The 30 best ITVX dramas you missed on ITV
From Broadchurch to two of Sheridan Smith's greatest roles, these are the best shows ITVX has to offer
ITVX is a treasure trove of the best ITV dramas, from addictive whodunnits and true crime to boxsets of iconic TV shows.
It’s already been a strong year for ITV’s output. We’ve had crime dramas like I Fought the Law and Coldwater (spoiler alert, they may appear on this list), a new series of Karen Pirie, and The Hack.
However, ITVX is one of the most underrated streaming platforms. You may only think of it as a catch-up service, but it has an incredible library of shows and movies that are free to stream.
If you’re still looking for another show to watch after the end of Trigger Point series 3, you’re in luck: we’ve rounded up the best ITVX dramas you can watch right now.
30. Innocent
- Year: 2018 – 2021
- Cast: Lee Ingleby, Hermione Norris, Angel Coulby, Katherine Kelly
- Creator: Chris Lang, Matt Arlidge
- Length: 2 seasons, 8 episodes
What it’s about: In this anthology series, the first season follows David Collins, a man acquitted of murdering his wife after seven years in prison. Season 2 revolves around the death of 16-year-old Matthew Taylor and the accused culprit.
Why to watch: Innocent benefits from its anthology format… because the first series is just okay. Series 2 is a major step-up, courtesy of Chris Lang’s improved script, a strong performance from Katherine Kelly, and a must-binge hook that’ll keep you glued to ITVX.
29. The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe
- Year: 2022
- Cast: Eddie Marsan, Monica Dolan, Mark Stanley
- Creator: Chris Lang
- Length: 1 season, 4 episodes
What it’s about: In a desperate effort to pay off their debts, John pitches his wife Anne with an unexpected plan: he wants to fake his death using his canoe.
Why to watch: This may seem like a quaint, sort of preposterous drama, but Monica Dolan and Eddie Marsan’s terrific performances emphasise the dark, comic tragedy of its true story. You’ll spend the night falling down a Google rabbit hole of what happened to them in real life.
28. Lost
- Year: 2004 – 2010
- Cast: Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway
- Creator: Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof
- Length: 6 seasons, 121 episodes
What it’s about: After a plane crash leaves 48 people stranded on an island, the survivors are forced together to survive – but they soon realise they aren’t alone.
Why to watch: Lost was one of the early 21st century’s most defining TV experiences; a dense, overstuffed, and obsessive mystery box show that has proven to be seriously influential. It’s also incredibly misunderstood – watch it and see what the fuss was about.
27. Run
- Year: 2013
- Cast: Olivia Colman, Lennie James, Katie Leung
- Creator: Jonathan Pearson, Marlon Smith, Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan
- Length: 1 season, 4 episodes
What it’s about: In this four-part anthology series, the stories of four seemingly unconnected people are woven together as they grapple with life-changing decisions.
Why to watch: Heroin addicts, rape victims, gang violence; to say Run is gloomy would be an understatement, but it never feels like an over-exaggeration of the worst of Britain. Thankfully, it also has some of the country’s top talents; best of all, Olivia Colman.
26. Pan Am
- Year: 2011 – 2012
- Cast: Christina Ricci, Margot Robbie, Michael Mosley
- Creator: Jack Orman
- Length: 1 season, 14 episodes
What it’s about: Set during the glamorous dawn of jet travel in the 1960s, pilots and flight attendants fly across the world with Pan American World Airways.
Why to watch: Why wasn’t Pan Am more popular? It had a Christina Ricci, a pre-Wolf of Wall Street Margot Robbie, and feels like a companion to Mad Men (only with fewer cigarettes). It lends itself to a binge; it’s just a shame there are only 14 episodes.
25. Playing Nice
- Year: 2025
- Cast: James Norton, Niamh Algar, James McArdle, Jessica Brown Findlay
- Creator: Grace Ofori-Attah
- Length: 1 season, 4 episodes
What it’s about: When Pete and Maddie find out their son was accidentally switched in the hospital at birth, they meet the parents who have their biological child.
Why to watch: Playing Nice mostly gets by on the strength of its nightmarish, panicky premise. Don’t try to pick it apart, just relish the melodrama and every convuluted turn (and James Norton, of course).
24. Red Eye
- Year: 2024
- Cast: Jing Lusi, Richard Armitage, Lesley Sharp
- Creator: Peter A. Dowling
- Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
What it’s about: A British man gets caught up in an incident in Beijing, and upon his return, he’s accused of foul play. Now, he must go back to China to face his crimes.
Why to watch: Red Eye is a Hijack-lite (it’s even filmed on the same set as Idris Elba’s show), silly thriller that’s pacy enough to justify six episodes, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. The real test will be series 2, which is hoped to drop later this year.
