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* ''Series/CarnivalRow'': Absalom Breakspear tries to beat Ritter Longerbane into giving up Jonah's location, since he's sure Longerbane is behind kidnapping him. He's innocent however, so this doesn't work. Piety Breakspear poisons Longerbane, then claims he'd told her the location before he died, because she's the one who had ''really'' gotten Jonah abducted.
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** They love smashing this trope on this show. The episode "Friends Like These" gives us the quote "Torture just gets you the fastest lie to make the pain stop," after Barry suggested Michael and Sam use a car battery on a bad guy.
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** They love smashing this trope on this show. The episode "Friends Like These" gives us the quote "Torture just gets you the fastest lie to make the pain stop," after Barry suggested Michael and Sam use a car battery on a bad guy. Granted, they've never hesitated to threaten or imply torture, usually as an added incentive on an already cracking target and letting their imagination do the job for them.
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* An early episode of ''Series/AgentCarter'' had Agent Thompson using this on a Roxxon inside man in an example of DeliberateValuesDissonance, thankfully the same method was not used when Peggy herself was interrogated later in the season.
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* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': {{Discussed}} when Hughie suggests to Butcher that they get information from Translucent. Butcher dismisses the idea, noting it took six months of waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Muhammed for him to talk (and only once, after ''183 sessions''), and they don't have that time.
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* Jack Bauer's predecessor was Madeline in the TV version of ''Series/LaFemmeNikita''. Created years earlier by ''Series/TwentyFour'' producers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, ''Nikita'' featured the world-class "Torture Twins" and their employer Madeline... who was revealed in one episode as being better at torture than they were. Yeah, [[DebateAndSwitch these were the good guys, too]] - although this question presented a theme throughout the show: ''How much evil can you do and still remain "good"?'' In one episode, for example, they were shown tormenting one of their own agents ''just because 'he made a mistake''' - he went AWOL and told someone about his double life as an agent of Section One. As always, this method was shown to be [[TortureAlwaysWorks hideously effective]].
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* Jack Bauer's predecessor was Madeline in the TV version of ''Series/LaFemmeNikita''. Created years earlier by ''Series/TwentyFour'' producers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, ''Nikita'' featured the world-class "Torture Twins" and their employer Madeline... who was revealed in one episode as being better at torture than they were. Yeah, [[DebateAndSwitch these were the good guys, too]] - although this question presented a theme throughout the show: ''How much evil can you do and still remain "good"?'' In one episode, for example, they were shown tormenting one of their own agents ''just because 'he made a mistake''' - he went AWOL and told someone about his double life as an agent of Section One. As always, this method was shown to be [[TortureAlwaysWorks hideously effective]].
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* On ''Series/NCISNewOrleans'', Dwayne Pride doesn't like using this technique as he usually likes to appeal to people's better natures, either through kindness or guilt tripping. [[LetsGetDangerous Unless he becomes convinced]][[PayEvilUntoEvil you don't ''have'' a better nature...]][[spoiler: and you might end up shot, kidnapped, and chained up inside of an abandoned church that's about to be flooded]].
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* On ''Series/NCISNewOrleans'', Dwayne Pride doesn't like using this technique as he usually likes to appeal to people's better natures, either through kindness or guilt tripping. [[LetsGetDangerous Unless he becomes convinced]][[PayEvilUntoEvil convinced]] [[PayEvilUntoEvil you don't ''have'' HAVE a better nature...]][[spoiler: and you might end up shot, kidnapped, and chained up inside of an abandoned church that's about to be flooded]].
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* On ''Series/NCISNewOrleans'', Dwayne Pride doesn't like using this technique as he usually likes to appeal to people's better natures, either through kindness or guilt tripping. [[LetsGetDangerous Unless he becomes convinced]][[PayEvilUntoEvil you don't ''have'' a better nature...]][[spoiler: and you might end up shot, kidnapped, and chained up inside of an abandoned church that's about to be flooded]].
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* A similar justification to the ''Buffy'' example above is used on ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' to the point that the girls casually discuss later plans to stun demons rather than killing them explicitly so they can be tortured for information.
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* A similar justification to the ''Buffy'' example above is used on ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' to the point that the girls casually discuss later plans to stun demons rather than killing them explicitly so they can be tortured for information.
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** Also used in the [[Series/LifeOnMars2006 UK original]]'s spinoff, ''Series/AshesToAshes'', involving a naked suspect and a pool table. You have three seconds to work out what it entails, and any guesses after the first don't count. Starting now.
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** Also used in the [[Series/LifeOnMars2006 UK original]]'s spinoff, ''Series/AshesToAshes'', ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'', involving a naked suspect and a pool table. You have three seconds to work out what it entails, and any guesses after the first don't count. Starting now.
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'''Darvin:''' I have nothing to say. ''(Kirk holds two tribbles towards him)'' All right, I did it, I poisoned the grain! Take them away!\\
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'''Darvin:''' I have nothing to say. ''(Kirk holds two tribbles towards him)'' All right, I did it, I poisoned the grain! Take them away!\\away!
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': What unbearable torture will make a Klingon perp talk? ''Tribbles!''
-->'''Kirk:''' Mr. Darvin, you want to talk?
-->'''Darvin:''' I have nothing to say. ''(Kirk holds two tribbles towards him)'' All right, I did it, I poisoned the grain! Take them away!
-->'''Kirk:''' Mr. Darvin, you want to talk?
-->'''Darvin:''' I have nothing to say. ''(Kirk holds two tribbles towards him)'' All right, I did it, I poisoned the grain! Take them away!
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': What unbearable torture will make a Klingon perp talk? ''Tribbles!''
''Tribbles!''[[note]]Though, to be fair, Klingons and Tribbles have a hate/hate relationship. Tribbles screech in the presence of Klingons, and Klingons ''hate'' that screeching.[[/note]]
-->'''Kirk:''' Mr. Darvin, you want totalk?
-->'''Darvin:'''talk?\\
'''Darvin:''' I have nothing to say. ''(Kirk holds two tribbles towards him)'' All right, I did it, I poisoned the grain! Take themaway!away!\\
-->'''Kirk:''' Mr. Darvin, you want to
-->'''Darvin:'''
'''Darvin:''' I have nothing to say. ''(Kirk holds two tribbles towards him)'' All right, I did it, I poisoned the grain! Take them
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* ''Series/TheGifted'': After John is captured by the Purifiers, they start torturing him for information. Still, Jace keeps them from bringing out the ''power tools'', sticking with loud rock music over headphones (as John has very sensitive hearing).
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* [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Hilariously parodied]] in ''Series/PowerRangersSPD''. There's an enemy that will withstand practically ''anything'' the Rangers try to get him to talk... until they lock him in a room with their SPD Green Ranger, local {{psychic|Powers}} CloudCuckooLander Bridge. In less than ten minutes, the prisoner is [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment pleading to have Bridge away from him]].
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* [[CrowningMomentOfFunny [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Hilariously parodied]] in ''Series/PowerRangersSPD''. There's an enemy that will withstand practically ''anything'' the Rangers try to get him to talk... until they lock him in a room with their SPD Green Ranger, local {{psychic|Powers}} CloudCuckooLander Bridge. In less than ten minutes, the prisoner is [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment pleading to have Bridge away from him]].
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* ''{{Series/Camelot}}'': Arthur tortures an injured enemy soldier after they capture him to reveal that Morgan is the one who hired the mercenaries whom he's with.
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* In one episode of ''Series/NUMB3RS'', in order to find the location of the woman who had kidnapped Megan, Don leaves [[ColdSniper Ian Edgerton]] alone with a suspect (the kidnapper's partner) for several minutes with the blinds drawn. He comes out several minutes later and announces that the suspect gave up a location. (It should be noted that this was not used to build a case at all.)
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* In one episode of ''Series/NUMB3RS'', ''Series/NUMB3RS'': ''Two Daughters'', in order to find the location of the woman who had kidnapped Megan, Don leaves [[ColdSniper Ian Edgerton]] alone with a suspect (the kidnapper's partner) for several minutes with the blinds drawn. He comes out several minutes later and announces that the suspect gave up a location. (It should be noted that this was not used to build a case at all.all, but it's still the kind of thing that could get them in ''serious'' trouble if the higher-ups ever found out about it.)
