The Coroner

The Coroner is a British daytime drama series created by Sally Abbott that aired on BBC One from 16 November 2015 to 2 March 2017 across two series and twenty episodes total. Produced by BBC Birmingham, the series was developed from an idea by Will Trotter, executive producer and head of BBC Drama Birmingham, who envisioned a woman coroner aged about 40 working in a picturesque location such as the Cotswolds or Devon. Abbott developed this concept into a full series, creating six characters to populate her fictional coastal town, with the central relationship between Jane and Davey deliberately modelled on the unresolved sexual tension between Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in the classic 1949 film Adam’s Rib.

The series stars Claire Goose (Casualty, The Bill) as Jane Kennedy, a successful solicitor whose relationship breakdown prompts her to leave her established career and return to Lighthaven, the small Devon coastal town she left as a teenager. Taking up the newly available position of coroner, Jane becomes an advocate for the dead, investigating any sudden, violent, or unexplained deaths within the South Hams district of South Devon. This career change brings her back into contact with Detective Sergeant Davey Higgins (Matt Bardock, also from Casualty), her childhood sweetheart who broke her heart years earlier, creating an underlying romantic tension that permeates their professional collaboration throughout the series.

Abbott wrote the Davey character specifically with Matt Bardock in mind, and the chemistry between Goose and Bardock became central to the show’s appeal. Their dynamic—professional colleagues forced to work together despite unresolved feelings—provides emotional depth beyond the case-of-the-week format, with viewers drawn to watching whether these former sweethearts might eventually reconcile. The series deliberately avoids heavy relationship drama or grungy, jealous complications, instead maintaining a light, breezy tone that focuses primarily on the mysteries themselves and the charming setting rather than tortuous romantic entanglements.

Jane’s return to Lighthaven means significant lifestyle adjustments. She moves back with her teenage daughter Beth (Grace Hogg-Robinson) to live with her mother Judith (Beatie Edney), creating an intergenerational household dynamic that adds warmth and occasional comedy to the series. Judith’s boyfriend Mick Sturrock (Ivan Kaye) rounds out the family circle, whilst Coroner’s Officer Clint Holman (Oliver Gomm) provides professional support to Jane’s investigations. The show explores how three generations of women navigate life together, with Jane’s expression toward her mother resonating with viewers who recognised similar dynamics in their own families.

Each episode presents Jane investigating a new suspicious death, using her legal background and keen intelligence to uncover truths that initial appearances might obscure. The series has been compared to Midsomer Murders and other examples of “polite crime” popularised by Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, where death is handled “nicely” amongst socially respectable people in picturesque settings. One viewer aptly described Jane as “a latter day Sherlock Holmes,” working with her police counterpart to uncover the causes of deaths brought to her attention, with the added element of an almost-romantic connection that keeps audiences invested beyond the mysteries themselves.

The series’ visual appeal owes much to its stunning South Devon setting. Filming took place extensively in South Devon, with the production office based at Dartington where interior scenes were filmed. Filming began in mid-April 2015 and continued for fifteen weeks, capturing the beautiful coastal scenery, charming villages, and idyllic countryside that make the region so photogenic. The picture-postcard settings, combined with what appears to be perpetual summer sunshine, create an aspirational escapist quality that reviewers noted made viewers want to visit Britain, with the fictional Lighthaven representing an idealised version of English seaside life.

Interestingly, the BBC faced some controversy regarding the show’s similarities to author M.R. Hall’s “Jenny Cooper” novels, which also featured an unusually proactive, Land Rover-driving, forty-something female coroner who returns to the West Country after a failed relationship. Hall stated he was “unhappy” about the “enormous similarities” between his novels and The Coroner, though the BBC maintained any resemblance was purely coincidental. Hall’s own novels would later be adapted into a Canadian television series, Coroner (2019-2022), starring Serinda Swan, creating an interesting parallel development of similar source material into two distinct television properties.

Critical and audience reception was generally warm, with viewers praising the show’s light, entertaining nature and describing it as “a light, airy delicious fantasy, with attractive intelligent funny people in a beautiful setting.” Reviewers appreciated that the series avoided heavy, depressing relationship drama in favour of focusing on engaging mysteries and charming characters, creating what one fan called “a great little show just finding its feet in the second series” before cancellation. Another viewer, watching from Australia, praised the writing’s mixture of seriousness and light-hearted fun, the stunning scenery, and the inter-generational dynamics between Jane and her mother Judith.

Despite positive reception and viewers’ evident enjoyment—with many expressing hope for a third series—the BBC announced on 2 March 2017 that The Coroner had been cancelled after two series. This decision disappointed fans who felt the show was still developing its identity and finding its audience, with several reviewers specifically noting their confusion about the cancellation given the show’s quality and popularity. The series has continued to find audiences through repeats, streaming on Prime Video, and international broadcasts, including screenings in Australia that generated enthusiastic responses from viewers who discovered the show after its initial UK run.

The Coroner represents a particular strand of British daytime drama—accessible, warm-hearted, visually beautiful, and populated by likeable characters navigating both professional mysteries and personal relationships. Its ten-part first series structure allowed for satisfying case-of-the-week storytelling whilst gradually developing the central will-they-won’t-they dynamic between Jane and Davey. Though its run proved shorter than fans hoped, The Coroner remains a fondly remembered example of gentle British crime drama that prioritised charm, scenery, and character chemistry over darkness or complexity, offering viewers an escapist visit to an idealised Devon coastal town where even investigating death could feel like a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

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