23. Cold Feet
- Year: 1997 – 2020
- Cast: James Nesbitt, Helen Baxendale, John Thomson
- Creator: Mike Bullen
- Length: 5 seasons, 33 episodes
What it’s about: Three couples from Manchester – Pete and Jenny, Karen and David, and Adam and Rachel – navigate the ups and downs of life and romance across several decades.
Why to watch: Cold Feet is widely seen as the UK’s answer to Friends. Naturally, this means it’s a grittier dramedy, observing their prosaic lives rather than mining them for laughs. Everyone is fantastic in it, and it holds up today (plus, the cast has teased they may return for more down the line).
22. Coldwater
- Year: 2025
- Cast: Andrew Lincoln, Ewen Bremner, Indira Varma, Eve Myles
- Creator: David Ireland
- Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
What it’s about: When John moves his family to Coldwater, a quiet Scottish village, he quickly befriends Tommy. While he appears to be a pillar of the community, it becomes clear that Tommy is harbouring some dark secrets.
Why to watch: Coldwater is a welcome return to British TV for The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln, especially because his character – hapless, emasculated, and sad to watch – couldn’t be further from Rick Grimes. It’s a little schlocky and unintentionally funny, but it’s also addictive and just anxious enough to keep things serious.
21. Secret Diary of a Call Girl
- Year: 2007 – 2011
- Cast: Billie Piper, Iddo Goldberg, Cherie Lunghi
- Creator: Lucy Prebble
- Length: 4 seasons, 32 episodes
What it’s about: Based on Belle De Jour’s tell-all blogs and memoirs, a young woman leads a secret career as a high-end escort in London and the complications that arise in her personal life.
Why to watch: Billie Piper may always be known as Doctor Who’s Rose, but she delivered her best work in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl, a wry, steamy, and surprisingly candid drama that probably wouldn’t be made today.
20. Karen Pirie
- Year: 2022 – present
- Cast: Lauren Lyle, Zach Wyatt, Emer Kenny
- Creator: Emer Kenny
- Length: 2 seasons, 6 episodes
What it’s about: Karen Pirie, a detective inspector promoted to Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit, reopens the cold case of a murdered barmaid.
Why to watch: If you’re put off by the widespread grizzled grumpiness of British TV detectives, Lauren Lyle’s Karen Pirie will be the perfect tonic. Unlike her older, world-weary contemporaries, she’s young, quirky, but sure of herself and her inquisitive instincts. Plus, there are two seasons and only six episodes in total; that’s a good way to spend a weekend.
19. Breathtaking
- Year: 2024
- Cast: Joanne Froggatt, Bhav Joshi, Donna Banya
- Creator: Rachel Clarke, Jed Mercurio, Prasanna Puwanarajah
- Length: 1 season, 3 episodes
What it’s about: In the early months of 2020, Dr Abbey Henderson and other frontline medical staff try to cope as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to overwhelm the NHS.
Why to watch: Written by Line of Duty’s Jed Mercurio, Breathtaking is exactly what its title says and more; claustrophobic, upsetting, and a sincere ode to the heroes of the NHS (as well as a furious condemnation of the government’s response to COVID).
18. Butterfly
- Year: 2018
- Cast: Anna Friel, Callum Booth-Ford, Seán McGinley
- Creator: Tony Marchant
- Length: 1 season, 3 episodes
What it’s about: When 11-year-old Maxine begins to realise she’s a transgender girl, her family try to understand and support her transition.
Why to watch: Butterfly has flown under the radar – strange, considering its timely subject matter. It’s among the most sensitive dramas to tackle gender dysphoria among young people, leaning on Anna Friel and Callum Booth-Ford’s beautiful, vulnerable performances to make sense of its difficult subject matter.
As a bonus, it’s composed by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon, who do the music for Stranger Things.
17. A Mother’s Son
- Year: 2012
- Cast: Hermione Norris, Martin Clunes, Paul McGann
- Creator: Chris Lang
- Length: 1 season, 2 episodes
What it’s about: When a young girl is murdered, Rosie, a divorced mother of two, suspects that her teenage son Jamie is involved.
Why to watch: A Mother’s Son recently found success on Netflix, and it’s not hard to see why. This is ITV’s bread and butter: a dour, tense thriller about a shocking murder and confronting an unimaginable reality in your own home. If you’re a fan of Broadchurch, seek this out.
16. I Fought the Law
- Year: 2025
- Cast: Sheridan Smith, Daniel York Loh, Enzo Cilenti
- Creator: Jamie Crichton
- Length: 1 season, 4 episodes
What it’s about: After her daughter’s murder, Ann Ming and her husband Charlie embark on a campaign to overturn Britain’s double jeopardy law.