** Colby later threatens to do this to a subject in ''The Fifth Man'', and has to be pulled off by David. Particularly noteworthy since Colby was the one who tried to talk Don ''out'' of the earlier example. (Admittedly, it's never quite made clear if he actually intended to ''do'' what he threatened or if he's just hoping to persuade the suspect with the threat itself.)
** Colby later threatens to do this to a subject in ''The Fifth Man'', and has to be pulled off by David. Particularly noteworthy since Colby was the one who tried to talk Don ''out'' of the earlier example. (Admittedly, it's never quite made clear if he actually intended to ''do'' what he threatened or if he's just hoping to persuade the suspect with the threat itself.)
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* Don used this in one episode of ''Series/NUMB3RS'' to find the location of the woman who had kidnapped Megan. It should be noted that this was not used to build a case at all.
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* Don used this in In one episode of ''Series/NUMB3RS'' ''Series/NUMB3RS'', in order to find the location of the woman who had kidnapped Megan. It Megan, Don leaves [[ColdSniper Ian Edgerton]] alone with a suspect (the kidnapper's partner) for several minutes with the blinds drawn. He comes out several minutes later and announces that the suspect gave up a location. (It should be noted that this was not used to build a case at all.)
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the ''Unification'' episode, an irritated Riker promises an obnoxious Ferengi Trader Prince that, if he doesn't cooperate, he's going to have him arrested and his assets confiscated, ''after'' he beats the living crap out of him right then and there. [[OhCrap The terrified Ferengi]] starts to see things his way very quickly and [[StoolPigeon blabs everything he knows.]]
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the ''Unification'' episode, an irritated Riker promises an obnoxious Ferengi Trader Prince that, if he doesn't cooperate, he's going to have him arrested and his assets confiscated, ''after'' he beats the living crap out of him right then and there. [[OhCrap The terrified Ferengi]] starts to see things his way very quickly and [[StoolPigeon [[TheStoolPigeon blabs everything he knows.]]
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the ''Unification'' episode, an irritated Riker promises an obnoxious Ferengi Trader Prince that, if he doesn't cooperate, he's going to have him arrested and his assets confiscated, ''after'' he beats the living crap out of him right then and there. [[OhCrap The terrified Ferengi starts to sees things his way very quickly.]]
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the ''Unification'' episode, an irritated Riker promises an obnoxious Ferengi Trader Prince that, if he doesn't cooperate, he's going to have him arrested and his assets confiscated, ''after'' he beats the living crap out of him right then and there. [[OhCrap The terrified Ferengi Ferengi]] starts to sees see things his way very quickly.quickly and [[StoolPigeon blabs everything he knows.]]
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the ''Unification'' episode, an irritated Riker promises an obnoxious Ferengi Trader Prince that, if he doesn't cooperate, he's going to have him arrested, his assets confiscated, ''after'' he beats the living crap out of him. The terrified Ferengi starts to sees things his way quickly.
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the ''Unification'' episode, an irritated Riker promises an obnoxious Ferengi Trader Prince that, if he doesn't cooperate, he's going to have him arrested, arrested and his assets confiscated, ''after'' he beats the living crap out of him. him right then and there. [[OhCrap The terrified Ferengi starts to sees things his way very quickly.]]
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the ''Unification'' episode, an irritated Riker promises an obnoxious Ferengi Trader Prince that, if he doesn't cooperate, he's going to have him arrested, his assets confiscated, ''after'' he beats the living crap out of him. The terrified Ferengi starts to sees things his way quickly.
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avert word cruft
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** Averted hard in "The Time Warrior," in which a Sontaran named Linx crashed to Earth in the Middle Ages and found himself a guest at the evil Irongron's stolen castle. At one point, Irongron's men had captured an enemy spy, and were about to torture him for information. Linx simply produced a little wand from his holster and shined a light in front of the man's eyes. "I have unlocked his mind," the alien crowed proudly. Sure enough, his captive sang like a canary without even knowing it.
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** Averted hard in "The Time Warrior," in which a Sontaran named Linx crashed to Earth in the Middle Ages and found himself a guest at the evil Irongron's stolen castle. At one point, Irongron's men had captured an enemy spy, and were about to torture him for information. Linx simply produced a little wand from his holster and shined a light in front of the man's eyes. "I have unlocked his mind," the alien crowed proudly. Sure enough, his captive sang like a canary without even knowing it.
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* Somewhat subverted in at least one episode of ''{{Spooks}}''. The spies are presented with a ticking time bomb scenario and they've managed to find one of the gang responsible. Pearce, their commander, tells them that "under no circumstances whatsoever are you allowed to use torture to find out the location" (wink wink). Adam Carter, the guy who literally wrote the book on how to survive torture, acknowledges that it's going to be useless trying to torture him as he's an ex spy and would have received training in how to hold out against pain. Instead, they use a variety of "soft" techniques to get him to tell them the location.
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* Somewhat subverted in at least one episode of ''{{Spooks}}''.''Series/{{Spooks}}''. The spies are presented with a ticking time bomb scenario and they've managed to find one of the gang responsible. Pearce, their commander, tells them that "under no circumstances whatsoever are you allowed to use torture to find out the location" (wink wink). Adam Carter, the guy who literally wrote the book on how to survive torture, acknowledges that it's going to be useless trying to torture him as he's an ex spy and would have received training in how to hold out against pain. Instead, they use a variety of "soft" techniques to get him to tell them the location.
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** Averted hard in "The Time Warrior," in which a Sontaran named Linx crashed to Earth in the Middle Ages and found himself a guest at the evil Irongron's stolen castle. At one point, Irongron's men had captured an enemy spy, and were about to torture him for information. Linx simply produced a little wand from his holster and shined a light in front of the man's eyes. "I have unlocked his mind," the alien crowed proudly. Sure enough, his captive sang like a canary without even knowing it.
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* In ''Series/FirstWave'', Cade attempts to do this in an early episode to a Gua named Joshua (incidentally, this is also when he learns that the aliens are called "Gua"), after the latter ends up impaled on a tree branch. How? He sprinkles some salt on the wound, figuring that no one can stand such torture. After about a minute, he is shocked to realize that Joshua is high off his gourd. Apparently, the genetically-engineered husks the Gua use [[AlienCatnip treat table salt as crack]]. Strangely, this defect is never corrected, but the Gua High Command has declared salt to be strictly forbidden and has addicts executed. Of course, given how easy it is to obtain salt on Earth (just to go any fast food restaurant for salt packets)...
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* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': What unbearable torture will make a Klingon perp talk? ''Tribbles!''
-->'''Kirk:''' Mr. Darvin, you want to talk?
-->'''Darvin:''' I have nothing to say. ''(Kirk holds two tribbles towards him)'' All right, I did it, I poisoned the grain! Take them away!
-->'''Kirk:''' Mr. Darvin, you want to talk?
-->'''Darvin:''' I have nothing to say. ''(Kirk holds two tribbles towards him)'' All right, I did it, I poisoned the grain! Take them away!
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* ''Series/TheIndianDetective'': This appears to be the only method of interrogation Inspector Devo uses, though in the second case we see, it doesn't work.
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* ''Series/DarkMatter'': An {{artificial human}} is fitted with a neural stimulation device by a Mikkei soldier to get information from him. It acts by causing him to feel the pain of, say, having his finger cut off, with no actual damage, so his [[{{Nanomachines}} nanites]] won't be triggered for repair.
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* ''{{Series/Guerrilla}}'': The police use brutal torture to get information on the Bishop-Mitre Gang.
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* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': It's one of Matt Murdock's preferred ways to get information out of street-level crooks when going after bigger fish like Wilson Fisk or the Hand.
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!!TV series with their own pages
[[index]]
* ''JackBauerInterrogationTechnique/TwentyFour'' ({{Trope Namer|s}})
[[/index]]
----
* Deconstructed thoroughly by ''Series/BurnNotice''. Michael states explicitly that torture never works - the person you're torturing will say whatever they think you want to hear to get the pain to stop. Both Michael and Sam have been interrogated in this fashion and never crack, and whenever they interrogate bad guys, it's never strictly physical torture.
** From Michael's voiceover in an [=S2=] episode:
-->'''Michal Westen (Narration)''': The fact is, torture is for sadists and thugs. It's like getting groceries with a flame thrower; it doesn't work and it makes a mess."
