ITV announces one-off special to discover ‘Britain’s Favourite Detective’
A new TV show will look back at 25 of the greatest TV sleuths from the past five decades.
Hosted by Sheridan Smith, the one-off special will reveal who UK viewers have crowned the most popular detective.
Britain’s Favourite Detective will feature everyone from “Sherlock Holmes to Line of Duty’s AC-12, from Belgium’s stalwart Hercule Poirot, to modern day hero Luther, from the formidable Jane Tennison to unwitting crime buster Miss Marple.”
It won’t just be much-loved British detectives in the running, as a US favourite like Columbo or a character from Scandi noir series The Bridge could win.
Britain’s Favourite Detective will include archive clips from these classic shows, as well as rare behind the scenes footage.
Watch the trailer:
Joe Mace Commissioning Editor, Entertainment at ITV commented: “Crime dramas have played a huge part in our TV viewing, producing the most iconic and best loved television characters. Britain’s Favourite Detective celebrates these TV legends and gives viewers the chance to relive some of the best TV moments of the last five decades.”
Sohail Shah, King of Sunshine Productions said: “For years, we’ve all enjoyed watching the foulest of mysteries being solved by the very, best sleuthing minds; it has been part of our collective TV lives.”
She added: “We’re so thrilled to give the audience the chance to see 25 of these classic characters, and to find out who they have voted as Britain’s Favourite Detective.”
Britain’s Favourite Detective will air in the UK at 8pm on Sunday 30th August on ITV and will then be available to watch on demand via the ITV Hub.
We’d expect it to be added to BritBox in the US later this year.
BritishPeriodDramas.com ran our own poll in 2018 to discover which Poirot actor is the best of all time.
Every episode of Poirot is available to watch on Amazon Prime with a free 7-day BritBox trial.