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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the intelligence unit locked down during a training exercise concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The first season finale of Severance ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that allowed the Innies to remain active, while screaming at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Episode five of the third series of Industry 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 was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes during the season’s final episode. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up 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 then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s personal secretary 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 seek re-election. Superb programming. Unsurpassed.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy comes into her home to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. 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 sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It stops. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season