5 TV crime dramas to watch Christmas Day 2022

Christmas Day for many involves Christmas movies and turkey or ham dinners. What if you’re more in the mood for TV crime dramas this year? There are plenty of options to check out.

With so many TV crime dramas, the list of shows to watch can get a little overwhelming. That’s why we’re narrowing down the list, covering the large genre as best as we can.

Some people want a gritty crime drama based on a true story, while others want something a little lighter that gives us a mystery to solve. The good news is whether it’s broadcast networks or streamers, we’re covered with some excellent offerings.

Of course, there are always the likes of NCIS, Chicago PD, and Law & Order constantly airing on other networks. You can also watch most of them on a streaming platform here and there. This list covers a few TV crime dramas you may have missed this year.

5 Christmas Day TV crime dramas for 2022

Karen Pirie

If you’re in the mood for a British crime drama, turn your attention to Karen Pirie on BritBox. Outlander‘s Lauren Lyle stars as the titular character, with the story based on the book series by Val McDermid.

The series follows Karen Pirie as she works on a cold case from the 1990s. It’s all come up thanks to a podcast, but is it possible to solve the case after 25 years? Karen isn’t going to let any stone go unturned. She will figure out the case, but were any of the men originally involved and accused guilty of murder?

Magnum PI

Magnum PI Season 5 will premiere on NBC in February. You’ll want to take this time to catch up on the series. After all, the first four seasons of the series ran on CBS before the show was canceled in May of this year. It was later saved by NBC.

You can watch the four seasons on Paramount+ still. They will move over to Peacock exclusively at some point, so keep an eye out for that. The series is a reboot of the original series starring Tom Selleck, so it really doesn’t need any introduction.

One of Us Is Lying

Another series based on a book is One of Us Is Lying. There are two seasons (we’re still waiting to see what Peacock will do about the third), and the first season follows the book. The second season picks up with the aftermath, giving us a new character trying to control the Murder Club.

This series is great for Pretty Little Liars fans. The best thing is that it remains contained, and there aren’t a lot of red herrings—not so they get annoying, anyway. We get closure of the two storylines by the end of each season.

Recipes for Love and Murder

Recipes for Love and Murder is another British series, although this one is set in South Africa. Outlander‘s and Kin‘s Maria Doyle Kennedy leads this series as Tannie Marie, a recipe columnist who finds out her column is being scrapped. She competes for a job as an advice columnist at the same paper.

While offering advice (and throwing a recipe in there, of course), she comes across a letter from a woman who later turns up dead. Maria is sure that the abusive husband did it, and she goes on a mission to prove that. Watch the series on Acorn TV.

The Watcher

How about a series that’s based on a true story? Netflix has a great option, The Watcher. This series follows a family that moves into a large home and starts to make changes. Of course, the locals aren’t happy about the changes, but there’s something far more sinister going on.

Someone is watching the house, and they send the family letters with the information they’ve learned. There may even be ways into the house from the cellar and other parts of the home. Can they figure out who it is before something happens to one of them?

Which TV crime dramas are you watching on Christmas Day 2022? Share your thoughts in the comments below.