Last updated March 2024
Want to watch sensational, universally adored Best tense Tv Shows? We compiled an expert list of 30 marvelous, must-see Best tense Tv Shows for your viewing pleasure. Critically celebrated by IMDB reviewers and widely loved by our own user community, these world-class titles earn top marks across the board. Help other fans discover hidden gems by voting for the titles you consider to be keepers. We appreciate your help highlighting elite content!
Breaking Bad (2008)
Plot Summary:
When Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live, he becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's financial future at any cost as he enters the dangerous world of drugs and crime
Duration: 3030 min
IMDB Rating: 9.5/10
IMDB Votes: 21000000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: criminal, cancer, peril, life turned upside down, drug dealing, drug cartel, unlikely partners, drug lord, master criminal, family problems, life is a bitch, drug, ambition, meth lab, desperation, double life, success, anti hero, hidden identity, lifestyle change, cartel, methamphetamine, chemistry, drug dealer, outlaw
Band of Brothers (2001)
Plot Summary:
Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as their journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men from paratrooper training in Georgia through the end of the war. As an elite rifle company parachuting into Normandy early on D-Day morning, participants in the Battle of the Bulge, and witness to the horrors of war, the men of Easy knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear - and became the stuff of legend. Based on Stephen E. Ambrose's acclaimed book of the same name
Duration: 594 min
IMDB Rating: 9.4/10
IMDB Votes: 508000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA
Plot tags: world war two, military, combat, war, soldier, battles, courage, american soldier, behind enemy lines, paratrooper, nazi germany, infantry, sniper, war violence, warrior, military life, shooting, patriotism, friendship, squad, army, battlefield, leader, u.s. army, human spirit
The Wire (2002)
Plot Summary:
Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated
Duration: 59 min
IMDB Rating: 9.3/10
IMDB Votes: 367000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: organized crime, corruption, police detective, police, urban ghetto life, life is a bitch, working undercover, fighting crime, drug dealing, surveillance, shooting, police investigation, gang, urban decay, drug lord, murder, cop, black, wiretap, team, politics, criminal, journalism, legal, dirty cop
Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1980's & 90's Bombay, Scam 1992 follows the life of Harshad Mehta - a stockbroker who single-handedly took the stock market to dizzying heights & his catastrophic downfall. Being directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Hansal Mehta, the series is based on journalist Debashis Basu & Sucheta Dalal's book "The Scam"
Duration: 54 min
IMDB Rating: 9.3/10
IMDB Votes: 154000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: India
Plot tags: finance, insider trading, financial crisis, stock exchange, stock broker, newspaper office, embezzler, caper, financier, cons and scams, money, con artists, criminal, deception, con trick, fraud, historical figure, escapades, financial problem, historical character, motivation, wall street, corruption, mission, innovation
Attack on Titan (2013)
Plot Summary:
Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by Titans. Titans are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest Titans. Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a Titan in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a Colossal Titan that appears out of thin air. As the smaller Titans flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single Titan and take revenge for all of mankind
Duration: 24 min
IMDB Rating: 9.1/10
IMDB Votes: 479000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Japan
Plot tags: giant, giant monster, life turned upside down, tragedy, friendship, transformation, danger, chaos and mayhem, direction and purpose, eaten alive, titan, death, friends, army, military, survival, extinction, rivalry, dystopia, destruction, life is a bitch, threat, against the odds, tragic event, fate of humanity
Better Call Saul (2015)
Plot Summary:
Six years before Saul Goodman meets Walter White. We meet him when the man who will become Saul Goodman is known as Jimmy McGill, a small-time lawyer searching for his destiny, and, more immediately, hustling to make ends meet. Working alongside, and, often, against Jimmy, is “fixer” Mike Erhmantraut. The series will track Jimmy's transformation into Saul Goodman, the man who puts “criminal” in “criminal lawyer"
Duration: 3154 min
IMDB Rating: 9.0/10
