‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most intense episodes of TV you’ve seen

The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

This installment starts with the Spooks team restricted as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or letting them go and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads from 1984

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The season one finale of Severance ranks highly as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series caused my heart to pound. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it does. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it will make you rise the whole episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I have seen has been as tense compared to my initial viewing the season two finale to The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and escalates to a高潮 involving a Haitian emergency, and the fallout from the non-disclosure of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Superb programming. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy arrives at her residence to realize her mom has deceased from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a gloomy atmosphere, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The final scene of the final episode of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with yet another of his crew collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Keep going. It ceases. My heart sank about 20 minutes later.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I remained awake to view this installment at 2am. It was incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season