WHAT TO WATCH IF YOU LIKE ‘BALLARD’
Crafting watchalike lists is something we do often. Particularly for the shows or films that have hype and buzz behind them. This new feature centers on Ballard and a list of what to watch if you like Ballard. The show, which was a binge drop on Prime Video is a spin-off show from Bosch, a gritty crime drama that has since ended its run.
TV SHOW REVIEW | ‘BALLARD’ PRIME VIDEO REVIEW: A DETECTIVE LOOKS FOR HOPE
Maggie Q leads this drama playing the titular character, a determined detective who has been outed from the “boys club” for telling the truth. Now, she’s been relegated to the cold case division which is a place meant to hide her away or make her quit altogether. What no one expects is for Ballard to have such a big voice and cause waves in a place tucked away. Along with her team of volunteers, a group everyone laughs at, Ballard uses her skill and the determined ear of a councilmen to ensure she gets her answers.
WHAT TO WATCH IF YOU LIKE ‘BALLARD.’ #MaggieQ stars in the #PrimeVideo crime drama spin-off #Ballard. Share on X
Let’s explore some of the TV dramas that we can watch or stream and see how many fit as a “watch to watch if you like Ballard.” Because let’s be honest, how surprising was that ending? We need more… but until then, we’ll see what we can find to watch that feels perhaps similar!
WHAT to WATCH if you like BALLARD
BOSCH
This show has a spin off which was Bosh: Legacy. Titus Welliver plays the titular role in a drama that seems darker and has a grittier premise. It’s an adaptation based on the Michael Connelly novels.
Story: Based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling novels, Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver), an LAPD homicide detective, stands trial for the fatal shooting of a serial murder suspect. A cold case involving the remains of a missing boy forces Bosch to confront his past. As daring recruit, Julia Brasher (Annie Wersching), catches his eye, and departmental politics heat up, Bosch will pursue justice at all costs. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, on Prime Video
BOSCH: LEGACY
The spin-off show that introduced Maggie Q in a late season episode, this one has Bosch working as private detective. Again, it’s not a show I’ve seen either one of, but credits tell us that some of the same actors, including Welliver, do return.
Story: Harry Bosch, retired homicide detective turned Private Investigator, fights to work cases without the authority his former job provided. Attorney Honey “Money” Chandler, having survived an attempted murder, struggles to maintain her faith in the justice system. And Maddie Bosch discovers the possibilities and challenges of being a rookie patrol cop on the streets of Los Angeles. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, on Prime Video
CHASING SHADOWS
Alex Kingston leads the cast in this 2014 four-episode series that follows a group of missing persons investigators who look into serial killers and how they target the “vulnerable.”
Story: In this darkly comic drama, a socially inept detective makes it his mission to find lost souls stalked by serial killers. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, on BritBox; or stream free on Plex, Roku or Tubi
THE CHELSEA DETECTIVE
A British show, this crime drama doesn’t limit itself to any one specific “type” of case (and I think it’s funny where Ballard isn’t), but the team and “limiting” workspace reminds me of Ballard. It’s a really good show. IF you watch period dramas, you’ll recognize lead star Adrian Scarborough from prior roles – and as Max, he’s quite good in this drama, too.
Story: DI Max Arnold polices the streets of Chelsea, London’s richest borough. It’s a beautiful place for beautiful people-hiding a dark side of deception, greed, and murder. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, with Acorn TV
COLD CASE
Kathryn Morris led the cast in this network TV show for 150+ episodes. The premise follows her Detective Lilly Rush who is the lone female detective on her Philadelphia homicide squad. This isn’t a show I’ve ever seen, but I do remember hearing about it at some point during its 2003 – 2010 run. It seems like it could be a good show.
Story: Detective Lilly Rush works on “cold cases” for the Philadelphia Police Department, reopening dormant homicides that occurred years ago, making use of today’s science and finding fresh clues to crimes once thought to be unsolvable. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, with HBO Max; or digitally purchase on places like Prime Video. Or stream free on Roku
COLD SQUAD
This is a CTV production and follows a unit that specializes in look at the cases no one else is investigating.
Story: Cold Squad is a one-hour police drama that focuses on ‘cold cases’; unsolvable cases that have gone for years without a solution. Each week there is a new ‘cold case’ brought out of the woodwork to solve, which may date back five or fifty years. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, select seasons with Prime Video; or you can stream free on Roku or Tubi
COUNTDOWN
Jensen Ackles leads this cast in the Prime Video show that follows a group of law enforcement officers who band together to track down a group of dangerous people who murdered a Homeland agent. The show is quite fast-paced and interesting plus it also gives us a lead who is, well, not exactly well, which makes for interesting storytelling – and in some ways, makes us not quite as eager to read the conclusion.
