Once upon a time, a TV detective had to have a certain amount of gravitas to make the audience really believe in the character. From classical music loving Inspector Morse to gruff Inspector Jack Frost, TV viewers always had someone a little bit older and wiser to look up to.
However, today’s current crop of TV detectives couldn’t be further from the stereotype, with their youthful looks, fashionable clothes and trendy haircuts making them look more like students than policemen.
So will we ever see a return of the seasoned detective to our screens or have cop dramas moved away from the older, wiser inspector forever?
Are there any seasoned detectives left on TV
Though Morse and Frost may both have given way to younger characters, there are still some TV detectives working hard well into their later years.
A good example of this is Midsomer Murders, ITV’s long running countryside mystery drama. Though it’s true that DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) was recently replaced by the slightly younger DCI John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon), the lead detective still embodies many of the characteristics that made the show a favourite in McCarthy and Stone retirement homes across the country.
Who are the new detectives hitting our screens?
One of the biggest new waves of TV detectives currently making their way to us are from Scandinavia with shows like The Killing, The Bridge and Borgen proving to be hugely popular with UK viewers.
Though many of the characters in these shows are much younger than the TV detective stalwarts of previous years, there are a few older characters in the mix; lending the shows a certain level of authority and making the plotlines more believable.
As well as Nordic dramas, there is also a whole crop of young, home-grown detectives solving crimes on the silver screen. Shows like Happy Valley and Broadchurch all feature a fairly young cast with few older detectives to be seen.
As well as youthful characters, today’s TV cop dramas also have much more complex and fast paced storylines – something that doesn’t always work well with a more seasoned detective as the main character.
Though there are fewer older, more experienced detectives on our screens, they will always remain an important part of British TV; solving crimes and livening up our evenings in forever.
