Why 'Badass British Lady Detectives' Should Be Your Favorite Netflix Category

If the first thing you think of when someone mentions British television is 'Downton Abbey,' I get it. I do. I'm someone who watched the new season 5 trailer approximately 47 times and traveled two hours to an exhibition of costumes from the show .

But if 'Downton Abbey' is all you know of British TV, you're missing out. Big time. There's an entire genre -- Vulture calls it British Women Getting It Done -- where women take matters into their own hands to solve crimes, save lives and sometimes, God forbid, knock a few strands of hair out of place.

These ladies aren't your mother's Miss Marple.

Happy Valley

Sarah Lancashire's Sergeant Catherine Cawood rolls with the punches and takes more than a few as she hunts down a kidnapper in this brutally brilliant West Yorkshire drama. With nary a gun in sight, confrontations between police and bad guys are unsparingly raw; after some criticized the violence, creator Sally Wainwright took a stand : "If you get your head smacked against the wall, you bleed. It's life." ('Downton Abbey' connection: an unrecognizable Siobhan Finneran -- scheming lady's maid O'Brien -- as Catherine's sister, Clare.)

The Fall

Whether giving orders to a roomful of Belfast policemen or telling off a journalist, Gillian Anderson as DSI Stella Gibson is always the calmest, coolest person on the scene without raising her voice or letting even a wee splatter of blood mar her now-famous silk shirts . Gibson's 'drop the mic' moment comes when she tells a serial killer his actions are "just misogyny: age-old violence against women."

The Bletchley Circle

While not technically detectives, these four female codebreakers-turned-super-sleuths team up to catch a serial murderer in 1952 London, outwitting both the cunning killer and the all-male police force with skills like logic, puzzle solving and pattern recognition.

Prime Suspect

Before Helen Mirren was an Academy Award-winning Queen, she was Jane Tennison. Tennison had her demons, including a fight with alcoholism and a battle against sexist colleagues, but throughout 'Prime Suspect''s seven-season run, she kicked butt, took names and was unapologetically the HBIC.

Looking for more non-British, but equally badass, female detectives? Meet Sarah Lund of Denmark's 'Forbrydelsen ' (remade in America as 'The Killing'), Phryne Fisher of Australia's 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries ' and Robin Griffin of New Zealand-set 'Top of the Lake .'

Is your favorite take-charge lady detective missing? Leave recommendations in the comments section or Tweet me .