One of the great things about watching a lot of cop shows on television is the endless variety of mechanisms used to set up key characters. Recently we’ve had…

The Island: female detective born on Harris returns there after several years serving with the police in central Scotland.

Shetland reboot: female detective born on Shetland returns there after several years serving with the Met in London.

Return to Paradise: female detective born in a small town in Australia returns there after several years serving with the Met in London.

Get Millie Black: female detective born in Jamaica returns there after several years serving with the Met in London.

The One That Got Away: female detective born in Pembroke returns there after several years serving with the police in Cardiff.

Borderline: female detective born in a small town in Ireland returns there after several years serving with the Gardi in Dublin. OK, she then has to deal with cross-border interactions reminiscent of The Bridge working with a male detective from the PSNI, but still.

Thank god for The Turkish Detective! Some variety at last!

The Turkish Detective: male(!) detective born in Istanbul returns there after several years serving with the Met in London. Oh well…