** And in "The Hunter", all of Fiona and Sam's threats and actual violence on a suspect don't get them the information they need. MamaBear Madeline walks in, lights a cigarette, and proceeds to ''talk'' the guy into confessing everything he knows.
** They love smashing this trope on this show. The episode "Friends Like These" gives us the quote "Torture just gets you the fastest lie to make the pain stop," after Barry suggested Michael and Sam use a car battery on a bad guy.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', this is surprisingly common. Most of them are from government agents (or something like that, but no one is sure if they are the real deal).
** In season four, Lex, Jason, and Lana all gets this to find out the location of some magic stone.
** In season seven, Kara is tortured to find out where she came from. Chloe is tortured to find out [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica whom she is in contact with]].
* Jack Bauer's predecessor was Madeline in the TV version of ''Series/LaFemmeNikita''. Created years earlier by ''Series/TwentyFour'' producers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, ''Nikita'' featured the world-class "Torture Twins" and their employer Madeline... who was revealed in one episode as being better at torture than they were. Yeah, [[DebateAndSwitch these were the good guys, too]] - although this question presented a theme throughout the show: ''How much evil can you do and still remain "good"?'' In one episode, for example, they were shown tormenting one of their own agents ''just because 'he made a mistake''' - he went AWOL and told someone about his double life as an agent of Section One. As always, this method was shown to be [[TortureAlwaysWorks hideously effective]].
* Subverted in "Lessons Learned" of Season Two of ''Series/CriminalMinds'', where Jason Gideon is asked to help with a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay prison. Instead of torture, he just tricks the prisoner into thinking his plan had already happened, so he would tell them what it was, just to gloat. It's implied that the man has already *been* tortured, and that it hasn't worked for exactly the reasons described. All it's done, in fact, is reinforce his belief that he is a hero, that America is the embodiment of evil, and that it needs to be destroyed - none of which makes him at all eager to give up any information.
** Well, partially subverted: this was part of Gideon's plan. He wanted to be "the good guy" so that the prisoner would confide in him and feel comfortable, giving him information that his previous interrogators- who roughed him up- could not get out of him.
** This episode won a human rights award for this portrayal of torture
* Elliot Stabler (from ''[[Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit Law And Order: SVU]]''). It's shocking he's still a cop. And for worse, his partner [[ActionGirl Olivia Benson]] picks up after him.
** Nine times out of ten, Stabler is able to get away with it because the guy he assaults/tortures is the perp, or at least dirty, and no one believes a police brutality claim from a suspect. Usually. The times he doesn't get away with it, he's usually reprimanded, and has, on at least two occasions, been suspended. That being said, it's stated early in the show's run that SVU detectives are supposed to be in the department for two years, tops, due to the increasing desensitization and violence exhibited by officers in that position. Why the SVU detectives of the show haven't been rotated out after ''eight years'' is anyone's guess. Especially considering the increasing insanity.
** One episode of the fourth season saw Detective Stabler visit the Czech Republic in cooperation with European police agencies investigating a child pornography and prostitution ring that intersected a case Stabler had been working in New York. When Stabler and the European police apprehend the suspect, with all the freedom from those pesky U.S. laws and restrictions regarding treatment of prisoners...let's just say that [[MoralEventHorizon it puts what he does in New York to shame]].
* ''Series/BabylonFive'''s Michael Garibaldi is very good at making people ''think'' he'll use this sort of interrogation technique, but when all is said and done, he's entirely anti-torture, going so far as to turn in his badge when Sheridan tells him of his intention to torture a suspect in custody.
** Recurring antagonist Alfred Bester did this with his telepathic abilities.
* The Argents from ''Series/TeenWolf'' are very fond of this method of interrogation and they use it on several werewolves, including Derek, Boyd, and Erica.
** And Gerard was totally willing to use this on a very HUMAN Stiles as well.
* Vic Mackey from ''Series/TheShield'', a lot. He beats a suspect with a phone book in the pilot episode to reveal to location of a kidnapped girl and does similar things throughout the show's run, including threatening to drop off a gang member in rival territory (a ticket to the emergency room at minimum) and beating another to death with a length of chain for [[spoiler:killing Lem. The kicker? Shane, the actual killer, was there and trying to convince him to stop.]]
* Al in ''Series/QuantumLeap'' goes as far as to discharge his gun right next to Lee Harvey Oswald's ear when Oswald doesn't come clean with what he knows.
* Subverted in the new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'': When Starbuck tortures Leoben for information... [[spoiler:Leoben spends seven hours giving misinformation and trying to MindScrew Starbuck. Only when the torture stops does he admit he's been lying about the existence of a bomb. And even then he manages to MindScrew Roslin]].
** The Cylon talked about God quite a bit, a valuable psychological insight, which Starbuck ignored.
** The Cylons also tortured Baltar for information after he seemingly sent a Basestar to its death. Thanks to Head-Six, the result was infinitely {{squick}}y and full of MindScrew, with Baltar managing to both convince his interrogator of his innocence and get into her bed. Needless to say it was one of the strangest scenes in the show and an excellent moment in what was otherwise a terrible episode.
** The ''Pegasus'' crew tried this on their Cylon prisoner Gina, but got no useful information from her in the process. Baltar did manage to get information about the Resurrection Ship from her after applying the carrot, however, because she was so traumatized that she wanted the Resurrection Ship destroyed so that she could die properly.
* [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Hilariously parodied]] in ''Series/PowerRangersSPD''. There's an enemy that will withstand practically ''anything'' the Rangers try to get him to talk... until they lock him in a room with their SPD Green Ranger, local {{psychic|Powers}} CloudCuckooLander Bridge. In less than ten minutes, the prisoner is [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment pleading to have Bridge away from him]].
* Justified appearance on ''Series/{{Rome}}'' when it appears in the beginning of the season two episode "Testudo et Lepus". Atia tortures the slave boy Duro to find out who hired him to poison her, even though she knows fully well it was Servilia. In republican Rome the testimony of a slave was only legal in court if it had occurred during torture.
** In the first season Octavian and Pullo are interrogating a man about the actual father of Vorenus's wife's son. When he won't talk, Octavian tells Pullo, "Torture him." Pullo isn't sure ''how'' to torture somebody, since he's never done it before (it's done by specialists in the Roman army). They settle on cutting off his thumbs.
** In the first episode crucifying a prisoner gets instant results, to the visible annoyance of the soldier who went to all the trouble of nailing him to a cross.
* Has been used repeatedly on ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2008}}'', the American edition. Usually by Lieut. Hunt and Ray Carling.
** Also used in the [[Series/LifeOnMars2006 UK original]]'s spinoff, ''Series/AshesToAshes'', involving a naked suspect and a pool table. You have three seconds to work out what it entails, and any guesses after the first don't count. Starting now.
** And used at least twice on UK ''Life on Mars''. Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt lock a murder suspect in a freezer until [[spoiler:he confesses that his boss did it, and he dumped the body.]] And there was the incident where Ray Carling [[spoiler:had a suspect held down and forcibly given cocaine. The suspect dies in custody, and Ray gets demoted. Oops.]]
* Teal'c of ''Series/StargateSG1'' normally has no need to resort to this: on a few occasions he successfully "interrogates" prisoners by simply [[PerpSweating scowling across a table]], not even needing to ask questions to intimidate them into admitting the truth. In the 10th season episode "Talion", however, he tortures and then kills two people who were involved in a terrorist attack that killed numerous Jaffa civilians. Partially a subversion, since Teal'c gets little useful information from them, and the "interrogation" was probably as much to punish them as to get them to talk.
* On ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' we never actually see this but it's stated that before joining NCIS Ziva used this all the time. In fact the first time we see her interrogate someone she sits on the other side of the room so she won't be tempted to break any bones.
** Although early on, Gibbs ''does'' allow Ziva to employ her interrogation tactics on a woman who knows where a hostage is being held. It's scary because, while the audience never sees the actual scene, when Gibbs returns a few minutes later, the woman is sobbing, terrified and willing to give up information about people who will kill her rather than go through any more questioning.
