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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The episode begins with the Spooks team confined as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

The 1984 production Threads

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme that highlighted the truth 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 ranks highly among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while yelling at the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it deteriorates. There is a chance for salvation as the installment closes yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment 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 unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

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 private assistant and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Wonderful television. Unequaled.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The opening of the British series 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 entering the restroom and senses something is wrong. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The final scene of the final episode of the program was incredibly anxious. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with yet another of his crew collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. 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 during the night. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season