‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most nerve-wracking episodes of TV you’ve seen
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
This installment starts with the MI5 agents locked down while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, monitored by two government representatives. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The suspense builds as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently having watched the original; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub from the programme which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.
The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to get their truths out there. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – felt like an explosion.
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 leave the room several times due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures 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, gets beaten to a pulp. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it does. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode 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 have seen has been as tense compared to my initial viewing the second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s confidential aide and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information of the president’s MS diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to seek re-election. Excellent TV. Unequaled.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
The 2001 Buffy episode The Body
Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a sullen tone, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)
The concluding moment of the last installment of the program was incredibly anxious. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Don’t stop. It halts. My spirit fell roughly 20 minutes after.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016
I remained awake to view this installment at 2am. It was so intense following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
