If you love watching overseas crime dramas, you’ve come to the right place… Curated by Walter Iuzzolino, Walter Presents is a streaming service featuring shows from all round the world with subtitles for English-speaking viewers. We love it because large proportion of them are crime shows. In the UK, Walter Presents is part of Channel 4’s online offering with shows free to stream, while in the US it’s available through PBS Passport.

Let’s take a look at the 10 shows with the most streams and broadcast viewership in the UK in 2024. Most of them are also available through the US version of Walter Presents.

So let’s sit back and enjoy some crime fiction from around the world…

10 – Nordic Murders – Germany

Following the death of her husband, disgraced state prosecutor Karin Lossow (Katrin Sass) tries to live a quiet life until circumstances pull her back into police investigations. The show is set in and around Usedom, an island on Germany’s Baltic coast – rural and close to the Polish border. Many of the cases involve begrudged police cooperation across that border. In the latest of the five seasons, her detective friend Ellen is away but Karin investigates with her nephew, the police detective Norgaard (Rikke Lylloff). Dark, unusual, riveting – this is an absolute favourite with CFL readers, so it’s a little surprising it’s in 10th place on the chart.

9 – The Sketch Artist – Canada

The Sketch Artist is a gripping ensemble piece that is a little off the wall most of the time but that adds to the fun. It’s written by Sophie Lovain who plays Sûreté du Québec team leader Maryse Ferron. The small special police unit is housed in the basement of the force’s Montreal HQ. New recruit Anthony Kamal (Adrien Belugov) joins curmudgeonly loner Rémy Girard (Bernard Dupin) and the police sketch artist Éve Garance (Rachel Grafton). Éve sees things others can’t and helps victims build images of the perpetrators of crime against them. This has a vague fantastical element but it’s well grounded characters are a treat and it has endearing appeal over the two seasons.

8 – The Wall – Canada

In season one of The Wall, city cop Celine Trudeau (Isabel Richer) is sent to an isolated mining town in Northern Quebec to investigate a gruesome murder which is baffling the local police. Returning to Québec City in the second season, she investigates the case of a disgraced civil engineer found dead, encased in concrete, in the luxury Cháteau Frontenac hotel. It relates to a huge infrastructure project for which the contract is about to be awarded and the consequent whiff of corruption. The pairing of rookie cop Daphne (Naila Loudart) with the seasoned but irascible DS Trudeau has its moments. Complex, a little too convoluted maybe, still this has bags of atmosphere and engaging characters.

7 – Pandora – Belgium

This unflinching Belgian drama tackles political corruption but also misogyny and violence. Investigating judge Claire Delval is put in charge of a serious sexual assault case and comes up against ruthless member of parliament Mark van Dyck (Yoann Blanc). He’s determined to exploit the tragedy for political gain, looking to replace the leader of his party. Delval has been investigating the same man, her own father, Simon Delval (Johan Leysen) for corruption. To complicate matters the victim of the attack, Ludivine Gilson (Salomé Richard), has no memory of the events. Hard hitting look at Belgium politics that doesn’t pull any punches.

6 – The Twelve – Belgium

Both seasons of The Twelve focus on the machinations of court cases – the lives of the victims, their families, friends, suspects and the jury are all under the microscope. Revelations encourage viewers to reconsider what they know about the case with every episode. Season one deals with a teacher accused of murdering two people, several years apart, while in season two a young woman is accused of killing her step-mother by pushing the woman down the stairs. Julie Bergman (Louisa Peeters) says it was an accident but looks guilty as she fled the scene. Also in the dock is her father, Anton Bergman (Koen De Grave), who had argued with his wife, was drunk at the time of the death and has no alibi. The programme has been adapted in Australia, with Sam Neill in the lead role.

5 – Hierro – Spain

Candela Montes (Candela Pêna) is an investigating magistrate who is transferred to the Canary Islands with her young son, who has special needs and requires a nanny while she works. The murder of a young man the night before his wedding shakes the tight knit El Hierro community. Initially Montes pegs the father of the bride, Antonio Diaz (Dario Grandinetti), as the prime suspect. He’s a man with dubious link to the drugs trade. However, the pair are soon forced to work together, after a fashion, to find the real killer. The edgy relationship of two people from different sides of the tracks adds a frisson to an investigation that twists and turns mightily along the way with vague echoes of The Killing. It’s hard not to feel sympathy with Diaz, also under attack from an unknown source, and impossible not to like the incorruptible judge forced to compromise in order to get to the answers.

4 – Seaside Hotel – Denmark

Downton Abbey seemed to strike a chord around the world; so did this Danish saga that tugs at the same heart strings. Seaside Hotel is a sweeping epic that follows the lives of the guests and staff of a North Sea resort near Skagerrak. This first of the 10 seasons begins in 1928, and the full series runs through WWII, most recently covering 1946-47. Surely more will follow on Walter Presents – after all, this is Denmark’s most popular TV show. It’s a historical drama with a huge cast and a little crime here and there, though perhaps this is an outlier in our list. By turns touching, poignant and funny.

3 – Top Dog – Sweden

In the Swedish show Top Dog, Teddy (Alexej Manelov) is a former gang member just out of jail and trying to go straight. Emily (Josafin Asplund) is a high-flying young lawyer with an eye for opportunities. They come from opposite sides of the law but are forced together while trying to unravel the kidnapping of a young boy. As Teddy tries to keep his distance from his former gangland life by doing good, ironically he’s sucked back into trouble by Emily. Her latest investigation of an apparent gang killing will reach into the past and put her and Teddy in mortal danger. His instinct is to protect her but it’s getting harder. This asks questions about how much we can change our lives and escape the darkness of the past. There are a few twists and plenty of fireworks but the main attraction is characters you can empathise with if not necessarily like. Based on the novels by Jens Lapidus, there are two seasons to enjoy, so far.

2 – Arctic Circle – Finland

Although Arctic Circle has been labelled Reindeer noir for its extreme northerly location and existential themes, it might just be the darkest show in this countdown. Finnish detective Nina Kautsalo (Lina Kuustonen) is sent to investigate when a trafficked sex worker is found dead in a cabin near the border with Russia. Nina must work with conflicted virologist Thomas Lorenzo (Maximilian Brückner) to try and contain a deadly outbreak and solve the murder. It all gets very personal amidst the people smuggling, manoeuvring by a Russian gangster, dirty tricks from a rogue pharmaceutical conglomerate and the ticking clock provided by the virus. That makes for a pacy noir-ish thriller for the fans of weighty drama.

1 – Astrid: Murder in Paris – France

Everybody loves Astrid (Sara Mortensen), the crime solving police records archivist in Paris. Astrid has autism and loves to solve complex puzzles. This ability, and the fact that she sees everything differently, makes her rather good at solving murders as well. She has a breathtaking knowledge of crime history, medicine and many subjects which makes her invaluable to detective Raphaëlle Coste (Lola Dewaere) and her murder team. Episode by episode, together they solve some of the city’s most mystifying crimes. The three seasons of Astrid: Murder in Paris are funny, touching and charming. The stories can be quite dark at times but will leave you feeling good about the world. Viewers adore the brilliant young sleuth and the warm but challenging relationship she has with her cop friend, which is why this is number one on the hit parade.