Let me first state that if you’re looking for high-tech special effects or modern-day filming techniques, this television mystery series is not for you. However, if you’re looking for a British police procedural set in the late 1880s that features good acting, very nice Victorian sets and wardrobe, with interjections of humor, then you’ll probably enjoy Sergeant Cribb as much as my husband and I do.

Peter Lovesey wrote the Sergeant Cribb mysteries, so it is a real treat that Peter Lovesey also had his hand in the writing of the scripts for these 1979-1981 television episodes. It ensures that the shows are as close as possible to the mystery novels. Unfortunately, there are only fourteen episodes.

Sergeant Cribb (I’ll refer to the shows by the USA title rather than the British “Cribb“) was produced in the late 1970s/early 1980s, by Granada Television. The series features Alan Dobie as Cribb, with William Simons (from the Inspector Alleyn television series) as his constable. The relationship between them is phenomenal. Cribb is able to be both a friend of sorts as well as a boss to Detective Constable Thackery. A lot of their interactions are quite humorous (on the dry side).

Don’t be surprised to find some actual events interspersed throughout the shows. I especially enjoyed the inclusion of Victorian England’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. Oh, and the episode featuring Inspector Jowell’s (Cribb’s boss, played by David Waller) boy’s boarding school reunion.

Sergeant Cribb and his constable somehow solve the mysteries that others are unable to solve. Cribb, it seems, has an innate gift for the world of detection.

(PS: For those you you who are Rosemary & Thyme fans, Peter Lovesey was a “story consultant” for many of the episodes.)

If you would like to see more viewing suggestions, click here to visit my TV and Movies page on my site.

Last month I wrote an entry with a few suggestions that I thought would be agood place to start if you’re new to Cozy Mystery television series and TV movies. Well, I actually had a longer list, but the post started getting pretty long so I decided to hold off on some of the others until later.

As before, the  TV and Movies page on my site is a great place to start when you’re looking for Cozy TV or movie adaptations, but since it can be pretty long I’ll be discussing a few more that I’m particularly fond of.

The first show I want to highlight is Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. The title character of Hetty was played by the remarkable Dame Patricia Routledge, who also starred in another of my favorite British TV shows (not a mystery) Keeping Up Appearances. Hetty, along with her also senior citizen husband, starts a detective agency partially to remain active in her senior years. She is assisted by a young man, Geoffrey – played by Dominic Monaghan (yes, of the J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings!) who provides much of the “leg work”. I first wrote about and recommended Hetty Wainthropp Investigates way back in 2006! Yikes! (I absolutely love this show!)

Most of the suggestions so far have been British productions, which isn’t a big surprise since they’re all based off of British Cozies… which again isn’t surprising, since a lot of the “classic” Cozies were originally written by British authors. Well, my next suggestion isn’t quite as Cozy as some of these other entries, but I would say it still fits within the Cozy mold. Columbo isn’t an amateur sleuth, but a lieutenant with the Los Angeles Police Department. These mysteries are also a bit different from most in that the viewer watches the crime being committed, and as a result is already aware of “whodunit”. However, Columbo himself is so well played by Peter Falk and the murderers and support casts are all so well played that the experience of how Columbo catches the killer is absolutely riveting. I particularly recommend these to anyone who is a big fan of classic television or movies from the 1950s to 1970s, as the cast of Columbo includes some of the absolute best actors of their generation, albeit a bit after their “famous” phases. (You can currently find this show on TV if you check your local TV schedules.)

Another non-British mystery series that I really like is Ellery Queen Mysteries starring Jim Hutton as Ellery and David Wayne as his father. It was produced in 1975-1976 and consists of 22 episodes. Following the formula that the producers, Richard Levinson and William Link, had used in Columbo and would later use in Murder She Wrote, each episode includes a number of famous guest stars. Ellery, a mystery writer, goes along with his police detective father and invariably solved the mystery. I really like the relationship between Ellery and his father. Jim Hutton and David Wayne were terrific together. One unique aspect of the show is that before Ellery solves the mystery he turns to the camera talks to the audience and recaps the clues he will use to solve the mystery. (Even with this help, I don’t believe I solved a single one!) I can’t believe that it is almost five years since I first wrote about this great series.