IMDB Votes: 620000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Plot tags: lawyer, workplace situations, legal, hotshot lawyer, criminal lawyer, family relations, dishonesty, dark humor, moral dilemma, anti hero, lawyer client relationship, cons and scams, organized crime, private investigator, drug cartel, psychosomatic illness, brother brother relationship, ambition, employer employee relationship, mental illness, drug trade, dysfunctional family, criminal underworld, foreshadowing, tragic hero
Persona (2018)
Plot Summary:
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a retired judicial officer decides to commit a murder that he had been planning for years
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 9.0/10
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Turkey
Plot tags: serial killer, investigation, rape, secret, police, death, journalist, anti hero, danger, alzheimer's disease, family relations, muslim, murder mystery, sister, life lesson, nordic, cognitive science, killer, police officer, cat, suicide, corruption, blood, flashback, dead body
Mahabharat (2013)
Plot Summary:
Mahabharat is a 2013 drama TV series on Star Plus based on Indian legendary epic of the same name. It has been produced by Swastik Pictures and features actors such as Saurabh Raj Jain as Lord Krishna, Shaheer Sheikh as Arjuna, Pooja Sharma as Draupadi, Aham Sharma as Karna and Arav Chowdhary as Bhishma Pitamah. The producers had creative associations with writer Salim Khan, author Devdutt Pattanaik, designer Bhanu Athaiya, music directors Ajay-Atul and Ismail Darbar, action director Ram Shetty and set designer Omang Kumar. The casting of the show is done by Sahil Ansari, Mahesh Chandra Bhatt, Arun Mitra. It started broadcasting on 16 September 2013
Duration: 20 min
IMDB Rating: 9.0/10
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: India
Plot tags: mythology, hinduism, king, female warrior, ambition, feud, revenge, betrayal, warrior, emperor, deception, dysfunctional family, vengeance, rivalry, greed, royalty, fight, hate, anger, palace, throne, secret, power struggle, showdown, uninhibited rivalry
Succession (2018)
Plot Summary:
The lives of the Roy family as they contemplate their future once their aging father begins to step back from the media and entertainment conglomerate they control
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.9/10
IMDB Votes: 248000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Plot tags: wealth, family business, business, dysfunctional family, patriarchy, betrayal, dysfunctional relationship, father son relationship, ceo, family drama, businessman, parents and children, rivalry, family relations, siblings, employee employee relationship, finance, inheritance, corporation, intrigue, heir, workplace intrigue, company, megacorporation, society
Peaky Blinders (2013)
Plot Summary:
A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world
Duration: 2109 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 621000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Plot tags: organized crime, gangster, gang, mafia, gang war, determination, cruelty, mob boss, power struggle, crime boss, rivalry, family relations, society, rise to the top, shooting, business venture, leader, killings, corruption, urban, world war one, brother brother relationship, criminal heroes, gypsy, fighting crime
Alchemy of Souls (2022)
Plot Summary:
A powerful sorceress in a blind woman's body encounters a man from a prestigious family, who wants her help to change his destiny
Duration: 80 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: martial arts, soul transference, magical power, sword and sorcery, destiny, secret, chinese mythology, female assassin, strong female lead, royalty, assassin, heroes, body swapping, asian, hidden identity, secret organization, nobility, elite, power struggle, body swap, love, supernatural, master warrior, wizard, zombie
The Boat (1985)
Plot Summary:
Life aboard a German U-Boat during World War II
Duration: 293 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: West Germany, France, UK, Italy
Plot tags: submarine, world war two, underwater, navy, sinking ship, battles, torpedo, military, survival, nazism, life is a bitch, confined, military life, boat, moving, cthulhu, kriegsmarine, world war, convoy, sea, war, ocean, profanity, anti war, escapades
Not Me (2021)
Plot Summary:
When his twin Black is was viciously attacked and subsequently left hospitalised, White is was unable to endure the harm done to his brother in silence. Knowing from his brother's mouth that it was one of Black's closest friends who betrayed him, White will disguises himself as Black to root out the traitor. Was it Sean who's so calm, serious and hard to read? Cheerful and friendly Graham? Or might it have been hot-blooded Yok who likes to fight?
