A Touch of Cloth (Seasons 1–3)

A Touch of Cloth (2012) is a British comedy mini-series — watch it online on iFILM. DI Jack Cloth and DC Anne Oldman investigate a string of serial killings. The names are intentional.

John Hannah and Suranne Jones play the leads with complete seriousness, which is precisely what makes it work. Director Jim O'Hanlon runs through the full checklist of British detective clichés: the ghost of a dead wife, the tortured backstory, the overwrought voiceover, the subplot that goes nowhere useful. Karen Gillan and Anna Chancellor round out the cast. The show knows its genre well enough to dismantle it from the inside. Stream A Touch of Cloth on iFILM.