10 Amazing TV Action Set-Pieces That Rivalled Cinema
6. Deadwood - Dan Dority Vs Captain Turner
Deadwood is a respected purveyor of the TV Golden Age, and while big action set-pieces weren't really its mandate this unforgettable showdown deserves top honours.
After a slow-burn tension brewing between Deadwood's power-players Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) and George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), their subtle game of cat-and-mouse comes to a violent head as each man sends their top muscle against each other.
It starts as standard fist-a-cuffs with Swearengen's man Dority (W. Earl Brown) the weaker in the fight and on the receiving end of a tough beating. Things take a sharp and repulsive turn though as Dority proves he’s a true survivor when pressed to the wall.
Sure, it lacked the flasher budget and extravagance of most modern TV action scenes, yet it was an iconic fight where every punch was felt, every dirty play experienced and concluded in an aftermath that etched itself in viewer's memory for years to come.