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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the intelligence unit locked down during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, 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 messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I have viewed due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information that were transmitted. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to reveal their realities. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Episode five of the third series of Industry caused my heart to pound. I was compelled to halt and rise and leave the room several times because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances 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 experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe the situation cannot deteriorate further, it deteriorates. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. 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 then occupy the remainder 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’ve watched has been more intense than the first time I watched 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 reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small 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 bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, had all been defeated. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare 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 isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Keep going. 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 following the introduction of villain Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the subdued noises – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season