** Gibbs himself almost commits this on a suspect in the episode "Engagement Part 2", when trying to find out what their terrorist plan is and where his brother is... by trying to plant cigarette burns on him (which is exactly what his sister often did to the schoolgirls they captured in Afghanistan) before Leon stops him. It's a probable subversion, as it is implied that the entire thing, including Leon "stopping" Gibbs, was a setup to trick the younger brother into explaining what they were planning to do.
* In the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "Countrycide", Jack Harkness interrogates Martin to get information about the sinister goings-on in the town.
* Jack Bristow of ''Series/{{Alias}}'' has his moments with this trope also. In the episode "Nightingale", Sidney is trapped in a nuclear-powered killing machine and Jack learns how to save her by coming into the control room with a gun, pointing it at the operator, and telling him "You are going to tell me what I want to know. The question is how much pain you want to be in when you tell me."
* Sayid from ''Series/{{Lost}}''. This was Sayid's ''entire job'' in the Republican Guard and since landing on the island it's been something he's been called upon occasionally to do. Somewhat {{subverted|Trope}} in that it never really seems to work as intended (most notably when he tortured [[spoiler:[[MagnificentBastard Ben]]]], which yielded ''nothing'' and merely freaked out Jack enough to press the button). However, not quite entirely subverted as Sayid still claims that the [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling torture allowed him]] to confirm that the man wasn't who he said he was.
* Hilarious example from ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' episode "Heavy Metal". Sarah is unable to get a guy to divulge info so she lets him go, but he has to get past Cameron. Next scene shows him nervously driving them to where they need to go. Cameron smiles at him.
* In a rather gruesome scene in season 2 of ''Series/VeronicaMars'', Weevil has Logan kidnapped. Two PCH bikers proceed to play Russian Roulette with Logan's hands and knees until he tells them whether or not he killed Felix Toombs.
* Don used this in one episode of ''Series/NUMB3RS'' to find the location of the woman who had kidnapped Megan. It should be noted that this was not used to build a case at all.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** This is the standard interrogation technique for Buffy. Of course, it's a lot easier to justify when the fate of the world is at stake, and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the subjects are frequently demons]]. Her methods are implied to be especially brutal specifically because the vampires and other nasties are either immortal or extremely difficult to kill.
** Read the ''24'' example above? Remember Jack describing the Russians forcing a towel down people's throats so when they drag it up their intestines do as well? Buffy does this with a cross. Having her torture someone with a piece of metal on a chain sounds bad enough, but the victim is a vampire. Guess what the cross does.
*** However, it should also be noted that Buffy was, at the time, undergoing fairly severe PTSD and this was a sign that she wasn't her normal self.
** Also, demons aren't known for their loyalty, and therefore tend to crack rather quickly.
** Rupert Giles deserves a special mention here for two examples in particular: Ethan Rayne in "Halloween", whom he repeatedly kicks in (''[[GroinAttack hopefully]]'') the ribs, and one of Glory's mooks in "Tough Love", whom he convinces to talk in a single joint-crackling off-screen second. This harmless tweet-clad English gentleman used to be nicknamed "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Ripper]]". He may not have Buffy's combat prowess, but do you ''ever'' not want to piss him off.
** Whether as Angel or Angelus, the eponymous character is quite fond of this.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** Angel often did it as well... Merle, Angel's informant,used to get beat up for info a lot. Also in 'Ground State',where Angel says he 'beat the building plans (for the auction house) out of a snitch'.
** Wesley becomes fond of these after his CharacterDevelopment sets in.
** Spike is mentioned as doing this and being good at it, having learned how from Angelus, torturing the doctor off-screen in Series 5, remarking that "I got screams, various fluids, and a name: Illyria."
* A similar justification to the ''Buffy'' example above is used on ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' to the point that the girls casually discuss later plans to stun demons rather than killing them explicitly so they can be tortured for information.
--->'''Piper:''' But I so ''like'' killing them.
** The Charmed Ones usually preferred a different approach where Piper (whose power was to freeze time) would freeze a demon and then unfreeze his head so they could question him freely. The only time they actually resorted to interrogating humans was when they knew for sure they were guilty such as a murderer identified by his victim's ghost and a criminal framing a woman for murder.
* In the "Nazi Waffen-SS vs. Viet Cong" episode of ''Series/DeadliestWarrior'', the dramatized fight begins with the Waffen-SS leader being beaten up and harshly interrogated by a Viet Cong squad, whose leader has pointed a gun at his head. He refuses to talk and is rescued soon after by his own comrades. [[spoiler:The fight ends with the Waffen-SS leader obtaining his revenge [[ManOnFire by torching]] the Viet Cong leader with a flamethrower]].
* Parodied in the ''Series/{{House}}'' episode "The Down Low", when House is trying to get information in order to treat a drug dealer:
-->'''House:''' I need the drugs.
-->'''Eddie:''' We're in textiles.
-->'''House:''' I NEED THE DRUGS! ''(pauses)'' Hmm... works for Jack Bauer.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', a police officer looking for the murderer of his brother interogates a suspect by shaking up a soda bottle and shoves it up the guy's nostril as it goes off.
** However, he is reported and suspended.
* In the pilot of ''Series/CityHomicide'', Simon, Duncan and Matt arrest Sean Macready, a serial arsonist and child-killer on his way out of his latest target. To force him to tell them where he locked the children, Duncan and Matt physically pull him back into the burning house while they search. Macready is killed when he attempts to throw himself and one of the children into the fire, and the cops escape any punishment.
* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' made it a point to avoid this as detectives who hit suspects can not only wreck their case but put their job at risk and can even risk Assault charges.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':
** Late in season 3, Ryan and Esposito shoot a man non-fatally and then question him while threatening not to call 911. Then, for more info, Esposito shoves the still hot barrel of his gun into a bullet wound...
** Another example from that season is in the second episode of a two-parter in which the Homeland Security Agent taking point on the case throws the suspect down and threatens to shoot him.
** In an earlier season 3 episode, Beckett is interrogating a man named Vulcan Simmons who is believed, thanks to [[spoiler:false]] information from a retired cop, to have had something to do with her mother's death. He taunts her and manages to hit her BerserkButton, causing her to grab him (and he is not a small man) and slam him into the two-way mirror, shattering it, and threatening him before Ryan and Esposito run in to pull her away.
** Castle himself engages in this, off-screen, when [[spoiler:Alexis is kidnapped]].
** Beckett attempts this in the season 7 premiere to get info from a junkyard employee. She nearly breaks a finger and threatens to break them all, but unfortunately it doesn't work.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode [[Recap/CommunityS1E20TheScienceOfIllusion The Science of Illusion]] Annie slams Jeff's head down onto a table in an attempt to do this, but given the context of the show (and the general cuteness of her character), it comes off more as the TortureForFunAndInformation (at least to the audience).
** Shirley then provides a straighter example as she threatens to cut Jeff up with a pizza slicer.
* ''Series/TheCollector'': Applied to Morgan twice. Didn't work, of course. He must have built up resistance to pain from [[GoodThingYouCanHeal the fatal injuries he keeps getting]].
* In the pilot of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', Peter manages to get information out of a suspect Olivia couldn't crack by smashing his fingers repeatedly with a coffee mug. Well, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment a coffee mug that was full of hot coffee]]...
* Somewhat subverted in at least one episode of ''{{Spooks}}''. The spies are presented with a ticking time bomb scenario and they've managed to find one of the gang responsible. Pearce, their commander, tells them that "under no circumstances whatsoever are you allowed to use torture to find out the location" (wink wink). Adam Carter, the guy who literally wrote the book on how to survive torture, acknowledges that it's going to be useless trying to torture him as he's an ex spy and would have received training in how to hold out against pain. Instead, they use a variety of "soft" techniques to get him to tell them the location.
** The show genuinely aimed for a degree of realism as well, and often played with moral choices such as this. They made it clear that it was never, in any way, guaranteed to work. They also made it very clear that it wasn't going to yield instant results either. Which somehow only made it worse.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'' has two examples, both courtesy of Captain Stottlemeyer:
** The episode "Mr. Monk Stays In Bed" has Stottlemeyer doing a mundane version of the trope. He and Randy go to a club to interview John Delancey, a likely suspect behind the disappearance/murder of Judge Jillian Garr, and tries to question him on what he knows about her disappearance. When the subject they find at Delancey's table denies it, he then dunks his tie into his porridge after [[IncrediblyLamePun asking if he likes "Thai food"]], and supplies his own tie to the man out of guilt after Randy tells him that they have the wrong table. Only, they discover a few seconds later it was the right man all along, so we then see Stottlemeyer helping Delancey with his newly acquired tie by tightening it to borderline stranglement.