Story: When an officer with the Department of Homeland Security is murdered in broad daylight, LAPD detective Mark Meachum is recruited to a secret task force, alongside undercover agents from all branches of law enforcement, to investigate. But the hunt for the killer soon uncovers a plot far more sinister than anyone could have imagined, kicking off a race against time to save a city of millions. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, exclusively with Prime Video
DEPT. Q
This is about Matthew Goode’s DCI character who is also exiled to a kind of “dead” department as a sort of punishment – or perhaps more so that no one will get heat when he goes a little bit rogue! The department is also about cold cases, and follows a case of a missing woman. It’s quite the good nine-episode show too!
Story: DCI Carl Morck is a brilliant cop but a terrible colleague. His razor-sharp sarcasm has made him no friends in Edinburgh police. After a shooting that leaves a young pc dead, and his partner paralysed, he finds himself exiled to the basement and the sole member of Department Q; a newly formed cold case unit. The department is a PR stunt, there to distract the public from the failures of an under-resourced, failing police force that is glad to see the back of him. But more by accident than design, Carl starts to build a gang of waifs and strays who have everything to prove. So, when the stone-cold trail of a prominent civil servant who disappeared several years ago starts to heat up, Carl is back doing what he does best – rattling cages and refusing to take no for an answer. – Netflix Media
Stream, at publication, with Netflix
HINTERLAND
Filming, according to some database specs, in Wales, this is a dark and grittier crime drama that only had 13 episodes, which span 3 seasons. The show has a good cast and gives fans some interesting stories during these episodes.
Story: Winner of numerous BAFTA Cymru Awards, this “Nordic noir done the Welsh way” (The Guardian) follows DCI Tom Mathias (Richard Harrington), a newcomer to coastal Aberystwyth after a decade on the London police force. Partnered with hardworking local DI Mared Rhys (Mali Harries), Mathias confronts mystifying murders that push him to the edge in a place with secrets as dark and destructive as his own. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, with Acorn TV; or digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
THE LINCOLN LAWYER, film and tv show
Also by Michael Connelly, this along with Ballard is all supposed to be set in the “same world.” The 2011 film had Matthew McConaughey in the role of Mickey Haller, a role that was really the first time I saw him in anything serious. That drama also had Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy and Josh Lucas. Then in more recent years (2022), Manuel Garcia-Rulfo took on the role in the Netflix show that has three seasons. Season four arrives this fall.
Story (2011 Film): Slick criminal defense attorney Mick Haller operates out of the back of his Lincoln Continental. After spending most of his career representing petty criminals, he lands the case of a lifetime: defending a rich playboy accused of attempted murder. – Prime Video
Story (Netflix Show): Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), an iconoclastic idealist, runs his law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln, as he takes on cases big and small across the expansive city of Los Angeles. Based on the series of bestselling novels by renowned author Michael Connelly, the third season is based on the fifth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series, The Gods of Guilt. – Netflix Media
Stream, at publication, the 2011 film on MGM+ or Paramount+; stream the show exclusively on Netflix. You can also digitally purchase both the show and the film on Prime Video
NIKITA
This one isn’t exactly a great fit, but it has Maggie Q in the lead role and is about Q’s titular character bringing down corrupt law enforcement. The show is a bit more of a “slick” kind of thriller type concept over Ballard which is more about clues and good police work, but I’m still making the connection.
Story: Maggie Q stars in this sexy and suspenseful series as the charming and deadly Nikita. Trained as an invisible assassin by a secret government agency, no one has ever escaped…until now. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, with Roku or Tubi; or digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
PATIENCE
Another international title, this one is about a good-at-her-job detective who brings in a clerical employee; a girl who notices things no one else does. I’ve only seen one or two episodes, but so far, I really liked it.
Story: Patience Evans’ quiet ordered world changes dramatically when she comes to the attention of Detective Bea Metcalf, an intuitive policewoman with an impressive track record but a chaotic private life. Bea recognizes Patience’s unique powers of deduction and wants her on her team. Patience, who has always been fascinated by crime and mystery, finds herself drawn into a new and unpredictable world. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, with PBS Masterpiece
TRACKER
Justin Hartley leads this drama in a role where he works as a loner most of the time. He takes cases that are dangerous and sometimes looks into missing people no one else really seems to look for. The show is a CBS network show that does quite well for them. It’s a pretty solid drama that Hartley leads quite well. Oh yeah, and it’s also based on a novel, too.
Story: Tracker stars Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country as a reward seeker, using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family. The series is based on the bestselling novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, with Paramount+
WAKING the DEAD
An international show, this follows a team who search out answers to unsolved murder cases, something they do, in part, with technology. The show ran from 2000 – 2011 and in the cast, you’ll also see Tara Fitzgerald and Claire Goose (from The Coroner).
Story: The Cold Case investigators are faced with the challenge of four unsolved crimes which have lain dormant for years. – Prime Video
Stream, at publication, with BritBox
Photos: Alamy
Have you seen any of these? Would you? Which ones do you think are an ideal fit? Comment all of your what to watch if you like Ballard thoughts below. Let’s hear all of the things.
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