New Detective Series Drops with a Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

This week, I subscribed to PBS Classics. It’s probably the first time I’ve watched anything on PBS since Sherlock. No offense, but I don’t really care for costume dramas, Jane Austen adaptations, or cozy British mysteries, although all three (especially the latter) fall squarely in my wife’s domain (she gets her fix from BritBox and Acorn).

But this new series, Patience, is neither a costume drama nor a cozy mystery. Adapted by Matt Baker from the French series Astrid et Raphaëlle, it’s a detective mystery with at least one serial killer storyline. However, I wouldn’t call it violent or grisly. Tonally, it’s more in line with Sherlock. It stars Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad’s Lydia Rodarte-Quayle) as DI Bea Metcalfe, a skilled detective with a high clearance rate, an ex-husband who resents her, and a strained relationship with her young son.

She’s assigned to handle the formalities in what seems like an open-and-shut suicide: a man douses himself in gasoline in a parking lot and sets himself on fire. However, a young woman named Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis), who works in the criminal records office, drops several case files on Bea’s desk, each showing a similar pattern of men taking their own lives on the same day of the month after withdrawing cash from the bank.

It takes most of the episode, but eventually, Bea takes an interest in Patience, despite her erratic behavior — she’s easily overwhelmed, rigid about rules, socially awkward, and prone to walking away from stressful situations. After one such instance, Bea follows her into an AA meeting (Autistic Adults) and not only begins to understand Patience’s behavior but also starts to suspect that her own son might be neurodivergent. A likely partnership is born, though not before Patience is brought in for questioning when her investigation raises suspicions about her own involvement.

It’s hard to get a perfect read from a single episode, but so far, the show feels familiar yet compelling. It’s nice to see “Lydia” on the right side of the law, and Purvis, who is ballet-trained and autistic herself, is well suited to the role. Patience is adept at spotting patterns and making sharp deductions, though she struggles with stressful and even everyday social situations.

It’s not a cozy series, but it is a comfortable one, with compelling characters, intriguing cases, and a vibe somewhere between a broadcast procedural and a prestige streamer. It’s a cop show, but not a bleak one, and its strength lies in the chemistry between Bea and Patience. And while Patience is neurodivergent, many of the social encounters she faces are relatable to anyone who watches too much TV, avoids small talk, and dreads phone calls (hi!)

The Belgian-British series (set in York but largely filmed in Belgium) premiered earlier this year in the UK and has already been renewed for a second season, and for good reason. It’s great. It’s also as good a reason as any to support PBS in its time of need.

For Fans Of: Dept. Q, High Potential, Sherlock, and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.