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Best Thriller TV Series of the 1980s

138 Thriller series that started in the 1980s, ranked by popularity

All Thriller series All series from the 1980s
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Rating patterns, computed from IMDb episode-rating trajectories. Deliberately strict: only shows with an unmistakable pattern carry one, so expect small numbers.

Rating patterns

Taste tags, judged by our AI taste model. They cover the 5,000 most-rated shows.

Tone & mood
Pacing & structure
Humor style
Themes & subject matter
Characters & perspective
Emotional payoff
Craft & style
Format & audience
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Intensity & content character
138 series

Liebling Kreuzberg

★ 7.2
249 58 1986–1998
Comedy · Drama · Thriller

The Nightmare Man

★ 6.7
244 4 1981–1981
Horror · Sci-Fi · Thriller

The Glory Boys

★ 6.0
209 3 1984–1984
Thriller

Ohara

★ 6.9
206 30 1987–1988
Crime · Drama · Thriller

El extraño retorno de Diana Salazar

★ 8.4
200 200 1988–1989
Drama · Romance · Thriller

Ta den ring

★ 6.3
197 3 1982–1982
Mystery · Sci-Fi · Thriller

Children of the Dog Star

★ 7.0
187 6 1984–1984
Sci-Fi · Thriller

Unsub

★ 8.1
184 8 1989–1989
Mystery · Thriller

Bird of Prey

★ 8.3
182 4 1982–present
Thriller

Condominium

★ 6.2
182 2 1980–1980
Action · Drama · Thriller

Masquerade

★ 6.7
182 13 1983–1984
Adventure · Thriller

The One Game

★ 7.3
173 4 1988–1988
Thriller

Nutcracker: Money, Madness & Murder

★ 7.6
154 3 1987–1987
Drama · Thriller

Brigada Central

★ 7.0
145 26 1989–1993
Crime · Drama · Thriller

Doubletake

★ 6.5
142 2 1985–1985
Drama · Thriller

Nepokoreni Grad

★ 7.9
142 14 1981–1982
Drama · History · Thriller

Polisen som vägrade ta semester

★ 6.7
132 4 1988–1988
Thriller

Codename: Kyril

★ 7.0
126 4 1988–1988
Drama · Thriller

El maleficio

★ 8.2
126 320 1983–1984
Horror · Mystery · Thriller

Peter Strohm

★ 6.7
115 63 1989–1996
Crime · Thriller

Escape Night

★ 5.1
105 16 1989–1989
Drama · Thriller

Charters & Caldicott

★ 8.2
104 6 1985–1985
Comedy · Drama · Thriller

Act of Betrayal

★ 7.8
97 2 1988–1988
Drama · Thriller

Frederick Forsyth Presents

★ 6.2
95 6 1989–present
Action · Thriller
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