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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the MI5 agents confined as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or letting them go and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there among intense episodes. 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 kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The final climactic moment – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, taking such risks on a wager involving sterling which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and following tries to eliminate it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it turns out to be!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the season two finale to The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s confidential aide and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The beginning of the UK show 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 heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, 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 dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The concluding moment of the last installment of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I stayed up to watch this episode during the night. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season