It’s not exactly how anyone imagines their first time. Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer follow-up, bruising BBC drama Half Man, is full of disturbing scenes but none more so than in the opening episode, when teen delinquent Ruben orchestrates his younger step-sibling Niall losing his virginity.

It makes for one of those TV moments where it’s physically impossible to sit comfortably on your sofa. But what are the all-time most unsettling? From bad rapping to DIY dentistry, here’s our selection of 15 scenes that made us wince, squirm and watch through our fingers …

Brother from another lover (Half Man, 2026)

As a twisted thank you for helping him pass his prelim exam, teen delinquent Ruben (Stuart Campbell) brings home girlfriend Mona (Charlotte Blackwood). When they catch underage Niall (Mitchell Robertson) “perving” at them in their shared bedroom, Ruben encourages Mona to switch beds and pop Niall’s cherry, while Ruben looms over him, offering words of encouragement and at one point, a steadying hand. And behold – a lifelong toxic bond is formed.

Boar on the Floor (Succession, 2019)

“Oink, piggies!” A standout season two episode saw the Roy family’s inner circle on a hunting retreat in Hungary. Patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) was furious that someone was leaking company intel, so subjected Greg, Tom and Karl to a humiliating hazing ritual as punishment for “collective disloyalty”. The bullying leader debased his underlings by making them get down on all-fours, play-act as pigs and fight over a sausage. Never had Logan’s vicious sadism been more manifest. Karl did steal Tom’s sausage, though.

David Brent begs for his job (The Office, 2002)

It was like sitting in an excruciating HR meeting. He was too busy being a chilled-out entertainer to do any actual work, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when Wernham Hogg decided to dismiss Slough branch manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais). The sacking took a heartbreaking turn when he tearfully pleaded with them. The poignancy was punctured by Brent emerging from behind the desk to reveal that he was riding an ostrich (well, it was Red Nose Day).

Piggate Mark II (Black Mirror, 2011)

What a #snoutrage. When David Cameron became embroiled in the 2015 “Piggate” controversy, Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker was widely hailed as clairvoyant, having got there four years earlier. His dystopian anthology’s first ever episode, The National Anthem, saw the blackmailed prime minister (Rory Kinnear) faced with a swine of a choice: allow a kidnapped young royal to be tortured and killed, or have sex with a sow on live TV. When attempts to rescue the princess or fabricate the footage failed, the PM reluctantly did the porky deed. Brooker assured us (and Cameron): “It’s a complete coincidence, albeit a quite bizarre one.”

The stoning of Gladys (The Leftovers, 2014)

It was the most harrowing moment of violence in the series thus far, signalling that HBO’s post-apocalyptic saga would become something extraordinary. In the fifth episode, Gladys (Marceline Hugot) – a loyal member of mute cult the Guilty Remnant – was dragged to the woods by unseen assailants, taped to a tree and pelted with rocks. Gladys broke her vow of silence to beg them to stop. They ignored her.

Hannah self-harms with a Q-tip (Girls, 2013)

Lena Dunham has never been afraid to “go there” and this visceral scene was one of Girls’ most traumatic. In the grip of OCD and anxiety, Hannah Horvath (Dunham) stood in front of a mirror, manically cleaning her ear. She shoved in a cotton bud and kept pushing until it was stuck. She screamed with pain and was taken to hospital with blood pouring from her ear canal, vividly describing how she had heard air hissing out of her punctured eardrum. Dunham tweeted: “If all I’ve done on this Earth is scare you out of using Q-tips, I will die a happy and purposeful woman.”

Mr Schue raps and dirty dances (Glee, 2009)

Ryan Murphy’s jukebox musical drama was a huge hit, running for six series. Even more remarkable when you consider that Spanish teacher and glee club leader Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) crossed more lines than a zebra’s hairdresser. He rapped Young MC’s Bust A Move and Kanye’s Gold Digger, complete with dad dancing. He delivered a deeply inappropriate performance of Britney’s Toxic to a roomful of high school students. That’s even before he had sex in the school bathroom and planted drugs to blackmail pupils into joining the choir. How did he and Glee get away with it all? The man was a menace.

