TV Shows Like Sherlock
If you like Sherlock, here are 11 similar TV shows — each with its current AI renewal verdict, so you can see which are still going and which have been cancelled.
BBC One · Crime · Sherlock is ended
Sherlock works because it takes something everyone already knows and makes it feel genuinely new. Placing Holmes and Watson in contemporary London forces the show to earn its familiarity rather than coast on it. The deductions are theatrical, the pacing is relentless, and the central relationship between a brilliant but socially difficult detective and his steadier, more humane partner gives the whole thing an emotional anchor. It is a show about intelligence, yes, but also about how exhausting it can be to live next to someone whose mind never stops.
The best shows like Sherlock
1. Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse is the grandfather of the brainy, complicated British detective, and John Thaw's performance in the title role has the same quality of watchful intelligence that makes Holmes so magnetic. The Morse-Lewis dynamic is quieter than Holmes and Watson but no less central to the show's appeal, a senior detective who keeps his inner life tightly guarded and a younger partner who grounds him. If you liked Sherlock for its character as much as its cases, Morse rewards patience.
Stream on Britbox Apple TV Channel , BritBox, BritBox Amazon Channel
Ended0%
2. Imperfect Women
Imperfect Women uses a murder to peel back the secrets inside a long friendship, and the investigation is as much about who these women are to each other as it is about who killed one of them. It is closer to character drama than procedural, but Sherlock fans who appreciated the show's interest in what crime reveals about people will find familiar ground here. The mystery is genuinely surprising.
Stream on Apple TV, Apple TV Amazon Channel
Ended0%
3. Unforgotten
Unforgotten follows two London detectives reopening cold cases, and what makes it work is that the crimes always reach back into ordinary lives and expose what people buried decades ago. The partnership between Cassie Stuart and Sunny Khan has real warmth and a low-key chemistry that feels earned rather than written. Fans of Sherlock who liked the London setting and the careful, methodical unravelling of a mystery will feel at home.
Stream on Amazon Prime Video, PBS, PBS Masterpiece Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Likely Renewed72%
4. Luther
Luther is the darkest show on this list, and Idris Elba plays the title character as someone whose gifts and flaws are genuinely inseparable, which is something Sherlock understood about Holmes too. The cases are intense and often disturbing, and the show never pretends its detective is entirely safe to be around. If you liked the psychological edge in Sherlock's best episodes, Luther leans into that quality without apology.
Stream on Hulu, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , Britbox Apple TV Channel , AMC+ Amazon Channel
Ended0%
5. Strike
Strike is the most direct match for Sherlock fans: a London-set adaptation of a novel series, a singular detective with a complicated past, and a smart partner who is essential rather than decorative. Cormoran Strike's background as a military police investigator gives him a specific and credible kind of insight, and the show takes its cases seriously rather than using them as backdrops. The central relationship develops across the series in ways that feel organic.
Stream on HBO Max, HBO Max Amazon Channel
Likely Renewed72%
More on shows like Sherlock
Fans of Sherlock tend to want a few specific things when they go looking for their next show. A strong central detective who sees things others miss. A London setting, or at least a sense of place that feels lived-in. Cases that carry real weight. And, ideally, a partner or colleague dynamic that gives the procedural elements some human texture. The best Sherlock viewers are not just crime fans, they are fans of character.
The recommendations here cover a decent range within that territory. Inspector Morse is the slower, more literary end of the spectrum, a show built around a detective with a rich and somewhat melancholy inner life, and it laid the groundwork for much of what British crime drama became. Unforgotten takes the cold-case structure and uses it to dig into the weight of long-buried secrets, with two detectives whose partnership feels genuinely warm. Luther goes in a harder, darker direction, closer in tone to Sherlock's more menacing episodes, with a lead who is as dangerous as he is brilliant. Strike shares the most obvious DNA with Sherlock, a London-set adaptation of a novel series built around a singular detective and a capable partner, though it earns its own identity. Imperfect Women is the outlier in the group, less focused on a single detective and more interested in what a murder reveals about the people left behind, but fans of Sherlock who liked the show's more character-driven episodes should find something here worth watching.
None of these are Sherlock, but that is not really the point. Each one offers something the source show also valued, precision, place, and the sense that the person solving the crime is as interesting as the crime itself.
More shows like Sherlock
Frequently asked
- What is the most popular show like Sherlock?
- Inspector Morse is the most popular show similar to Sherlock in the IsItRenewed catalogue.
- Are shows like Sherlock still on the air?
- Of the 11 shows similar to Sherlock listed here, 2 currently carry a renewed verdict — the rest are cancelled, ended, or awaiting a decision.
- How does IsItRenewed pick shows like Sherlock?
- The recommendations come from TMDB's similar-titles data, and each is shown with its current AI renewal verdict so you know which are still going.