Magpie Murders

Retired archaeologist and crossword setter Judith Potts believes that a brutal murder has taken place in the sleepy town of Marlow; when the police refuse to believe her story, she kicks off a private investigation with two unlikely friends.

An unconventional book shop owner, Gabriel Book (Mark Gatiss), helps police solve crimes in 1946 London. It also follows the story of Gabriel's marriage to Trottie (Polly Walker): they are in a lavender marriage. Book's interest in Jack (Connor Finch), a recently released petty criminal, whom he hires to work in the bookshop, is another thread through the first season.

When a body turns up with a crossword clue pinned to it, Cora Felton - aka the famous 'Puzzle Lady' - is thrown into a murder investigation which threatens everything she has worked not very hard for.

For more than a decade, renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has helped to expand America’s sense of itself, stimulating a national conversation about identity with humor, wisdom, and compassion. Professor Gates has explored the ancestry of dozens of influential people from diverse backgrounds, taking millions of viewers deep into the past to reveal the connections that bind us all.

Two worlds are about to collide: Patience Evans, a young autistic woman, works in a clerical role, in the basement of the City of York police station, filing investigation records. She is an enigma; a profoundly intelligent, self-taught criminologist, able to spot clues that others simply do not see. Yet her talents go unnoticed. A chance meeting with Detective Inspector Bea Metcalf opens a door into a whole new world for her. Bea can see potential in Patience and her innate deductive skills, as well as the similarities she shares with her own son Alfie. Together, Bea and Patience form an unlikely but brilliant team for solving the most complex of murders committed within the historic city of York.

The series comprises adaptations of the works of Ruth Rendell, many of which are based on her extensive range of short stories. In some cases, the stories were expanded from Rendell's original material or elements from a number of stories were woven together into one episode. A smaller number of episodes were based on Rendell's full-length novels, starring James Callis and Front seat, starring Janet Suzman. There were a total of 55 episodes centering on the Detective Inspector Wexford stories, starring George Baker, Louie Ramsay and Christopher Ravenscroft, and an additional 29 episodes did not feature Wexford.