Lol: ironically named (This is England ’86, 2010)

Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne’s masterly miniseries featured one of the most stomach-churning sexual assaults in small screen history – with one of the grimmest aftermaths. Trev (Danielle Watson) was raped by her friends’ abusive father Mick (Johnny Harris). When his stepdaughter Lol (Vicky McClure) confronted him, Mick tried to rape her too but Lol killed him with a hammer. Skinhead Combo (Stephen Graham) voluntarily took the fall and was jailed. When Combo was released in sequel This is England ’90, it prompted a heartbreaking dinner scene where the whole messy truth came out.

Family Thais (The White Lotus, 2025)

More icky brotherly incest. In a sort of super-rich remix of Half Man, the spa satire’s Koh Samui-set third season saw nepo-douche Saxon Ratliff (Patrick Schwarzenegger) goading his shy younger brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola) to get laid. After dropping molly at a full-moon rave, the siblings shared a kiss for a dare, before Lockie had sex with ex-model Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) – during which he “extended a hand” to Saxon. When he had a hungover flashback the next day, Saxon threw up. Schwarzenegger admitted the taboo-busting scenes were “uncomfortable to watch with my family”. Piper, no!

Pulling teeth (The Americans, 2015)

The most painful screen portrayal of dentistry since Marathon Man. When KGB agent Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) had her head bashed against a car by a Fed, she took a blow to the mouth and her tooth became infected. Knowing the FBI would be monitoring dental surgeries, she locked eyes with husband Philip (Matthew Rhys). Without saying a word, they knew what to do. Hiding in their home’s laundry room so the kids wouldn’t hear, she tossed back whisky and he performed a DIY extraction with pliers. In intimate closeup, they grasped, gasped, sighed and cried. Some fans found it strangely erotic. Indeed, the show runners originally planned for the couple to have sex afterwards. When they filmed the cathartic tooth-pulling, they realised it was sexy enough.

SJ-Pee (And Just Like That, 2021)

Non-binary standup comic Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) ruined the Sex and the City sequel for many fans. She helped ruin Carrie’s bedsheets too. While Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) got manually pleasured by Che in the kitchen, bed-bound Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) – who was recuperating from hip surgery – needed help getting to the bathroom. With Miranda otherwise engaged, Carrie ended up wetting the bed. Get a dating column out of that.

A major hitch (Six Feet Under, 2004)

Not so much a scene as an ordeal. In season four episode That’s My Dog, lonely undertaker David Fisher (Michael C Hall) picked up scruffy hitchhiker Jake (Michael Weston), who turned out to be a crazed crackhead. David was soon carjacked and forced on a ride from hell where he was punched, tied up, threatened with a gun, forced to smoke crack and splashed with petrol. As Jake became progressively more unhinged, it was as if viewers had been taken hostage too.

Jeremy’s doggie bag (Peep Show, 2007)

Peep Show specialised in squirming awkwardness, and this was an all-timer. On Mark’s stag do in Shropshire, Jeremy (Robert Webb) accidentally ran over a pet dog. Naturally, he desperately tried to cover up the tragedy by burning much-loved terrier Mummy, before eating her in front of its owners. He almost convinced everyone that what he was hiding in his bag was barbecued turkey. Well, until they noticed hairs on it. And a collar. “It’s just turkey,” said Jez, chewing queasily. “Undercooked, disgusting turkey.”

Al passes a kidney stone (Deadwood, 2005)

Talk about eye-watering. In the second season of the profane period western, saloon owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) was seriously sick with kidney problems, sweating and shivering in bed, while sex workers mopped his craggy brow. Shaky-handed Doc Cochran (Brad Dourif) was about to commence life-endangering surgery when he had one last attempt at dislodging the “gleets” naturally. Everyone hauled Al to his feet and yelled at him to urinate. To their horrified relief, blood and kidney stones poured out of him. Al had a minor stroke in the process. You didn’t get that in Lovejoy.

Windscreen wiper required (Sex Education, 2020)

Every teen boy’s worst nightmare. Season two of Netflix’s sex dramedy opened with a montage of hormonal hero Otis (Asa Butterfield) masturbating in a variety of locations, set to a cover version of I Touch Myself by Divinyls. It, ahem, climaxed with him doing the deed in a supermarket car park – except mum Jean (Gillian Anderson) forgot her wallet and returned to witness her son ejaculating on the window. Time for a visit to the car wash and a little talk, darling …