Again, these are just some of my favorite series that I would suggest to anyone who hasn’t seen them yet, whether they are fans of Cozies or not… If you’ve got any other suggestions for great Cozy Mystery TV or movie series to start with, please be sure to leave them in the comments below!

Sometimes you just don’t feel like curling up with a book, and want to do something that will be take a bit less time to finish. Other people are more visually oriented, and really appreciate the extra “immersion” that can be provided with a visual medium like television. In all of these cases, watching a TV series can often be the best way to really have one of your favorite Cozy series come to life!

However I know that the TV and Movies page on my site (listing all of the Cozy TV and Movie series that I’m personally familiar with) is a bit overwhelming as it is just a list and not really a “review” per se. So I thought it might be helpful to discuss some of the best television mystery series to start with if you are a Cozy Mystery fan. These are three of what I consider the best television mystery series, and I strongly recommend each of them.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (starring Jeremy Brett)

It’s always hard to determine if Arthur Conan Doyle‘s Sherlock Holmes is Cozy or not… by the standards of the time he might not have qualified, but by modern standards his mysteries certainly qualify as Cozy to me! While Sherlock Holmes has been played by a number of talented actors (Ellie Norwood, Clive Brook, Raymond Massey, Basil Rathbone, and Benedict Cumberbatch, to name a few), my personal favorite and the one I feel holds up the best to modern audiences while retaining the character the best is the Granada Television series starring Jeremy Brett.

Note that the next two series also starring Jeremy Brett (The Return of Sherlock Holmes and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes) as well as the multiple movies made by Brett are also excellent – but I’m mostly recommending The Adventures because it is the first chronologically made and is probably the best introduction. (Unfortunately Jeremy Brett was quite ill during the filming of the final TV series, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, and it shows a little. So I would not recommend it quite as highly as the rest of Brett’s duration as Sherlock Holmes unless you have already seen the rest of his work.) (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is available in disc format on Netflix.)

Agatha Christie’s Poirot (starring David Suchet)

As with other entries on this list, there have been several actors to portray Agatha Christie‘s Hercule Poirot, but for me the “true” Poirot will always be David Suchet. To me, he perfectly portrays the fussy Belgian detective. Though these wouldn’t have been considered period pieces when they were written by Christie, the TV series is – as it was made in the last twenty years, not the 1920s-1970s when Christie was writing.

Personally I most recommend the earlier seasons >>> all those with Hugh Fraser as Arthur Hastings, Poirot’s honest and brave but not necessarily incredibly clever friend and assistant. I especially enjoyed the earlier seasons that had Pauline Moran as Miss (Felicity) Lemon. The later seasons do all have their high moments but the earlier material was all absolutely brilliant. The box set I linked above, which includes all the full-length made-for-TV-movies is also quite excellent. (Agatha Christie’s Poirot is available in disc format and streaming on Netflix and on Acorn.)

Brother Cadfael (starring Derek Jacobi)

The Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters is an excellent historically set Cozy Mystery series set in war-torn medieval England. As with the other period pieces on this list (and there are a lot as I am a real fan of England’s various architectural movements through the ages) this series uses the setting to full potential. Sets and costumes are all top notch, with a strong feeling of “immersion” in every episode as a result. (Brother Cadfael is available in disc format on Netflix and on Acorn.)

These are just three of my personal favorites… so if you’ve got others that you feel are really great to start with if you are a Cozy Mystery fan, be sure to give examples in the comments. Thank you!

P.S. Here’s part 2:

Television Mystery Series… What to Start With?… (Part 2)