5 shows that stir up tension

These thrilling, addictive series on Showmax are for those with nerves of steel and a few hours to kill – because you won’t be able to stop after just one episode.

1. HBO’s The Sopranos – full boxset

Tony Soprano is a mob boss. He took over from his uncle before him, who took over from Tony’s father before that. The family have their fingers in a lot of dirty pies, and they’ll do whatever it takes not to get caught. Tony has the legacy of his father to live up to, a nephew to mentor, a mistress to hide, a wife to keep in jewels, the Feds to evade, and a pair of kids to raise. Soon, the pressure gets too much, and Tony starts to see a shrink – something no Soprano has ever done before. Watch now »

2. HBO’s True Detective, Seasons 1-3

The grisly murder scenes and disturbing plotlines of True Detective are absolutely not for the faint-hearted. In Season 1, it’s 2012, and Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) are former detectives being separately investigated about their most famous case, when the gruesome murder of a prostitute led them to uncover an occult network of chilling proportions in 1995. In Season 2, a bizarre murder investigation brings together three law-enforcement officers and a career criminal, starring Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch. And Season 3, starring Mahershala Ali as a detective who, over the decades, remains obsessed with the one missing-children’s case he could never solve, is TV gold. Watch now »

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3. Harlots, S1-2 – FIRST on Showmax

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpE48eh59tI&t=33s

In 18th-Century London, sex is everywhere – but brothel owner Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton) wants to rise above her sordid situation and transplant her house and “her girls” to Greek Street in Soho, where her longtime rival Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville) runs a lavishly luxurious brothel, frequented by only by noblemen and the most esteemed gentlemen of London society. Quigley will do whatever it takes to keep Wells and her girls away, including some dirty dealings with the men of influence she keeps in her back pocket. Meanwhile, Wells’s beautiful daughters are destined to be signed over to become the property of wealthy lords, whether they want to be kept as their personal harlots or not. Watch now »

4. Ray Donovan, S1-6

As a fixer to LA’s most powerful, Ray Donovan’s actions have caught up with him, sending him to New York where he’s attempting to rebuild his shattered life. How did he get here? Binge-watch Seasons 1 to 5 on Showmax to recap. Watch now »

5. HBO’s Strike Back, Seasons 1-6

Based on the novel by real-life former SAS soldier Sam Ryan, this British spy adventure follows the military operatives in Section 20, a covert branch of the Defence Intelligence service. John Porter resigned from the SAS seven years ago, after an ill-fated operation in Iraq left two of his fellow soldiers dead at the hands of a teenaged insurgent – who Porter was supposed to have killed. It’s now 2010, and Porter has been called in to rescue a journalist kidnapped by a band of insurgents led by the same young boy, who has grown into an even more dangerous terrorist. Watch now »

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