The top 50 TV detectives of all time

21. Cagney and Lacey (Cagney & Lacey)

Originally created as the first female buddy movie, Cagney & Lacey debuted (as a TV movie) in 1981 but it wasnt until the second series of the spin-off that the third-times-a-charm alchemic re-casting of Sharon Gless as Christine Cagney opposite Tyne Daly as Mary-Beth Lacey slowly made the show a hit (it was cancelled and revived twice before getting a suitable timeslot). The hard-drinking, loft-dwelling singleton and her homely wife-and-mother partner werent sitting prettily in the background and fainting at crime scenes, they were going undercover, on stakeouts and into dangerous areas of the pre-Giuliani Manhattan, pursuing talking-point crime from rapes, murders, drugs and prostitution to police corruption and mental health issues. Gless and Daly won the Lead Actress Emmy for an unsurpassed six consecutive years and their fab feminist legacy can be seen today in Scott & Bailey, conceived as the Cagney & Lacey of Manchester.

20. Saga Norn (The Bridge)

Its unfair to think of homicide detective Norn as Swedens answer to Sarah Lund, despite both displaying obsessive detachment and questionable social skills. In many respects, Saga is more hip she wears leather trousers, drives a vintage Porsche and enjoys casual sex but in others she seems further along the autistic spectrum, lacking any sense of irony and possessing a no-boundaries attitude to conversation. Shes played by Sofia Helin in two series (soon to be three) of The Bridge alongside Kim Bodnia as laid-back detective Martin Rohde; their odd-couple pairing gives this international drama its energy.

19. Adrian Monk (Monk)

Ex-detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) might live in San Francisco but hes far from a turned-on drop-out. Hes hyper attuned to anything out of place, the crippling OCD that saw him invalided out of the SFPD after the murder of his beloved wife proving to be the perfect detection tool. Sherlock-inspired producer Andy Breckman came up with a shrink as a Watsonic voice of reason and bulldog-like Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) as a Lestrade, but its his assistants who made Monk able to function, the long-suffering Sharona (Bitty Schram) and Natalie (Traylor Howard) ever ready with wipes and not just at crime scenes.

18. DCI Jhon Luther (Luther)

If The Hulk was a police officer, hed be DCI John Luther (Idris Elba). Well-read, ridiculously stylish and in possession of a piercing intellect, hes also built like a boxer and has the temper to match. With his troubled home life and tendency to fly into rages, Luthers the definition of misunderstood particularly because he often goes to extreme lengths to ensure justice is served as he tackles dangerous crims for Londons Serious Crime Unit. When he does get his hands on them, he doesnt necessarily follow procedure, Elba admits of the character. He will be as vindictive as the criminal.

17. Jan Tennison (Prime Suspect)

Unsmiling and forthright, DCI Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) wasnt just a force to be reckoned with in the field of criminal investigation, she also paved the way for women in TV, proving that strong women are just as fascinating as strong men. Not that it was all about strength. I always loved the flaws in Jane Tennison, the disasters more than the triumphs, Mirren says of her character, who over seven series and 15 years struggled with alcoholism, tackled hard-hitting cases and even fought against the force itself. Her tenacity in the face of adversity inspired a legion of fans.

16. Gene Hunt (Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes)

Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) was a walking quote machine. As the 70s cop viewed through the eyes of thrown-back-in-time PC Sam Tyler, hes a fabulously entertaining caricature of a typical TV policeman from that decade, The Sweeneys DCI Regan comic-stripped up. Whether its responding to Sam pondering whether a murder might be a hate crime (What, as opposed to one of those I really really like you sort of murders?) or pontificating on the veracity of a witness (Shes as fake as a trannys fanny) he gave us a refreshing riposte to political correctness we could all cheer.

15. Sarah Lund (The Killing)

Sarah Lund (Sofie Grbl) was supposed to be leaving Copenhagen for a new life in Sweden. Then Nanna Birk Larsen got murdered and Lund just couldnt leave the investigation alone, plunging her into a downward spiral that across three seasons would not only wreck her life but those of pretty much everyone caught in her blast radius. While her detective skills are decent and hunches often right, Lunds obsessive nature, refusal to let things go and tendency to run around like a bull in a woollen knitwear shop mean shes almost pathologically opposed to happy endings as her final appearance proved.

14. Jimmy McNulty (The Wire)

Hailed by many as the Greatest TV Show Ever Made, The Wire delves into every corner of Baltimore (education, politics, print journalism, etc.) but the heart of the show throughout its five seasons is the police and the illegal drug trade theyre attempting to take down. McNulty, played by English thesp Dominic West, is of Irish descent, talented, dedicated and a royal pain in the ass hes arrogant, belligerent in the face of authority, drinks like a fish and is pathologically unable to keep his pecker in his pants. And yet were rooting for him on every step of his bumpy journey. Why? Because he wants to be better, dammit. Well, that and because hes one charming sonofabitch. The Wire is, of course, first and foremost an ensemble drama forever widening its scope, there are more than 100 principal characters by Season 5 but McNulty is the main man.

13. Gil Grissom (CSI)

William Petersen gave indelible performances in William Friedkins crime thriller To Live And Die In LA and as troubled FBI profiler Will Graham in Michael Manns Manhunter, so its hardly surprising that his head of the Nevada forensics team, Gil Grissom, is such a treat. Appearing in 190 episodes (Laurence Fishburne took over as CSI chief when Petersen exited after season 9), Grissom, a brilliant scientist whose particular area of expertise is entomology, is better with bugs than people. But his team are fiercely loyal, knowing hell always have their backs and his dedication to the job is second to none. Grissom can be viewed as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes and even has a Moriarty-style nemesis, serial-killer Paul Millander, and a woman, Lady Heather, who is his very own Irene Adler. A private man, he nonetheless embarks on a tentative romance with employee Sarah Sidle (Jorja Fox), which is assuredly handled.

12. Miss Marple (Miss Marple/Agatha Christie's Marple)

First appearing on US TV (played by the British Gracie Fields) in 1956, this shrewd spinster who solves murders in an understated, genteel way was played by Joan Hickson for the BBC from 1984-1992, in adaptations of all 12 of Agatha Christies Miss Marple novels. Frail and always underestimated by friends and criminals alike, shes as sharp as her ever-present knitting needles, good at gaining confidences, and uncompromising in her determination to uncover murderers. Her policeman nephew, Inspector Craddock, is much fonder of his Aunt Jane than the frequently exasperated local police. Set in the chocolate box village of St Mary Mead, the series was mostly filmed in Nether Wallop, Hampshire, and Donald Pleasance and Joan Sims were among the stars who appeared. Geraldine McEwan and then Julia McKenzie appeared as Miss Marple in ITVs Agatha Christies Marple, which ran 2004-2013; famous guest stars include such actors as Joanna Lumley, James Fox and Antony Sher.