Arresting new crime drama series

We have an APB for the unusual suspects! In the lineup? Cannibalism, crime and cults in Yellowjackets Season 3, a serial killer with a podcast in Based on a True Story Season 2, and the final season of Power Book II: Ghost. We’re also keeping an eye on Tom Hardy and Pierce Brosnan in the gangland drama series MobLand, Michael C Hall in Dexter: Original Sin, and the funny and fabulous Elsbeth and Diarra from Detroit. 

Flip through our evidence board below to find out more, as we take in crime time in Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US.

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Crime dramas on everyone’s most-wanted list

1. Coming soon: Based on a True Story

Bored couple Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan Bartlett (Chris Messina) made a deal with a devil when they befriended and blackmailed serial killer Matt Pierce (Tom Bateman) and used their insider knowledge of his “Westside Ripper” crimes to boost their true crime podcast. But with Ava and Nathan now preoccupied with their baby boy, Jack, Matt is keeping those killing urges at bay by exploring “sober living” at a luxury wellness centre in Mexico … with Ava’s 22-year-old sister, Tory (Liana Liberato).

Stream Based on a True Story Season 2 from Friday, 19 September at 8PM on M-Net Channel 101. Binge Based on a True Story Season 1-2 on Showmax.

2. Coming soon: Yellowjackets

We’re back for the cannibalism, comedy and crime in this tale of a teenage girls’ soccer team going feral in the Canadian wilderness in the 19 months following a plane crash – and the impact on the survivors back home 25 years later. While stranded, the survivors form a nature cult, driven by starvation, PTSD, and madness. This season starts with a funeral, a pit trap and an accidental dine-and-dash murder, while the adult Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) has a new stalker.

Stream Yellowjackets Season 3 from Monday, 22 September at 10PM on M-Net Channel 101. Binge Yellowjackets Season 1-3 on Showmax

3. Coming soon: Allegiance

Rookie police officer Sabrina Sohal (Supinder Wraich) grapples with the limits of Canada’s justice system this season as she joins the Serious Crimes division and gets a macho-man new partner, Samer Salem (Zak Kalaini), who outranks her and is inclined to be dismissive of her gentler approach to policing and deescalation. Off the clock, Sabrina’s brother Ishaan (Adolyn H Dar) joins her quest to take down the man who framed their father, politician Ajeet Sohal (Stephen Lobo), for treason.

Stream Allegiance Season 2 from Wednesday, 17 September at 7PM on M-Net Channel 101. Binge Allegiance Season 1 on Showmax.

4. Coming soon: Power Book II: Ghost

Rich kids drug dealer Tariq St Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr) and his college “project partner” Brayden Weston (Gianni Paolo) start the final with empty pockets and a $100 000 bounty on each of their heads from British drug lord Noma Asaju (Caroline Chikezie). Tariq’s dirty lawyer Davis MacLean (Method Man) offers them a final word of advice: get out of New York, because dead drug queenpin Monet’s (Mary J Blige) sons are also out for revenge. 

Stream Power Book II: Ghost Season 4 from Friday, 26 September at 8PM on M-Net Channel 101. Binge Power Book II: Ghost Season 1-4, Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 1-4, and Power Book IV: Force Season 1 on Showmax.

5. Murder in a Small Town

Big-city cop Karl Alberg (Rossif Sutherland) is expecting to take things a bit easier when he transfers to the idyllic coastal town of Gibsons in British Columbia. But as this Canadian small town’s new Chief of Police, he never seems to get a day off thanks to the bodies that pop up in the scenic lake and peaceful woods. The series is based on LR Wright’s Alberg & Cassandra Mysteries novels, and stars Kristin Kreuk as local librarian Cassandra.

Stream Murder in a Small Town Season 1 on Tuesdays at 8PM on Universal Channel 117. All previous episodes on DStv Stream.

6. MobLand

Created by The Day of the Jackal’s Ronan Bennett and co-directed by Guy Ritchie, this gangland drama follows London’s Harrigan crime family, led by Conrad (Pierce Brosnan) and Maeve Harrigan (Helen Mirren). Their fixer, Harry Da Souza (Tom Hardy), must navigate rising tensions with the rival Stevenson syndicate, led by Richie Stevenson (Geoff Bell). As hostilities escalate, a full-blown street war looms – threatening to spill beyond London and drench even the Harrigans’ posh country estate in buckets of blood.

Watch MobLand Season 1 on DStv Stream.

7. Dexter: Original Sin

Crime drama prequel to the Dexter serial killer series. Long before Dexter Morgan was meticulously murdering criminals in his plastic-wrapped clean room, 20-year-old new medical school graduate Dexter Morgan (Patrick Gibson, with the original Dexter Michael C Hall acting as series narrator) joins the Miami Metro Police Department as a forensic intern while his adoptive dad, Detective Harry Morgan (Christian Slater), secretly trains him to cover his tracks and pick the “right” victims. There’s nothing like on-the-job training!

Stream Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 on Tuesdays at 21:00 on M-Net Channel 101. All previous episodes on DStv Stream and on Showmax.

8. Elsbeth

After terrorising the legal system in Chicago, The Good Wife’s Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) has moved to New York to monitor an NYPD precinct that’s been accused of making sloppy, wrongful arrests. She’s revelling in playing tourist in the Big Apple, while using her talent for picking apart inconvenient details and inconsistencies. Will she overstep and meddle while dressed like a party clown? For sure. Will she be right? Yep. And her new NYPD officer bestie Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson) loves to see it.

Stream Elsbeth Season 2 on Fridays at 19:00 on M-Net Channel 101. All previous episodes on DStv Stream. 

9. Diarra from Detroit

This drama series from actress-comedian Diarra Kilpatrick and Kenya Barris (Black-ish) blends mystery and comedy. Recently divorced teacher Diarra Brickland (Diarra Kilpatrick) stumbles into Detroit’s criminal underworld and a decades-old mystery about missing Black kids when she goes looking for Chris (Shannon Wallace), the hookup who ghosted her after a night of passion. Look out for Morris Chestnut as Diarra’s suave ex-husband Francois, and Phylicia Rashad’s Black Reel Awards-winning performance as one missing kid’s mom, Vonda. 

Stream Diarra from Detroit Season 1 on Sundays at 7PM on BET Channel 129. All previous episodes on DStv Stream. 

10. The Brokenwood Mysteries

Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea) and Detective Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland) investigate crimes in the fictional quiet country town of Brokenwood, New Zealand, where murders somehow outnumber Hobbit sightings. The town’s scenic attractions attract dangerous criminals. So far, we’ve seen bodies crop up everywhere from a “Lord of the Ringz” tour, to the Victorian historic village, to the ghost train. And coming up, Shepherd will be called to a mountaintop and an abandoned insane asylum.

Stream The Brokenwood Mysteries Season 5 on Thursdays at 8PM on BBC Brit Channel 120. All previous episodes on DStv Stream.