** Stottlemeyer does it in "Mr. Monk and the End, Part I" after hitman Joey Kazarinski poisons Monk. He is seen grilling a forger who recently supplied Kazarinski with a fake ID to determine what name Kazarinski is using. The friend asks, mockingly, "What are you going to do? Hit me with a phonebook? There are no phonebooks in here, captain. Nobody uses phonebooks anymore. They all use ''computers''." Stottlemeyer replies, thoughtfully, "Yeah, you're right," as his gaze settles on a laptop in the room. The scene promptly cuts to Stottlemeyer handing Randy a smashed laptop.
-->'''Lt. Randall Disher:''' Did you get a name?
-->'''Captain Leland Stottlemeyer:''' Yes, I did. Oh, and your computer crashed.
* [[RealityEnsues Realistically]] {{subverted}} in the pilot of ''Series/BlueBloods''. Danny beats the living daylights out of a child predator to find a kidnapped girl. Said predator's lawyer successfully argues that the confession is inadmissible, forcing Danny to find other evidence to put him away. In later episodes he does get away with such tactics, though (like walking a potential lead down to the riverside and threatening to murder him execution-style unless he gives up the location of a CopKiller), and he regularly shoves and slaps uncooperative subjects during interrogations.
** Subverted in the episode where [[spoiler:Danny's wife is kidnapped in order to silence him from testifying against a notorious drug baron]]. He asks for an isolated interrogation of the suspect, implying he will do something of the sort, but he merely reaffirms that he will not be intimidated and that, if [[spoiler:anything does happen to his wife]], he'll spread news around the prison that he received cooperation from the suspect and let them sort it out. He leaves the room without even laying a hand on the perp.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': In "Nobody's Child" when questioning a convicted child molester Harm gets dangerously close to this.
* On ''Series/FamilyMatters'', Steve once got Carl to tell him where Laura is by showing him a picture disc filled with pictures from a cheese festival.
* Danny has intentions of doing this in ''Series/{{CSI NY}}'' 'Heroes' when Mac is questioning a guy suspected of killing Aiden. Mac warns him off by telling him they have to do it right and working the guy over won't help the situation. Turns out he wasn't the killer anyway.
* ''Series/{{Scandal}}'': DeconstructedTrope by Huck, who was forced to practice this. He uses it horribly.
* You normally wouldn't expect to see this sort of thing in ''Series/DoctorWho'', but it was attempted in the episode "Cold Blood" (New Series Season 5, Episode 9) by one of the oneshot characters named Ambrose, who attempted to torture the MonsterOfTheWeek (or rather, Alien Race of the Week) with an exposed electrical wire into releasing her child from a supposed captivity, or at least giving up information regarding him. [[SubvertedTrope In the end, however, she took it too far and killed Alaya in her hysteria.]]
* The pilot for the failed ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|2011Pilot}}'' series included a very egregious use of this. The title character goes to a crook that was in a hospital (by the way, Wonder Woman was the one who put him there) deciding to use torture to get knowledge on a woman she ''suspected'' had committed a crime. Of course, before she started to break his fingers, Wonder Woman put her [[TruthSerums Lasso of Truth]] on the guy's chest, ''pointing out'' it is called the Lasso of Truth, but going with the torture anyway! [[DesignatedHero Hooray for Wonder Woman?]]
* Frequently would appear in ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway's'' Good Cop, Bad Cop game, were the bad cop would frequently resort to this at even the slightest trigger, even if they were doing mundane things like helping fix a broken dish washer.
* ''Series/RipperStreet'': Reid, Bennet and Jackson do this to the poisoner Claxton - squeezing his broken arm - in "The King Came Calling" to find out where he sent the consignment of poisoned flour.
* How Chandler from ''Series/{{Friends}}'' compares Monica's massage.
-->''"It was like she was torturing me for information and I wanted to give it up, it's just, I didn't know what it was."''
* ''Series/SpecialUnit2'' plays the trope for laughs. [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman What Measure is a "Link"?]]
* ''Series/InspectorGeorgeGently'': In "The Burning Man", Commander Empton of Special Branch lays a beatdown on a suspect inspected of being involved with the IRA, to Gently's obvious disgust.
* In ''Series/OrphanBlack'', Alison, suspecting her husband Donnie of being her monitor, not only ties him up, blindfolds and gags him, but drips hot glue from a gun onto his chest. Not only do we hear him wince, we see the third-degree burns this caused, burns he says a great deal of time later still hurt when he showers.
* A ''Series/{{Defiance}}'' episode reveals that Votanis Collective agents have planted a bomb in [[BigApplesauce New York City]]. One of their agents in Defiance is Mahsuvus Gorath, an Irathient male prostitute working at the [=NeedWant=]. The Earth Republic forces capture him (while he's "busy" with a client), and Nolan is ordered to get the location of the bomb out of him by any means necessary. Having fought in the Pale Wars, Nolan knows some [[{{Understatement}} very unpleasant]] techniques for getting someone to reveal information. However, Mahsuvus is a trained soldier and spy himself and knows how to resist this sort of interrogation. Even when Nolan uses shrills (flesh-eating spores), Mahsuvus simply takes it in stride.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Blade}}'' has [[MagnificentBastard Marcus Van Sciver]]'s people capture Shen, Blade's tech guy. Van Sciver tells [[TheMole Krista]] to extract Blade's location from Shen using torture. When Krista points out that she has no experience with tortute, Van Sciver reminds her that she served in Iraq and must have seen torture first-hand. Shen nods to her, and she removes one of his fingernails with a scalpel. When that doesn't produce results, she pretends to break one of his fingers, while breaking hers instead (being a vampire, she heals instantly) while he screams in pretend pain. Luckily, an outside event forces Van Sciver to leave.
* ''Series/{{The 100}}'' has the heroes torture Lincoln with whips, stabbing implements, and [[ElectricTorture electric wires]] in order to find out the antidote for the poisoned knife he used on Finn. It doesn't work, though; through the entire torture session, Lincoln refuses to say a single word, trying to convince them he doesn't know English. They do end up getting the information out of him using threats, but not in the usual way: Octavia cuts herself with the same poisoned knife that Finn was cut with, forcing Lincoln to reveal the antidote or let her die.
** In the second season, Kane and Indra suggest torturing Emerson for information on Mount Weather, but Clarke, drawing on her experiences with Lincoln, insists that torture doesn't work.
* In ''Series/{{Outlander}}'', Jenny, the relatively respectable and sensible sister of one of the main characters, unleashes this on an English soldier she's captured because the English army has taken her brother and she wants to know where he is. She heats up the soldier's ramrod in a campfire until it's red hot and applies it to the sole of the man's bare foot until he confesses that he doesn't know and that he's only a courier, prompting Jenny and main character Claire (Jamie's wife) to search the man's bags until they find the relevant documents.
* ''Series/Braindead2016'': The "enhanced interrogation techniques" the FBI almost uses on Laurel, such as immersion (which is ''not'' waterboarding, as it [[LoopholeAbuse uses slightly less water]]). Jack Bauer himself is name-dropped in support during the Senate committee debate on the issue, in a reference to the late US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia doing this (which is ''also'' mentioned).
* A rather curious application is used in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''[='s=] pilot episode, "A Study in Pink". [[spoiler:Jeff Hope has been shot by John Watson and is bleeding out. Sherlock knows there's no saving the guy so he demands to know who hired him before he expires. Initially Hope refuses to give up his employer but then Sherlock reminds him that, while dying, he can still feel pain and proceeds to put pressure on the open wound. This coerces the already-dying man into revealing that he was hired by a man named "Moriarty"]].
* ''{{Series/Colony}}'': Homeland Security uses torture against captured Red Hand operatives to get information from them.
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* ''JackBauerInterrogationTechnique/TwentyFour'' ({{Trope Namer|s}})
[[/index]]
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* Deconstructed thoroughly by ''Series/BurnNotice''. Michael states explicitly that torture never works - the person you're torturing will say whatever they think you want to hear to get the pain to stop. Both Michael and Sam have been interrogated in this fashion and never crack, and whenever they interrogate bad guys, it's never strictly physical torture.
