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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the Spooks team confined during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, monitored by two government representatives. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

The 1984 production Threads

The production was inexpensive but one of the most frightening programmes I have viewed due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Still absolutely terrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The season one finale of Severance has to be right up there among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times because of the sheer scale of the reckless self-harm I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise for the full show, permeated with worry. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The installment begins with the consequences of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Excellent TV. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets then not knowing who he killed (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season