Duration: 45 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Crime, Romance, Thriller
Country: Thailand
Plot tags: fight, brother brother relationship, life is a bitch, betrayal by friend, traitor, betrayal, family problems, gay, impersonation, fight for justice, hidden identity, social inequality, friendship, love, revenge, gang, violence, gay love, politics, graffiti, transsexual, gay relationship, homosexual love, twin brother, male protagonist
It's a Sin (2021)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of four friends during a decade in which everything changed, including the rise of AIDS
Duration: 239 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, History
Country: UK
Plot tags: lgbt, gay, aids, lgbtq, gay relationship, gay sex, gay interest, hiv, adolescence vs adulthood, sexual relations, friendship, grownups, lgbtqi, youth, society, male female relationship, adulthood, lifestyle, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, one night stand, social relations, teenager, lesbian, doctor, news
Primal (2019)
Plot Summary:
A caveman forms a bond with a dinosaur as they struggle to survive in a hostile world
Duration: 22 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA, France
Plot tags: dinosaur, caveman, survival, violence, danger, hunter, barbarian, gore, eaten alive, revenge, life is a bitch, unlikely friendships, survivalist, sword and sorcery, extreme violence, decapitation, violent, wound, one man army, wounded, trauma, anti hero, fantasy world, hunting, predator
Ezel (2009)
Plot Summary:
Ömer, a young man returning from military service, is set up by his friends and fiancé and ends up in prison for ten years. He fakes his own death and manages to escape. He re-creates himself as ‘Ezel’, a high-end gambler who is outwardly a successful man, but inwardly driven by one thing - his determination to understand why the people he loved betrayed him, and take his revenge
Duration: 90 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Turkey
Plot tags: tragic love, warden, mafia, intrigue, vengeance, manipulation, ex convict, hidden identity, tragic hero, betrayal, murder, seduction, life is a bitch, organized crime, frame up, rivalry, disorder, false arrest, trial, regret, prison, muslim, kurd, love, heroes
Severance (2022)
Plot Summary:
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs
Duration: 55 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 181000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: office, memory, distopia, alternate world, office politics, secret identity, conspiracy, mind control, private vs public, office worker, psycho, surgery, coworker, dark secret, surgical operation, coworker relationship, personal safety, satire, apocalypse, robot, post apocalypse, hunting, writers, human experiment, disaster
Homicide: Life on the Street (1993)
Plot Summary:
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de facto series finale. The series was originally based on David Simon's book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Many of the characters and stories used throughout the show were based on events depicted in the book, which was also part of the basis for Simon's own series, The Wire on HBO. Although Homicide featured an ensemble cast, Andre Braugher emerged as the series' breakout star through his portrayal of Frank Pembleton. The show won Television Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Drama in 1996, 1997, and 1998. It also became the first drama ever to win three Peabody Awards for best drama in 1993, 1995, and 1997. In 1997, the episode "Prison Riot" was ranked No. 32 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2007, it was listed as one of Time magazine's "Best TV Shows of All-TIME." In 1996 TV Guide named the series 'The Best Show You're Not Watching'. The show placed #46 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: police detective, police, murder, justice, homicide detective, cop, police protagonist, team, fighting crime, police investigation, fbi, african american, workplace, partners against crime, tough law enforcer, police officer, police procedural, investigation, die hard, swat team, serial killer, legal, punishment, black, law and order
Invincible (2021)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of the American Comic Book of the same name by Robert Kirkman
Duration: 50 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 182000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: teen superhero, superhero, teenager, super villain, heroes, gore, violence, blood, invulnerability, superpower, warrior, courage, heroism, vengeance, society, secret identity, villain, combat, revenge, escapades, rivalry, extraterrestrial, mission, race against time, monster
Line of Duty (2012)
Plot Summary:
Steve Arnott is a young officer who’s fallen foul of his superiors for refusing to help in the cover-up of an operation that ended in the shooting of an innocent father. He seems ideal to join AC-12, an anti-corruption police unit, just as it starts to investigate Detective Chief Inspector Tony Gates, the regional force’s Officer of the Year
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Plot tags: police corruption, honest law enforcer, corruption, female police detective, dirty cop, police detective, police, british police, policewoman, twists and turns, law enforcement, law enforcer, police procedural, secret, evidence, corrupt law enforcer, right and wrong, interrogation, police officer, officer, dishonesty, squad, investigation, internal affairs, murder mystery
Yellowstone (2018)
Plot Summary:
Follow the violent world of the Dutton family, who controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States. Led by their patriarch John Dutton, the family defends their property against constant attack by land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first National Park
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 199000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Plot tags: ranch, family business, family relations, cowboy, rivalry, death, cattle ranch, society, old west, dishonesty, violence, killings, small town, dishonor among criminals, gunfight, sheriff, boss, shooting, greed, lifestyle, racial slur, small town life, tough guy, hunting, criminal
Dexter (2006)
Plot Summary:
Dexter is an American television drama series. The series centers on Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for 'Miami Metro Police Department' who also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have slipped through the cracks of justice
