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Like all of the popular streaming services do these days, Hulu also creates their own content. But unlike Netflix, Hulu allows you to add on extra services like HBO, Starz, Cinemax, and Showtime (for an extra fee, of course). Hulu also offers bundle subscriptions if you also use Disney+/ESPN+, Spotify, and/or Sprint.
Table of Contents
Top 10 British TV Shows Streaming on Hulu
In no particular order, these are the top 10 British TV shows streaming on Hulu that are both highly rated and popular on the streaming service:
Luther
Luther stars Idris Elba as DCI John Luther, a self-destructive detective who plays cat and mouse with a murderer. This moody urban crime thriller is rated a whopping 8.5/10 on IMDb. Luther is intelligent but not without major flaws, including impulsive behavior.
Also starring Ruth Wilson.
Agatha Christie's Marple
Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie star as Agatha Christie's spinster detective Miss Marple. She's sharp as a tack and highly observant.
The show is full of recognizable faces. If you love a good mystery, don't miss Miss Marple.
Prime Suspect
Prime Suspect stars Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison. In the first two-part season, she is tasked with solving the murder of a young sex worker.
Seven seasons are streaming on Hulu, but they only consist of two or three episodes each: one full mystery per season.
DCI Banks
DCI Banks is a moody Yorkshire detective drama starring Stephen Tompkinson as Alan Banks, along with Andrea Lowe, Caroline Catz, and Jack Deam. It's a procedural drama that fans of Luther, The Tunnel, and Hinterland may enjoy.
Miranda
Miranda is a sitcom starring Miranda Hart. She runs a shop with her friend, Stevie (Sarah Hadland). Miranda also has a will-they-won't-they romance with Gary (Tom Ellis). It's a quirky show where Miranda breaks the fourth wall by talking directly to the camera (aka: us viewers).
It's over-the-top funny and as Miranda's mum would say, “Such fun!”
You can also watch the American adaptation, Call Me Kat, on Hulu. Though we do our best to be neutral here, we will say that the feedback from Miranda fans has not been kind.
Upstairs Downstairs (2010)
This is a reboot of the original series from the 1970s. It focuses on a different family and begins in 1936. Like the original Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey, this show focuses on both the house staff and the glitzy family. It stars Keeley Hawes, Ed Stoppard, Claire Foy, Eileen Atkins, and more.
Whitechapel
Whitechapel begins with a copycat killer recreating the crimes of Jack the Ripper. Detectives must learn from history (via a quirky historian) to try and get a step ahead of the killer. Rupert Penry-Jones stars with Steve Pemberton and Phil Davis.
Harlots
Harlots is a Hulu Original Series about high-end sex workers, their competition, and their personal lives in 18th century London. It stars Jessica Brown Findlay, Samantha Morton, Lesley Manville, Kate Fleetwood, and more. Of course, it's a touch raunchy, so it won't be for everyone.
The Musketeers
The Musketeers is a historical action-adventure show based on the book by Alexandre Dumas. This show is energetic with lots of sword fighting and sarcastic taunting from Athos, Porthos and Aramis. If you're not familiar with The Three Musketeers, they're essentially highly trained bodyguards who protect the King of France, so it also deals with political conspiracy.
Although it takes place in 17th century Paris, it is a BBC production so it stars a lot of British actors. To start, Tom Burke plays Athos and Luke Pasqualino is d'Artagnan.
Scott & Bailey
Scott & Bailey stars Lesley Sharp and Suranne Jones as two Detective Sergeant partners working in Manchester. Their different personalities create both balance and contention. The show deals with their personal and professional struggles.
Co-creator Diane Taylor is a retired detective inspector from the Major Incident Team of the Greater Manchester Police Force, so you know there's more realism than some other shows might have.
Honorable Mentions
Harrow
Harrow isn't technically a British show; it's filmed in Australia but it stars Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd. Gruffudd plays forensic pathologist Dr. Daniel Harrow, who (like many TV detectives) is determined to find answers, even if that means breaking a few rules.
Two seasons are available now and it is renewed for a third.
Black Sails
Black Sails isn't technically British because it's a Starz production, but the cast is full of British and Australian stars and it takes place between England and the Caribbean. It's gritty. Both the journeys and politics are tumultuous. There is plenty of sex in the first two seasons, but it drops off in the last two when the story gets even more complex.
Black Sails is described as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic book Treasure Island, so the names of fictional characters are floating around with the names of real pirates from history.
It stars Toby Stephens, Tom Hopper, Luke Roberts, Hannah New, Harriet Walter, and many wonderful Australian actors.
It came to an end after four seasons; being a prequel, it ends where the events of Treasure Island start.
Killing Eve
The spy thriller/dark comedy began back in 2018, telling the story of a bored intelligence officer whose life changes forever when she begins pursuing a female assassin. Jodie Comer plays Villanelle, the bored assassin, while Sandra Oh plays Eve Polastri, a woman who allows her life to be torn apart by her interest in female assassins.
As the two grow closer, they begin to learn that their circles are more closely linked than they might have expected – and both women begin to spend more time focusing on each other than on their original missions.
What are your favourite British shows on Hulu?
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Liberty is a writer from Ohio, but pretends she's in the English countryside sipping some Yorkshire Gold tea, dunking some Custard Creams, and wondering who stole her TARDIS.
Love British crime shows BUT none better than LUTHER!!!!
New Tricks
Two thumbs up. Fantastic show, especially Brian “Memory” Lane.