All are good shows. The new season of The Fall has been my most anticipated since the end of the last one. More so than Banshee, Walking Dead, Black Sails, Penny Dreadful and more.

I watched 3 British/Irish shows last year, The Fall, Happy Valley and Broadchurch, all excellent. They were on Netflix

I was too young to find Juliet Bravo interesting.
The Bill is still the top cop show for realism and the nearest to Southland.

(cough My suggestion, Juliet Bravo, was quite realistic too. As was The Cops)

This is the Southland message board. If you are looking for a show close to Southland but set in the UK, you should check out the show called "The Bill".
Like Southland it shows the work of both the Uniformed Police and the Detectives. The stories are all realistic everyday type of scenarios the British police encounter.
The shows being suggested to you in this thread are the equivalent of the X-Files in terms of reality.
Southland was good because of it's realism and honesty. The only British Cop show like it is "The Bill".

Southland was very good and I didn't watch too many police shows. Last year we got Netflix and I went on a British/Irish binge. Highly recommend The Fall, Happy Valley and Broadchurch.

1. Amnesia
2. Collision
3. Copper
4. DCI Banks
5. The Escape Artist
6. Frost
7. Messiah (Ken Stotts)
8. Ripper Street
9. Thorne: Sleepyhead
10. Blackpool is another British series that is done very differently. It is a murder mystery musicallol in every episode one or some of the characters breaks into song. It sounds strange but they pulled it off wonderfully.
    I am not sure if Crossing Lines is an American show or from somewhere else but it involves an international group of detectives working together.
    Also I would recommend the Swedish version of The Bridge.
    I have watched most of the British shows recommended by others that answered your question and I liked them all.
    Another British show is called Silk. It isn't about Police but about people trying to rise through the ranks of the court system and the cases they try.

Ripper Street is awesome. The first episode focuses on a modern-day Jack the Ripper, to draw us in, but after that it's normal cop stuff and it is excellent. First-rate.
I heard Whitechapel is good but I have only just started it.

Lucky bugger lol

I loved The Cops and went on a few dates with a (female) cast memeber! No names, no pack drillthey were filming near me and I just went for it.
Happy Valley is staggeringly good, enough said.
I'm a Prick With a Fork.

You could also try The Cops if you can find it! 3 series very similar to Southland but set in Manchester. It was done late 90's I think.

You should check out Happy Valley on Netflix.

Can I recommend one from the other end of the scale - Juliet Bravo?
It's a low budget, homely drama about a small rural police station in the North of England. The unique selling point was that the new boss wasgaspa woman! This was a big deal in the late Seventies. How would the men react?
As a former police officer myself, Juliet Bravo appealed to me as a realistic, downbeat portrayal of a backwater police station - very similar to one I used to work at. It follows the fortunes of enthusiastic young officers and the seasoned old Sergeant, Joe Beck, an immensely likeable character.
After Southland, The Wire etc, Juliet Bravo will be a culture shock for American viewers - but if you want something different and uniquely British, give it a look.
Awight we're The Daamned we're a punk baand and this is called Carn't Be Appy T'day!

Luther and The Shadow Line.
Trust me.

I take back what I said. In the US, a "bag man" always refers to a flunky for a criminal boss. However, I just watched an episode of
The Sweeney
in which someone refers to Carter as Regan's bag man. Apparently, in the UK the term doesn't have the exclusively criminal connotation it does here.

A "bag man" is someone who makes the rounds, picking up illegally obtained moneye.g., protection money, gambling receipts, etc. Unless you're trying to imply that Morse and Lewis were bent cops [they weren't], you should find another term.

I tend to watch more British crime dramas than American ones, more depth and more cerebral.
I second these
I agree about "The Fall", it starts slow but grabbed me. Gillian Anderson is ok, but Jamie Dornan is scary, what an outstanding young actor. A series 2 is being filmed. It's set in Northern Ireland where the cops carry guns.
Prime Suspect - Helen Mirren owns the "Jane Tennison" character, no one could ever play the part as well. A great series.
Foyle's War - set in Hastings, England during WWII then changes to London and MI-5 post War.
Morse and the two spin offs; Inspector Lewis and Endeavour - set in Oxford, England (think Oxford University) Inspector Lewis - when Morse died his bag man (sergeant) got promoted to inspector and a new series began Endeavor- new series about Morse when he started as a detective in 1960s Oxford.
Case Histories - two series only, should have been renewed - stars Jason Issacs
55 Degrees North
Pie in the Sky

I forgot to mention The Fall, starring Gillian Anderson. Very creepy!

Scott & Bailey
Vera
Inspector Morse
Endeavour (Inspector Morse as a young detective)
Midsomer Murders
Blue Murder
Prey

Good to hear that some Americans are able to get their hands on British shows. Whatever you do, do not miss Line Of Duty. Series 1 is excellent. Series 2 stunning.

Loved Wire in the Blood. Robson Green was also good in Touching Evil.
LIFE ON MARS!! Great Series! US tried making a go of Life on Mars here in US but it bombed. UK's is awesome.
MI-5 isn't about cops but about Agents with the British intelligence agency. Think Bond but more believable. Blue Murder with Caroline Quentin was also a good watch. My family and I have been working our way through British titles via our NF subscription. We're a we bit obsessed with Brit TV. As someone else mentioned PRIME SUPECT, CRACKER. Both are GREAT shows. Luther is pretty good so far, we've only seen through season 2. Problem with British shows is you never know how many "series"(seasons) your going to get. Some shows even when they do really well get canned much like many US show I guess. Just sucks because you have to wait a year or more to get a Brit show on dvd here in US. They often go a year or more without any new episodes. So sometimes we(American's) go 2-3yrs between seasons. Just when you think you've heard the last of a Series you get news they are making a new set of episodes. I've listed a lot, but could list another 20+. Great Britain is known for their mysteries. If you've never seen the show "Sherlock" with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman I highly recommend it.
Foyle's War
Murphy's Law
Inspector Lewis
George Gently
Inspector Lynley
New Tricks
Waking the Dead
Murdoch Mysteries(Canadian but entertaining)

Luther.
He's like an idiot savant, minus the savant. - Tom Servo

Thanks, Zerose! I just got into a British anthology show about man and technology called "Black Mirror." I'm also checking out Sets 1-4 of "Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected" from the 70s.
I'm going to look up the shows you rec'd!

Luther - Idris Elba as a maverick detective
The Shadow Line - Chiwetel Ejiofor (the leading actor from 12 Years a Slave) as a detective who suffers memory loss after being shot and has to investigate to find out why he was shot
Messiah
Cracker
Line of Duty
Prime Suspect
Broadchurch
Case Histories
Something little different:
Ultraviolet - a cops versus vampires drama series from the 1990s, but really good. Only six episodes, but completed.
Life on Mars - a detective from the 2000s wakes up in the 1970s as a detective
Hustle - a team of hustlers do good deeds
Ripper Street - a historical cop drama
Whitechapel - a present-day drama revolves around historical crimes