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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the Spooks team confined as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or letting them go and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads from 1984

Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I have ever watched due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I was throughout the episode actually sitting tensely, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and leave the room several times because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – overwhelmed by debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, uses copious drugs and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is severely assaulted. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand throughout the entire episode, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense than the first time I watched the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and reaches a crescendo with a crisis in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to seek re-election. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, 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, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The final scene of the final episode of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It stops. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)

I stayed up to watch this episode during the night. It was extremely gripping after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season