Duration: 5076 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 753000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: serial killer, crime investigation, right and wrong, hidden identity, double life, gory, vigilantism, anti hero, serial murder, loner, police station, dark humor, murder, dark secret, corpse, killings, expert, forensics, secret life, psycho, murder investigation, police detective, blood splatter, law enforcement, police department
Mouse (2021)
Plot Summary:
A psychopath’s ruthless serial murders have left the entire nation gripped with fear and chaos. A honest and justice-seeking rookie police officer and a veteran detective with tragic past, face against the killer. After the encounter with the psychopath, their lives totally change
Duration: 80 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: investigation, serial killer, murder, serial murder, murder mystery, psycho killer, psychopath, murder investigation, police officer, homicide detective, killings, homicidal maniac, criminal, crime investigation, dna, killing spree, secret, police investigation, fighting crime, crime solving, police partner, teamwork, unsolved crime, partner, cold case
Six Feet Under (2001)
Plot Summary:
A darkly comic look at members of a dysfunctional L.A. family that run a funeral business. When death is your business, what is your life? For the Fisher family, the world outside of their family-owned funeral home continues to be at least as challenging as--and far less predictable than--the one inside
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 145000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Plot tags: funeral home, gay, dealing with death, gays and lesbians, dark humor, dysfunctional family, sibling relationship, depression, hopes, lgbt, self discovery, death, life changing experience, workplace problem, suburbs, family drama, lgbtq, lie, couples, grief, gender, women, mental illness, life changing, belief
The Bureau (2015)
Plot Summary:
Within the DGSE (General Directorate for External Security), a department called the Office Of Legends (BDL) forms and remote pilot the most important agents of the French intelligence services: Clandestine. Immersion in hostile country, their mission is to identify individuals who may be recruited as sources of information. Operating "under caption", that is to say in a fabricated identity from scratch, they live for many years in a permanent duplicity. Our hero just returned from a clandestine mission six years in Damascus. But contrary to what is required by safety rules, he does not abandon his legend and the identity under which he lived in Syria, thus putting in danger the whole system
Duration: 52 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Plot tags: spy, espionage, undercover agent, terrorism, secret service, investigation, danger, national security, characters in danger, twists and turns, secret identity, mission, obsession, cia, military, mentally unstable, pow, paranoia, uncover truth, middle east conflict, intelligence, parents, reconnaissance, female nudity, hostage
The Shield (2002)
Plot Summary:
The story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact
Duration: 47 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: law enforcement, police corruption, police detective, corrupt cop, dirty cop, cop, police brutality, cruelty, dishonesty, murder, tough law enforcer, peril, victim, machismo, corrupt law enforcer, crime investigation, police, racism, honest law enforcer, police protagonist, investigator, officer, policewoman, robbery, partner
The Boys (2019)
Plot Summary:
A group of vigilantes known informally as “The Boys” set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 611000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Plot tags: superhero, murder, society, dark humor, super speed, vengeance, superhuman, superhero team, gore, superheroine, corruption, supernatural power, rivalry, investigation, blood, violence, super powers, revenge, brutality, nudity, supernatural, sex scene, corporation, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, name calling
Wentworth (2013)
Plot Summary:
Bea Smith is locked up while awaiting trial for the attempted murder of her husband and must learn how life works in prison. A modern adaptation and sequel of the iconic Prisoner series
Duration: 45 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Australia
Plot tags: prison, lesbian, women in prison, prison life, women's prison, power struggle, protest, lesbian relationship, life is a bitch, danger, government facility, survival, sadism, convict, lgbtq, warden, female prisoner, lawyer, lgbt, smuggling, racial issues, anti hero, confined, blood, arrest
Boardwalk Empire (2010)
Plot Summary:
Boardwalk Empire is a period drama focusing on Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based on the historical Enoch L. Johnson), a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition period of the 1920s and 1930s. Nucky interacts with several historical figures in both his personal and political life, including mobsters, politicians, government agents, and the common folk who look up to him. The federal government also takes an interest in the bootlegging and other illegal activities in the area, sending agents to investigate possible mob connections but also looking at Nucky's lifestyle—expensive and lavish for a county political figure. Primetime Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer Terence Winter adapted the show from Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, a book by Nelson Johnson about historical criminal kingpin Enoch L. Johnson
Duration: 55 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 200000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Plot tags: mafia, gangster, mob boss, organized crime, prohibition, criminal heroes, corruption, politician, female nudity, american history, smuggling, businessman, crime boss, ambitious, elimination, strong sexual content, mobster, federal agent, politics, election, rivalry, society, ambition, power struggle, mayor
The Bridge (2011)
Plot Summary:
When a body is found on the bridge between Denmark and Sweden, right on the border, Danish inspector Martin Rohde and Swedish Saga Norén have to share jurisdiction and work together to find the killer
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Norway
Plot tags: serial killer, multiple suspects, police investigation, murder, police detective, cop, twists and turns, mind game, partners against crime, murder investigation, murderer, videotaping, police, riddles and clues, forensics, suspicion, female protagonist, policewoman, disguise, surprising revelation, rivalry, victim, heroine, determination, killings