Frank Columbo (Columbo) - occasional poor memory, cigars, bad driver, fondness for opera.

Jack Frost (A Touch of Frost) - dead wife.

George Smiley (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy & Smiley's People) - regularly unfaithful wife.

Gene Hunt (Ashes to Ashes & Life on Mars) - an extremely heavy and unsuitable beige camel coat, sexism.

Theo Kojak (Kojak) - lollipops, an over-reliance on catchphrases.

Fitz (Cracker) - alcohol reliance, obesity, chain-smoking, extremely sweary.

Morse (Inspector Morse) - girly first name, being middle class, misogyny, real ale.

Jim Bergerac (Bergerac) - alcoholism, divorce, gammy leg.

Jim Taggart (Taggart) - failing marriage, ridiculously Scottish.

Hamish Macbeth (Hamish Macbeth) - lazy, lacks ambition, bad with birds.

Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote) - widowed, no kids.

Thomas Magnum (Mangnum PI) - dead son, too American, too fond of wearing trunks.

Hercule Poirot (Poirot) - OCD, tache anxeity, infrequent sea sickness.

Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes) - eccentricity, anti-socialness, pipe smoking, silly hats, occasional dabblings into illegal drugs.

Tony Clark (Between The Lines) - regular extramarital affairs.

Jim Carver (The Bill) - alcoholism, failing marriage, spouse abusal, gambling.

Reg Hollis (The Bill) - longer, oddball, trainspotter, deep-rooted self-belief issues.

Robert Ironside (Ironside) - bad legs.

John Luther (Luther) - obsessive compulsive, over-emotional, seperated from hot wife.

Adrian Monk (Monk) - extreme OCD & phobias.

Dr Quincy (Quincy M.E) - dead wife, classic cars.

Vic Mackey (The Shield) - questionable morals, frequent affairs, autistic son.

Cedric Daniels (The Wire) - bulgy eyes, supreriors always being on his ass, occasionally unecessary shouting, failing marriage.

Jimmy McNulty (The Wire) - heavy drinker, shagger, occasionally lax with the parental duties, major struggles with authority.

* i'm aware that a couple of these are not actually detectives

feel free to add more...