Why to watch: If Stephen Graham is the king of the British crime drama, Sheridan Smith is undoubtedly its queen. I Fought the Law is some of her best work, with her brilliant, emotionally deep portrayal of Ann Ming elevating an otherwise formulaic (but still gripping) series.
15. A Confession
- Year: 2019
- Cast: Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, Joe Absolom
- Creator: Jeff Pope
- Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
What it’s about: In 2011, a young woman disappears after leaving a nightclub. Three years later, Detective Superintendent Stephen Fulcher puts his career on the line to solve the case.
Why to watch: A Confession has two heavyweights: Jeff Pope, a master of delicate, haunting true crime stories (watch See No Evil: The Moors Murders if you haven’t), and Martin Freeman, the ultra-everyman whose fracturing, deep desperation screams from the screen.
14. Trigger Point
- Year: 2022 – present
- Cast: Vicky McClure, Adrian Lester, Gavin Sibson
- Creator: Daniel Brierley
- Length: 3 seasons, 18 episodes (season 4 confirmed)
What it’s about: Lana Washington, an ex-military bomb disposal operative (known as an ‘EXPO’), leads the Met Police’s bomb squad as they work to protect London from terrorist threats.
Why to watch: If you mixed 9-1-1 with Line of Duty, you’d get Trigger Point, a preposterous, thrilling potboiler that flicks the same switch over and over again. Somehow, it doesn’t get old, but it’s indebted to Vicky McClure’s eminently watchable screen presence.
13. White House Farm
- Year: 2020
- Cast: Freddie Fox, Mark Addy, Stephen Graham
- Creator: Kris Mrksa, Giula Sandler
- Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
What it’s about: In 1985, five members of the same family are murdered at an Essex farmhouse, leading to an investigation that uncovers the devastating truth of the incident.
Why to watch: White House Farm has one problem: it’s a little drawn out, bucking ITV’s usual habit of compact crime stories. However, there are worse ways to spend some extra time, with one of Britain’s most notorious murder cases getting the sensitivity and sobering drama it deserves.
12. Vera
- Year: 2011 – 2025
- Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Jon Morrison, Kenny Doughty
- Creator: Ann Cleeves
- Length: 14 seasons, 56 episode
What it’s about: Vera, an obsessive detective chief inspector with a temper, leads a team to investigate complex crimes in Northumberland.
Why to watch: Vera enjoyed a mammoth 14-year run on ITV. You can credit that to the sharp writing, broad range of stories, and its inherent cosiness (even when there’s a murder), but it’s down to Brenda Blethyn’s iconic turn as the titular detective. She’s an underrated great.
11. Little Boy Blue
- Year: 2017
- Cast: Stephen Graham, Sinead Keenan, Brían F. O’Byrne, Christine Tremarco
- Creator: Jeff Pope
- Length: 1 season, 4 episodes
What it’s about: When 11-year-old Rhys Jones is shot and killed while walking home from football training, Detective Superintendent Dave Kelly is tasked with bringing the killer to justice.
Why to watch: True crime dramas can be a controversy magnet; some are too graphic, others play loose with the facts. Little Boy Blue is about as real – and dramatically effective – as the genre gets, thanks to Stephen Graham’s performance and the cooperation of Rhys’ parents, Melanie and Steven.
10. Downton Abbey
- Year: 2010 – 2015
- Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Maggie Smith
- Creator: Julian Fellowes
- Length: 6 seasons, 52 episodes
What it’s about: Set across 14 years in the early 20th century, Downton Abbey depicts the lives of the Crawleys, an aristocratic family who live in a large country estate, and the events that change and shape their lives, as well as wider society.
Why to watch: Downton Abbey is, in part, a lavish, comforting fantasy of pomp and pageantry. Yet, there is more to it than that (it’s the most successful costume drama after Brideshead Revisited); not as sophisticated as its aristocrats, but certainly noble in its own way.
9. The Walk-In
- Year: 2022
- Cast: Stephen Graham, Andrew Ellis, Dean Fagan
- Creator: Jeff Pope
- Length: 1 season, 5 episodes
What it’s about: Matthew Collins, a reformed Neo-Nazi who works for an anti-fascist organisation, tries to infiltrate a far-right terrorist group.
Why to watch: Stephen Graham is, predictably, the highlight of The Walk-In. However, he may be why you press play, but this is an unflinching, even frightening drama about the UK’s current of racism that could be a little much for some viewers to bear. We implore you to stick with it.
8. Des
- Year: 2020
- Cast: David Tennant, Daniel Mays, Jason Watkins
- Creator: Luke Neal
- Length: 1 season, 3 episodes
What it’s about: Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay receives a call about the possible discovery of human remains in a house. When they question the homeowner, Dennis Nilsen, he admits to killing at least 12 young boys and men.
Why to watch: Des doesn’t show any of the murders, beginning with his arrest and unnerving confession. This places the focus on Tennant’s incredibly eerie performance, peeling back the layers of Nilsen’s narcissism in his blasé, bewildered interactions with the police.
