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The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

This installment starts with the MI5 agents locked down during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or permitting their exit and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. As this is Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The first season finale of Severance has to be right up there as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, uses copious drugs and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is severely assaulted. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, it does. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes yet he wastes the chance, leading to terrible outcomes in the concluding part of the season. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it is possible!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing the season two finale to The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Excellent TV. Unsurpassed.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train alongside his juvenile boy, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died of natural causes, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The show features no musical score, a sullen tone, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The final scene of the final episode of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony glances upward. Don’t stop. It ceases. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season