** From Michael's voiceover in an [=S2=] episode:
-->'''Michal Westen (Narration)''': The fact is, torture is for sadists and thugs. It's like getting groceries with a flame thrower; it doesn't work and it makes a mess."
** And in "The Hunter", all of Fiona and Sam's threats and actual violence on a suspect don't get them the information they need. MamaBear Madeline walks in, lights a cigarette, and proceeds to ''talk'' the guy into confessing everything he knows.
** They love smashing this trope on this show. The episode "Friends Like These" gives us the quote "Torture just gets you the fastest lie to make the pain stop," after Barry suggested Michael and Sam use a car battery on a bad guy.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', this is surprisingly common. Most of them are from government agents (or something like that, but no one is sure if they are the real deal).
** In season four, Lex, Jason, and Lana all gets this to find out the location of some magic stone.
** In season seven, Kara is tortured to find out where she came from. Chloe is tortured to find out [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica whom she is in contact with]].
* Jack Bauer's predecessor was Madeline in the TV version of ''Series/LaFemmeNikita''. Created years earlier by ''Series/TwentyFour'' producers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, ''Nikita'' featured the world-class "Torture Twins" and their employer Madeline... who was revealed in one episode as being better at torture than they were. Yeah, [[DebateAndSwitch these were the good guys, too]] - although this question presented a theme throughout the show: ''How much evil can you do and still remain "good"?'' In one episode, for example, they were shown tormenting one of their own agents ''just because 'he made a mistake''' - he went AWOL and told someone about his double life as an agent of Section One. As always, this method was shown to be [[TortureAlwaysWorks hideously effective]].
* Subverted in "Lessons Learned" of Season Two of ''Series/CriminalMinds'', where Jason Gideon is asked to help with a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay prison. Instead of torture, he just tricks the prisoner into thinking his plan had already happened, so he would tell them what it was, just to gloat. It's implied that the man has already *been* tortured, and that it hasn't worked for exactly the reasons described. All it's done, in fact, is reinforce his belief that he is a hero, that America is the embodiment of evil, and that it needs to be destroyed - none of which makes him at all eager to give up any information.
** Well, partially subverted: this was part of Gideon's plan. He wanted to be "the good guy" so that the prisoner would confide in him and feel comfortable, giving him information that his previous interrogators- who roughed him up- could not get out of him.
** This episode won a human rights award for this portrayal of torture
* Elliot Stabler (from ''[[Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit Law And Order: SVU]]''). It's shocking he's still a cop. And for worse, his partner [[ActionGirl Olivia Benson]] picks up after him.
** Nine times out of ten, Stabler is able to get away with it because the guy he assaults/tortures is the perp, or at least dirty, and no one believes a police brutality claim from a suspect. Usually. The times he doesn't get away with it, he's usually reprimanded, and has, on at least two occasions, been suspended. That being said, it's stated early in the show's run that SVU detectives are supposed to be in the department for two years, tops, due to the increasing desensitization and violence exhibited by officers in that position. Why the SVU detectives of the show haven't been rotated out after ''eight years'' is anyone's guess. Especially considering the increasing insanity.
** One episode of the fourth season saw Detective Stabler visit the Czech Republic in cooperation with European police agencies investigating a child pornography and prostitution ring that intersected a case Stabler had been working in New York. When Stabler and the European police apprehend the suspect, with all the freedom from those pesky U.S. laws and restrictions regarding treatment of prisoners...let's just say that [[MoralEventHorizon it puts what he does in New York to shame]].
* ''Series/BabylonFive'''s Michael Garibaldi is very good at making people ''think'' he'll use this sort of interrogation technique, but when all is said and done, he's entirely anti-torture, going so far as to turn in his badge when Sheridan tells him of his intention to torture a suspect in custody.
** Recurring antagonist Alfred Bester did this with his telepathic abilities.
* The Argents from ''Series/TeenWolf'' are very fond of this method of interrogation and they use it on several werewolves, including Derek, Boyd, and Erica.
** And Gerard was totally willing to use this on a very HUMAN Stiles as well.
* Vic Mackey from ''Series/TheShield'', a lot. He beats a suspect with a phone book in the pilot episode to reveal to location of a kidnapped girl and does similar things throughout the show's run, including threatening to drop off a gang member in rival territory (a ticket to the emergency room at minimum) and beating another to death with a length of chain for [[spoiler:killing Lem. The kicker? Shane, the actual killer, was there and trying to convince him to stop.]]
* Al in ''Series/QuantumLeap'' goes as far as to discharge his gun right next to Lee Harvey Oswald's ear when Oswald doesn't come clean with what he knows.
* Subverted in the new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'': When Starbuck tortures Leoben for information... [[spoiler:Leoben spends seven hours giving misinformation and trying to MindScrew Starbuck. Only when the torture stops does he admit he's been lying about the existence of a bomb. And even then he manages to MindScrew Roslin]].
** The Cylon talked about God quite a bit, a valuable psychological insight, which Starbuck ignored.
** The Cylons also tortured Baltar for information after he seemingly sent a Basestar to its death. Thanks to Head-Six, the result was infinitely {{squick}}y and full of MindScrew, with Baltar managing to both convince his interrogator of his innocence and get into her bed. Needless to say it was one of the strangest scenes in the show and an excellent moment in what was otherwise a terrible episode.
** The ''Pegasus'' crew tried this on their Cylon prisoner Gina, but got no useful information from her in the process. Baltar did manage to get information about the Resurrection Ship from her after applying the carrot, however, because she was so traumatized that she wanted the Resurrection Ship destroyed so that she could die properly.
* [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Hilariously parodied]] in ''Series/PowerRangersSPD''. There's an enemy that will withstand practically ''anything'' the Rangers try to get him to talk... until they lock him in a room with their SPD Green Ranger, local {{psychic|Powers}} CloudCuckooLander Bridge. In less than ten minutes, the prisoner is [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment pleading to have Bridge away from him]].
* Justified appearance on ''Series/{{Rome}}'' when it appears in the beginning of the season two episode "Testudo et Lepus". Atia tortures the slave boy Duro to find out who hired him to poison her, even though she knows fully well it was Servilia. In republican Rome the testimony of a slave was only legal in court if it had occurred during torture.
** In the first season Octavian and Pullo are interrogating a man about the actual father of Vorenus's wife's son. When he won't talk, Octavian tells Pullo, "Torture him." Pullo isn't sure ''how'' to torture somebody, since he's never done it before (it's done by specialists in the Roman army). They settle on cutting off his thumbs.
** In the first episode crucifying a prisoner gets instant results, to the visible annoyance of the soldier who went to all the trouble of nailing him to a cross.
* Has been used repeatedly on ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2008}}'', the American edition. Usually by Lieut. Hunt and Ray Carling.
** Also used in the [[Series/LifeOnMars2006 UK original]]'s spinoff, ''Series/AshesToAshes'', involving a naked suspect and a pool table. You have three seconds to work out what it entails, and any guesses after the first don't count. Starting now.
** And used at least twice on UK ''Life on Mars''. Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt lock a murder suspect in a freezer until [[spoiler:he confesses that his boss did it, and he dumped the body.]] And there was the incident where Ray Carling [[spoiler:had a suspect held down and forcibly given cocaine. The suspect dies in custody, and Ray gets demoted. Oops.]]
* Teal'c of ''Series/StargateSG1'' normally has no need to resort to this: on a few occasions he successfully "interrogates" prisoners by simply [[PerpSweating scowling across a table]], not even needing to ask questions to intimidate them into admitting the truth. In the 10th season episode "Talion", however, he tortures and then kills two people who were involved in a terrorist attack that killed numerous Jaffa civilians. Partially a subversion, since Teal'c gets little useful information from them, and the "interrogation" was probably as much to punish them as to get them to talk.
* On ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' we never actually see this but it's stated that before joining NCIS Ziva used this all the time. In fact the first time we see her interrogate someone she sits on the other side of the room so she won't be tempted to break any bones.
** Although early on, Gibbs ''does'' allow Ziva to employ her interrogation tactics on a woman who knows where a hostage is being held. It's scary because, while the audience never sees the actual scene, when Gibbs returns a few minutes later, the woman is sobbing, terrified and willing to give up information about people who will kill her rather than go through any more questioning.
