What? Nick dumped me.

When? Day before yesterday.

Why? I'm boring.

They were friends as well as colleagues,

and found time to catch up on each other's lives over a cuppa at home

and on the go at work.

He's got kids. What?

Boys. Nick.

You've been had.

Haven't you? Yeah.

Each episode found that perfect balance

between the professional and personal stories,

a trick that not many detective dramas have achieved

either before or since.

You all right? Yeah, I just never...

ever charged anyone for murder before and felt sorry for 'em.

She strangled and hanged an 18-year-old girl

and then murdered her unborn baby. What's to feel sorry for?

In April 2016,

after five series and 33 episodes,

Scott & Bailey solved their last crime.

Coming up,

a grumpy Scotsman,

a national treasure,

and a straight-talking Geordie,

but who have the ITV audience voted in at number one?

Welcome back.

For our next detective,

you've voted for someone from the early 1980s

that offered something a bit different.

He didn't prowl the mean streets of New York or London,

Hawaii was this character's playground.

And he complemented the colourful location with his loud shirts,

and even louder bright red Ferrari.

REVS

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Magnum PI.

Dan Cook was murdered, and I'm gonna prove it.

The setup for the show was different, to say the least.

Thomas Magnum,

played by moustachioed heart-throb Tom Selleck,

was a Vietnam veteran who lived in Robin's Nest,

the palatial estate of elusive author Robin Masters,

never seen, but voiced by Orson Welles, no less.

In return for running the occasional security check on the property,