Murder and mystery lurkย around every corner on television these days. Fromย True Detectiveย andย American Crimeย toย Elementaryย andย NCIS: New Orleans, thereโs always a crime to solve.
Television murder mysteries have been around for decades, but the genre has been dominated by men. However, there has been a fair share of females detecting a clue or two โ and as the 21st century marches on, theyโre popping up more frequently.
We decided to take a look back through the decades at some fantastic female TV detectives.
The Fabulous 50s
Our journey through time starts with the first American TV show to focus on a female detective,ย Decoy. Officer Casey Jones, played by Beverly Garland, may have been an undercover detective who played by the book, but the show did not. Ignoring the conservative constraints of the era, it threw the rules of conventional narrative out the window.
In a genre saturated with males,ย Decoyย shouldered in, to place women at the fore, not only casting a female in the lead, but focusing on female victims as well. Each episode was dedicated to the Bureau of Policewomen of the New York Police Department, and usually ended with Casey directly addressing the audience.
The Swinging 60s
Based on the novels by Gloria and Forest Fickling, the title character ofย Honey Westย was one of the first female detectives in fiction and on TV. Described as a combination of Marilyn Monroe and Mike Hammer, the character displayed hardiness and intelligence, served with a generous dose of skills and sexiness โ proving that female characters did not have to be one-dimensional support.
The Sizzling 70s
Police Woman, starring Angie Dickinson as Sergeant Suzanne โPepperโ Anderson, aired from 1974 until 1978 and was the first successful American prime time drama to feature a female in the lead role.
This was also the decade of Nancy Drew, the famous fictional teen detective who featured in her own TV series and lay the groundwork for future teen sleuths, such as Veronica Mars.
We canโt leave the '70s without mentioningย Charlieโs Angels. With big attitudes and even bigger hair, these were three female detectives you did not want to mess with. The show was incredibly popular, running for five years, before being resurrected in a movie adaptation in 2000.
The Amazing 80s
An accomplished and award-winning actress and singer on both stage and screen, in her later years Angela Lansbury was popularly known as Jessica Fletcher, a widowed crime novelist who moonlighted as a detective in the long-runningย Murder, She Wrote.
Another famous little, old lady who proved that age and sex are not deterrents to solving crime, is Miss Marple. One of successful novelist Agatha Christieโs super sleuths, the amateur detective first appeared in print in 1927, and on television in 1984.
The Neat 90s
In the 90s, detective work became super serious with the outstanding Helen Mirren as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison inย Prime Suspect. The series was commended for bringing sexism in the workplace to the fore as part of its plot, and its strong lead inspired future female detectives.
Throwing sci-fi into the mix wasย The X-Files, featuring Gillian Anderson as sceptical scientist Dana Scully. Tough and smart, the character was lauded by critics and viewers, getting the ball rolling for strong, female leads in sci-fi and fantasy on TV โ weโre looking at you Daenerys Targaryen!
The Magnificent Millennials
The preceding decades and their detectives have paved the way for todayโs heroines โ many of whom youโve seen on M-Net and M-Net Edge. Withย The Fall,ย Broadchurch,ย The Closer,ย The Mysteries of Laura,ย Castle,ย Rizzoli and Isles,ย Cold Caseย andย True Detective, the list is long and impressive.
The crime genre is here to stay, and with women making their mark in so many shows, we can expect to see many intriguing new detectives, sleuths and PIs in future.