** Gibbs himself almost commits this on a suspect in the episode "Engagement Part 2", when trying to find out what their terrorist plan is and where his brother is... by trying to plant cigarette burns on him (which is exactly what his sister often did to the schoolgirls they captured in Afghanistan) before Leon stops him. It's a probable subversion, as it is implied that the entire thing, including Leon "stopping" Gibbs, was a setup to trick the younger brother into explaining what they were planning to do.
* In the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "Countrycide", Jack Harkness interrogates Martin to get information about the sinister goings-on in the town.
* Jack Bristow of ''Series/{{Alias}}'' has his moments with this trope also. In the episode "Nightingale", Sidney is trapped in a nuclear-powered killing machine and Jack learns how to save her by coming into the control room with a gun, pointing it at the operator, and telling him "You are going to tell me what I want to know. The question is how much pain you want to be in when you tell me."
* Sayid from ''Series/{{Lost}}''. This was Sayid's ''entire job'' in the Republican Guard and since landing on the island it's been something he's been called upon occasionally to do. Somewhat {{subverted|Trope}} in that it never really seems to work as intended (most notably when he tortured [[spoiler:[[MagnificentBastard Ben]]]], which yielded ''nothing'' and merely freaked out Jack enough to press the button). However, not quite entirely subverted as Sayid still claims that the [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling torture allowed him]] to confirm that the man wasn't who he said he was.
* Hilarious example from ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' episode "Heavy Metal". Sarah is unable to get a guy to divulge info so she lets him go, but he has to get past Cameron. Next scene shows him nervously driving them to where they need to go. Cameron smiles at him.
* In a rather gruesome scene in season 2 of ''Series/VeronicaMars'', Weevil has Logan kidnapped. Two PCH bikers proceed to play Russian Roulette with Logan's hands and knees until he tells them whether or not he killed Felix Toombs.
* Don used this in one episode of ''Series/NUMB3RS'' to find the location of the woman who had kidnapped Megan. It should be noted that this was not used to build a case at all.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** This is the standard interrogation technique for Buffy. Of course, it's a lot easier to justify when the fate of the world is at stake, and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the subjects are frequently demons]]. Her methods are implied to be especially brutal specifically because the vampires and other nasties are either immortal or extremely difficult to kill.
** Read the ''24'' example above? Remember Jack describing the Russians forcing a towel down people's throats so when they drag it up their intestines do as well? Buffy does this with a cross. Having her torture someone with a piece of metal on a chain sounds bad enough, but the victim is a vampire. Guess what the cross does.
*** However, it should also be noted that Buffy was, at the time, undergoing fairly severe PTSD and this was a sign that she wasn't her normal self.
** Also, demons aren't known for their loyalty, and therefore tend to crack rather quickly.
** Rupert Giles deserves a special mention here for two examples in particular: Ethan Rayne in "Halloween", whom he repeatedly kicks in (''[[GroinAttack hopefully]]'') the ribs, and one of Glory's mooks in "Tough Love", whom he convinces to talk in a single joint-crackling off-screen second. This harmless tweet-clad English gentleman used to be nicknamed "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Ripper]]". He may not have Buffy's combat prowess, but do you ''ever'' not want to piss him off.
** Whether as Angel or Angelus, the eponymous character is quite fond of this.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** Angel often did it as well... Merle, Angel's informant,used to get beat up for info a lot. Also in 'Ground State',where Angel says he 'beat the building plans (for the auction house) out of a snitch'.
** Wesley becomes fond of these after his CharacterDevelopment sets in.
** Spike is mentioned as doing this and being good at it, having learned how from Angelus, torturing the doctor off-screen in Series 5, remarking that "I got screams, various fluids, and a name: Illyria."
* A similar justification to the ''Buffy'' example above is used on ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' to the point that the girls casually discuss later plans to stun demons rather than killing them explicitly so they can be tortured for information.
--->'''Piper:''' But I so ''like'' killing them.
** The Charmed Ones usually preferred a different approach where Piper (whose power was to freeze time) would freeze a demon and then unfreeze his head so they could question him freely. The only time they actually resorted to interrogating humans was when they knew for sure they were guilty such as a murderer identified by his victim's ghost and a criminal framing a woman for murder.
* In the "Nazi Waffen-SS vs. Viet Cong" episode of ''Series/DeadliestWarrior'', the dramatized fight begins with the Waffen-SS leader being beaten up and harshly interrogated by a Viet Cong squad, whose leader has pointed a gun at his head. He refuses to talk and is rescued soon after by his own comrades. [[spoiler:The fight ends with the Waffen-SS leader obtaining his revenge [[ManOnFire by torching]] the Viet Cong leader with a flamethrower]].
* Parodied in the ''Series/{{House}}'' episode "The Down Low", when House is trying to get information in order to treat a drug dealer:
-->'''House:''' I need the drugs.
-->'''Eddie:''' We're in textiles.
-->'''House:''' I NEED THE DRUGS! ''(pauses)'' Hmm... works for Jack Bauer.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', a police officer looking for the murderer of his brother interogates a suspect by shaking up a soda bottle and shoves it up the guy's nostril as it goes off.
** However, he is reported and suspended.
* In the pilot of ''Series/CityHomicide'', Simon, Duncan and Matt arrest Sean Macready, a serial arsonist and child-killer on his way out of his latest target. To force him to tell them where he locked the children, Duncan and Matt physically pull him back into the burning house while they search. Macready is killed when he attempts to throw himself and one of the children into the fire, and the cops escape any punishment.
* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' made it a point to avoid this as detectives who hit suspects can not only wreck their case but put their job at risk and can even risk Assault charges.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':
** Late in season 3, Ryan and Esposito shoot a man non-fatally and then question him while threatening not to call 911. Then, for more info, Esposito shoves the still hot barrel of his gun into a bullet wound...
** Another example from that season is in the second episode of a two-parter in which the Homeland Security Agent taking point on the case throws the suspect down and threatens to shoot him.
** In an earlier season 3 episode, Beckett is interrogating a man named Vulcan Simmons who is believed, thanks to [[spoiler:false]] information from a retired cop, to have had something to do with her mother's death. He taunts her and manages to hit her BerserkButton, causing her to grab him (and he is not a small man) and slam him into the two-way mirror, shattering it, and threatening him before Ryan and Esposito run in to pull her away.
** Castle himself engages in this, off-screen, when [[spoiler:Alexis is kidnapped]].
** Beckett attempts this in the season 7 premiere to get info from a junkyard employee. She nearly breaks a finger and threatens to break them all, but unfortunately it doesn't work.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode [[Recap/CommunityS1E20TheScienceOfIllusion The Science of Illusion]] Annie slams Jeff's head down onto a table in an attempt to do this, but given the context of the show (and the general cuteness of her character), it comes off more as the TortureForFunAndInformation (at least to the audience).
** Shirley then provides a straighter example as she threatens to cut Jeff up with a pizza slicer.
* ''Series/TheCollector'': Applied to Morgan twice. Didn't work, of course. He must have built up resistance to pain from [[GoodThingYouCanHeal the fatal injuries he keeps getting]].
* In the pilot of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', Peter manages to get information out of a suspect Olivia couldn't crack by smashing his fingers repeatedly with a coffee mug. Well, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment a coffee mug that was full of hot coffee]]...
* Somewhat subverted in at least one episode of ''{{Spooks}}''. The spies are presented with a ticking time bomb scenario and they've managed to find one of the gang responsible. Pearce, their commander, tells them that "under no circumstances whatsoever are you allowed to use torture to find out the location" (wink wink). Adam Carter, the guy who literally wrote the book on how to survive torture, acknowledges that it's going to be useless trying to torture him as he's an ex spy and would have received training in how to hold out against pain. Instead, they use a variety of "soft" techniques to get him to tell them the location.