It’s a deeply unsympathetic performance (among the best portrayals of real-life serial killers), and his indifferent demeanour to his own actions will haunt you long after it’s done.
7. The Pembrokeshire Murders
- Year: 2021
- Cast: Luke Evans, Keith Allen, Caroline Berry
- Creator: Nick Stevens
- Length: 1 season, 3 episodes
What it’s about: In 2006, Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins reopens two unsolved murder cases, believing they may be linked to a string of burglaries.
Why to watch: The Pembrokeshire Murders is a richly deserved star vehicle for Luke Evans, who delivers a muted, carefully calibrated performance. You could say that of the series itself; even Keith Allen’s turn as John Cooper is untheatrical, but very unsettling.
6. River
- Year: 2015
- Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Nicola Walker, Adeel Akhtar
- Creator: Abi Morgan
- Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
What it’s about: John River, a hardened detective haunted by the ghosts of cases he can’t let go, struggles to cope after his dearest colleague’s death – especially when the investigation reveals her darkest secrets.
Why to watch: River is a thoughtful, intricately plotted police procedural. But, in its dark heart, it’s also a creepy, affecting ghost story; it’s the Lake Mungo of crime dramas, and if you’ve seen that film, you’ll know that’s a big compliment.
5. Cracker
- Year: 1993 – 2006
- Cast: Robbie Coltrane, Geraldine Somerville, Christopher Eccleston
- Creator: Jimmy McGovern
- Length: 3 seasons, 25 episodes (plus 2 specials)
What it’s about: Fitz, a brilliant but deeply troubled criminal psychologist, helps to solve tough cases in Greater Manchester.
Why to watch: Like a long drag of a cigarette in a skin-shrivelling winter, Cracker is addictively nasty, ‘prestige TV’ (before that was a common title). Robbie Coltrane was, and remains, a revelation as Fitz, a snarling mountain of a man who you can’t help but love.
4. The Moorside
- Year: 2017
- Cast: Sheridan Smith, Siobhan Finneran, Sian Brooke
- Creator: Neil McKay
- Length: 1 season, 2 episodes
What it’s about: In 2008, Yorkshire schoolgirl Shannon Matthews mysteriously disappears, and the local community rallies together to find her.
Why to watch: Sheridan Smith is a stalwart of British TV dramas, and The Moorside remains her greatest work to date. Written by Neil McKay (Appropriate Adult), it’s a sympathetic, hopeful, yet necessarily gritty ‘Broken Britain’ story, with Smith in inspirational form.
3. Appropriate Adult
- Year: 2011
- Cast: Emily Watson, Dominic West, Monica Dolan
- Creator: Neil McKay
- Length: 1 season, 2 episodes
What it’s about: In 1994, social worker Janet Leach is called upon to be an appropriate adult for someone who’s just been arrested: Fred West, one of the most notorious serial killers in British history.
Why to watch: Appropriate Adult doesn’t sensationalise or indulge in the Wests’ awful crimes. It’s a grim, compelling character study, both of the killers themselves and a woman thrust into an unimaginable situation.
Don’t just take it from us. John Bennett, the detective superintendent who led the inquiry into the Wests’ crimes, said “the mannerisms and psyche of Frederick West captured and enacted by Dominic West and Monica Dolan of Rosemary West are hauntingly accurate”.
2. Mr Bates vs the Post Office
- Year: 2024
- Cast: Toby Jones, Monica Dolan, Julie Hesmondhalgh
- Creator: Gwyneth Hughes
- Length: 1 season, 4 episodes
What it’s about: When a computing fault causes financial losses for the Post Office, hundreds of innocent subpostmasters are prosecuted for theft – and a group decides to fight back.
Why to watch: Mr Bates vs The Post Office is one of the best shows ITV has ever produced; a stirring, grounded, exquisitely performed drama that brought a rage-inducing national scandal to the fore. Keep an eye out for all the Broadchurch alumni.
1. Broadchurch
- Year: 2013 – 2017
- Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker
- Creator: Chris Chibnall
- Length: 3 seasons, 24 episodes
What it’s about: When the body of a young boy is found on a beach, a small coastal town becomes the focus of a major police investigation and a media frenzy, with two detectives forced to work together to figure out what happened.
Why to watch: Simply put, Broadchurch is one of the best British crime dramas this side of the millennium; a show that came and went on its own terms with three superb seasons, each just as good as the last (season 1 is the best, though). Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who work may be divisive, but this is unanimously revered.
For any Trigger Point and Line of Duty fans out there, it’s also one of Vicky McClure’s best roles.
Read more: Where the Broadchurch cast are now, from Vicky McClure to Jonathan Bailey and other stars you forgot
