JuicyTalk
You probably haven’t heard of these ten thriller TV shows, but they are absolutely worth checking out. There have been some fantastic thrillers to come out in recent years. Absorbing, engrossing dramas that tell honest stories and keep you on the edge of your seat are always going to be welcome.
It’s almost a generic term, thriller, but there are some shows that adhere more strictly to the genre tenants, namely creating heightened feelings of suspense, anticipation, and excitement in the audience. It’s a loaded genre, which means plenty of 10/10 thrillers get bumped out of the spotlight but are no less worth watching.
Banshee (2013-2016)
Antony Starr plays Lucas Hood in Banshee, or at least a man pretending to be Lucas Hood. The show begins with an ex-con and master thief adopting the identity of the recently killed sheriff of Banshee, Pennsylvania. There, his past catches up with him in the form of a jilted Ukrainian crime boss.
It may not be the most original TV show ever, with a lot of focus on crime lords battling it out with one another, but the lurid violence and sex is exciting enough to make each episode feel fresh. The small town setting also allows you to get to know a very specific part of American life.
Line Of Duty (2012-2021)
The British police procedural Line of Duty is a six-season series following DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston), the newest member of the Anti-Corruption Unit 12 (AC-12), after spending a career as a counter-terrorism officer. DS Arnott teams with DC Kate Fleming (VIcky McClure) to root out police and internal corruption.
Line of Duty features some intense interrogation scenes that, while shocking, are also impressively staged and admirably focused, forcing the audience to sit in the anxiety for a whole episode at times. Every season also introduces a new guest lead, flavoring each season and making each stand out.
Criminal Record (2024-Present)
One of the newer Apple TV+ original TV shows, Criminal Record stars Peter Capaldi as DCI Daniel Hegarty and Cush Jumbo as DS June Lenker, two detectives who are drawn to an old murder case after receiving a phone call. The veteran Hegarty and fresh-faced but talented Jumbo inevitably have a clash of personality.
The series is just getting started and Criminal Record season 2 has been announced, a good thing for fans of solid thriller series. So far, Jumbo and Capaldi have proven to be an excellent pairing, bouncing off one another incredibly effectively. The mystery at the center of the story only gets more intriguing as it goes on.
Bodyguard (2018)
Richard Madden stars as PS David Budd in Bodyguard, a one-season series about a Scottish Afghanistan war veteran assigned to protect Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes), the Home Secretary and a Conservative Party Member of Parliament whose politics are in direct opposition to Budd’s own.
Budd has to manage his own personal grudge against Montague and keep her safe from a terrorist threat. The series takes a hard look at world politics, PTSD, terrorism, and government oversight. It’s a very tense series, building up the anticipation from episode to episode as Budd gets closer and closer to breaking.
The Capture (2019-Present)
The Capture is a two-season mystery thriller that stars Holliday Grainger as DI Rachel Carey, a fast-rising homicide detective who unravels a complex conspiracy regarding a former British army officer and a murder he’s suspected of committing. Season 2 sees Carey investigating another conspiracy with far-reaching implications.
Simply structured, The Capture is the type of thriller series to take all the classic tropes and elevate each one. It’s a nuanced and complex series that leaves you with a lot of questions about technology, right vs. wrong, and guilt, and it also offers an intriguing, exciting mystery while it does so.
Save Me (2018-2020)
In Save Me, Nelly Rowe (Lennie James) is a down-and-out lay about whose estranged daughter suddenly disappears. Nelly becomes determined to find his daughter, doing things he never would have thought himself capable of to get her back. Stephen Graham, Suranne Jones, and Jason Flemyng also star.
The series is filled with incredible performances, not least of which comes from James, who does some incredible work as a father who never would have guessed the lengths he’s willing to go for his family. The mystery at the center of Save Me is also appropriately engrossing and well worth the ride.
Guilt (2019-2023)
Guilt is Scottish mystery thriller that ran for three seasons and stars Mark Bonnar and Jamie Sives as Max and Jake McCall, two brothers who drive home from a wedding together late one evening and strike and kill an elderly man. The two decide to cover up the accident, which leads the pair into a web of lies and deceit.
This titillating tale has dazzling story flourishes, and draws you into its complex story with a plot that gets darker and darker the more you dig in, and Guilt is unafraid to dig in. The fantastic performances by the cast are excellent all the way until the season 3 finale, which is one of the strongest you’ll find in television.
The Bridge (2011-2018)
The Denmark-Swedish joint production tells a fittingly international story. The four season The Bridge begins with the discovery of a dead body at the center of a bridge that links Sweden and Denmark. Swedish detective Saga Norén and Danish detective Martin Rhode (Kim Bodnia) team up to solve the mystery.
The series is so popular that it spawned several foreign versions, with the events taking place across other notable borders. It’s an incredibly atmospheric series that uses both of its locations to maximum effect. Just as you are getting used to the characters, so too are they understanding their counterparts’ traditions and habits.
The Honourable Woman (2014)
The Honourable Woman is a British spy thriller miniseries that stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as Nessa Stein, an Anglo-Jewish businesswoman who is the head of her family’s profitable company and is also a life peer for her work in the Middle East peace process, which also affords her business lucrative opportunities.
It’s a wickedly smart thriller that ties together British and world politics with current events for something that has quite a bit to say about the global economy and the factors that influence it. Gyllenhaal holds the screen in maybe one of the best roles of her career, going from a sharp-tongued CEO to a conflicted operator moment to moment.
The Bureau (2015-2020)
The Bureau
- Release Date
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2015 – 2020-00-00
Mathieu Kassovitz
Malotru
Florence Loiret Caille
Marie-Jeanne Duthilleul
Jonathan Zaccaï
Raymond Sisteron
Sara Giraudeau
Marina Loiseau
The Bureau, or Le Bureau des Légendes as it is known in its home country, is a French espionage thriller revolving around the agents of France’s external security force. The “Bureau of Legends”, as it is known, is responsible for training and handling the deep-cover agents operating in North Africa and the Middle East.
This is an absolutely exquisite thriller series and would be ranked among the best shows ever if more people were made aware of it. It’s breathtaking, smart, rigorously crafted, and impressive with regard to the breadth of its storytelling. The Bureau tells multiple unbelievable stories while still staying grounded.