** The show genuinely aimed for a degree of realism as well, and often played with moral choices such as this. They made it clear that it was never, in any way, guaranteed to work. They also made it very clear that it wasn't going to yield instant results either. Which somehow only made it worse.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'' has two examples, both courtesy of Captain Stottlemeyer:
** The episode "Mr. Monk Stays In Bed" has Stottlemeyer doing a mundane version of the trope. He and Randy go to a club to interview John Delancey, a likely suspect behind the disappearance/murder of Judge Jillian Garr, and tries to question him on what he knows about her disappearance. When the subject they find at Delancey's table denies it, he then dunks his tie into his porridge after [[IncrediblyLamePun asking if he likes "Thai food"]], and supplies his own tie to the man out of guilt after Randy tells him that they have the wrong table. Only, they discover a few seconds later it was the right man all along, so we then see Stottlemeyer helping Delancey with his newly acquired tie by tightening it to borderline stranglement.
** Stottlemeyer does it in "Mr. Monk and the End, Part I" after hitman Joey Kazarinski poisons Monk. He is seen grilling a forger who recently supplied Kazarinski with a fake ID to determine what name Kazarinski is using. The friend asks, mockingly, "What are you going to do? Hit me with a phonebook? There are no phonebooks in here, captain. Nobody uses phonebooks anymore. They all use ''computers''." Stottlemeyer replies, thoughtfully, "Yeah, you're right," as his gaze settles on a laptop in the room. The scene promptly cuts to Stottlemeyer handing Randy a smashed laptop.
-->'''Lt. Randall Disher:''' Did you get a name?
-->'''Captain Leland Stottlemeyer:''' Yes, I did. Oh, and your computer crashed.
* [[RealityEnsues Realistically]] {{subverted}} in the pilot of ''Series/BlueBloods''. Danny beats the living daylights out of a child predator to find a kidnapped girl. Said predator's lawyer successfully argues that the confession is inadmissible, forcing Danny to find other evidence to put him away. In later episodes he does get away with such tactics, though (like walking a potential lead down to the riverside and threatening to murder him execution-style unless he gives up the location of a CopKiller), and he regularly shoves and slaps uncooperative subjects during interrogations.
** Subverted in the episode where [[spoiler:Danny's wife is kidnapped in order to silence him from testifying against a notorious drug baron]]. He asks for an isolated interrogation of the suspect, implying he will do something of the sort, but he merely reaffirms that he will not be intimidated and that, if [[spoiler:anything does happen to his wife]], he'll spread news around the prison that he received cooperation from the suspect and let them sort it out. He leaves the room without even laying a hand on the perp.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': In "Nobody's Child" when questioning a convicted child molester Harm gets dangerously close to this.
* On ''Series/FamilyMatters'', Steve once got Carl to tell him where Laura is by showing him a picture disc filled with pictures from a cheese festival.
* Danny has intentions of doing this in ''Series/{{CSI NY}}'' 'Heroes' when Mac is questioning a guy suspected of killing Aiden. Mac warns him off by telling him they have to do it right and working the guy over won't help the situation. Turns out he wasn't the killer anyway.
* ''Series/{{Scandal}}'': DeconstructedTrope by Huck, who was forced to practice this. He uses it horribly.
* You normally wouldn't expect to see this sort of thing in ''Series/DoctorWho'', but it was attempted in the episode "Cold Blood" (New Series Season 5, Episode 9) by one of the oneshot characters named Ambrose, who attempted to torture the MonsterOfTheWeek (or rather, Alien Race of the Week) with an exposed electrical wire into releasing her child from a supposed captivity, or at least giving up information regarding him. [[SubvertedTrope In the end, however, she took it too far and killed Alaya in her hysteria.]]
* The pilot for the failed ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|2011Pilot}}'' series included a very egregious use of this. The title character goes to a crook that was in a hospital (by the way, Wonder Woman was the one who put him there) deciding to use torture to get knowledge on a woman she ''suspected'' had committed a crime. Of course, before she started to break his fingers, Wonder Woman put her [[TruthSerums Lasso of Truth]] on the guy's chest, ''pointing out'' it is called the Lasso of Truth, but going with the torture anyway! [[DesignatedHero Hooray for Wonder Woman?]]
* Frequently would appear in ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway's'' Good Cop, Bad Cop game, were the bad cop would frequently resort to this at even the slightest trigger, even if they were doing mundane things like helping fix a broken dish washer.
* ''Series/RipperStreet'': Reid, Bennet and Jackson do this to the poisoner Claxton - squeezing his broken arm - in "The King Came Calling" to find out where he sent the consignment of poisoned flour.
* How Chandler from ''Series/{{Friends}}'' compares Monica's massage.
-->''"It was like she was torturing me for information and I wanted to give it up, it's just, I didn't know what it was."''
* ''Series/SpecialUnit2'' plays the trope for laughs. [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman What Measure is a "Link"?]]
* ''Series/InspectorGeorgeGently'': In "The Burning Man", Commander Empton of Special Branch lays a beatdown on a suspect inspected of being involved with the IRA, to Gently's obvious disgust.
* In ''Series/OrphanBlack'', Alison, suspecting her husband Donnie of being her monitor, not only ties him up, blindfolds and gags him, but drips hot glue from a gun onto his chest. Not only do we hear him wince, we see the third-degree burns this caused, burns he says a great deal of time later still hurt when he showers.
* A ''Series/{{Defiance}}'' episode reveals that Votanis Collective agents have planted a bomb in [[BigApplesauce New York City]]. One of their agents in Defiance is Mahsuvus Gorath, an Irathient male prostitute working at the [=NeedWant=]. The Earth Republic forces capture him (while he's "busy" with a client), and Nolan is ordered to get the location of the bomb out of him by any means necessary. Having fought in the Pale Wars, Nolan knows some [[{{Understatement}} very unpleasant]] techniques for getting someone to reveal information. However, Mahsuvus is a trained soldier and spy himself and knows how to resist this sort of interrogation. Even when Nolan uses shrills (flesh-eating spores), Mahsuvus simply takes it in stride.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Blade}}'' has [[MagnificentBastard Marcus Van Sciver]]'s people capture Shen, Blade's tech guy. Van Sciver tells [[TheMole Krista]] to extract Blade's location from Shen using torture. When Krista points out that she has no experience with tortute, Van Sciver reminds her that she served in Iraq and must have seen torture first-hand. Shen nods to her, and she removes one of his fingernails with a scalpel. When that doesn't produce results, she pretends to break one of his fingers, while breaking hers instead (being a vampire, she heals instantly) while he screams in pretend pain. Luckily, an outside event forces Van Sciver to leave.
* ''Series/{{The 100}}'' has the heroes torture Lincoln with whips, stabbing implements, and [[ElectricTorture electric wires]] in order to find out the antidote for the poisoned knife he used on Finn. It doesn't work, though; through the entire torture session, Lincoln refuses to say a single word, trying to convince them he doesn't know English. They do end up getting the information out of him using threats, but not in the usual way: Octavia cuts herself with the same poisoned knife that Finn was cut with, forcing Lincoln to reveal the antidote or let her die.
** In the second season, Kane and Indra suggest torturing Emerson for information on Mount Weather, but Clarke, drawing on her experiences with Lincoln, insists that torture doesn't work.
* In ''Series/{{Outlander}}'', Jenny, the relatively respectable and sensible sister of one of the main characters, unleashes this on an English soldier she's captured because the English army has taken her brother and she wants to know where he is. She heats up the soldier's ramrod in a campfire until it's red hot and applies it to the sole of the man's bare foot until he confesses that he doesn't know and that he's only a courier, prompting Jenny and main character Claire (Jamie's wife) to search the man's bags until they find the relevant documents.
* ''Series/Braindead2016'': The "enhanced interrogation techniques" the FBI almost uses on Laurel, such as immersion (which is ''not'' waterboarding, as it [[LoopholeAbuse uses slightly less water]]). Jack Bauer himself is name-dropped in support during the Senate committee debate on the issue, in a reference to the late US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia doing this (which is ''also'' mentioned).
* A rather curious application is used in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''[='s=] pilot episode, "A Study in Pink". [[spoiler:Jeff Hope has been shot by John Watson and is bleeding out. Sherlock knows there's no saving the guy so he demands to know who hired him before he expires. Initially Hope refuses to give up his employer but then Sherlock reminds him that, while dying, he can still feel pain and proceeds to put pressure on the open wound. This coerces the already-dying man into revealing that he was hired by a man named "Moriarty"]].
* ''{{Series/Colony}}'': Homeland Security uses torture against captured Red Hand operatives to get information from them.
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